British Army mess dress

Mess uniforms first appeared in the British Army in about 1845, initially utilizing the short shell jacket worn since 1831.

[1] The original purpose was to provide a relatively comfortable and inexpensive alternative to the stiff and elaborate full-dress uniforms then worn by officers for evening social functions such as regimental dinners or balls.

Immediately after World War II the cheaper "blue patrols" were worn for several years as mess dress, but by 1956 the traditional uniforms had been readopted.

The colours of mess jackets and trousers reflect those of the traditional full dress uniforms of the regiments in question, as worn until at least 1914.

Jackets are, therefore, usually scarlet, dark blue, or rifle green, with collars, cuffs, waistcoats, or lapels in the facing colours of the regiments in question.

Most British Army regiments' mess dress incorporates high-waisted, very tight trousers known as overalls, the bottoms of which buckle under leather Wellington or George boots.

11 Warm Weather Mess Dress", a white drill hip-length jacket is worn with either a waistcoat in the same material or a cummerbund of regimental pattern.

[10] Female officers and soldiers wear mess jackets in a pattern similar to those of their male counterparts over dark-coloured ankle-length evening dresses.

The various mess dress uniforms of the British Army are as follows: Double-breasted royal blue mess jacket with two rows of four gold regimental buttons on either side, peaked lapels, and scarlet facings, worn unbuttoned, and royal blue shoulder straps, and a row of three gold buttons on each cuff, arranged vertically.

A royal blue waistcoat is worn with complicated gold braid down the front and bottom of the jacket, which buttons to the neck.

The version worn by NCOs has no shoulder straps, lacks the Cambridge-blue cuffs and features rank stripes on the upper right arm, but is in all other respects identical.

The version worn by NCOs has no shoulder straps, lacks the green cuffs and features rank stripes on the upper right arm, but is in all other respects the same.

The version worn by NCOs has no shoulder straps, lacks the French grey cuffs and features rank stripes on the upper right arm, but is in all other respects identical.

[35] For officers, a black 'cut-away' cavalry style mess jacket is worn with a scarlet stand collar, with gold piping.

The version worn by male NCOs is identical but has no shoulder straps, no white piping on the cuffs, and no buttons on the mess jacket or waistcoat.

For officers, a royal blue "cut-away" cavalry style mess jacket is worn with a scarlet stand collar (featuring the regimental badge), with gold piping that runs along the bottom of the collar and also runs down the front and bottom of the mess jacket.

[38] An off-white, short-sleeved evening gown covered in gold floral embroidery chasing over white matching appliqué.