From Bailey's Complete military outfitter's catalog, June 20 1940

[Baggers]

Yeah, I see,.... I have not received my copy of The Officer's Guide yet. Come to think of it, I don't ever recall seeing any color photos that showed an officer wearing cordovan leather. And I see there's also listings in the catalog for R.O.T.C. equipment,.... so maybe they were authorized to wear it?

I've found mine to be a wealth of information and advice on not only uniform wear, but anything else an officer needed to know, from etiquette to soldier welfare. Mine's an edition published early in 1942, just as uniform regs were changing slightly with the country's movement to a war footing. I'd love to find one from the mid to late 1930s.

And as for the ROTC equipment, yes, I believe schools wore the same service uniforms as the RA but with different insignia and perhaps some minor school specific variations. So perhaps the cordovan gear was intended for organizations other than the RA.

Cheers!