Headed to the Navy Ball again

[macwilkin]

Early on in the colonization of India British officers took to wearing cummerbunds as part of their uniform. Long worn by the native Indians, the cummerbund was useful for holding an extra brace of pistols back in the day when an officer carried two single shot pistols in holsters hung from the pommel of his saddle. To prevent the pistols from becoming snagged in the cummerbund the pleats faced up, allowing for a smooth and rapid draw.

As the Indian Army was the the first to adopt mess dress uniforms (with abbreviated coats in deference to the heat) it was only natural that the cummerbund-- a distinctive item of Indian army dress-- would replace the waistcoat. Officers returning home from India on leave would wear their mess dress uniforms on board ship, and the cummerbund soon caught on with civilians who had been "out East".

Interestingly, U.S. Army regulations stipulate that the pleats of the cummerbund face down.

And to further Rathdown's second paragraph, there is still "Red Sea Rig":

"The voyage was uneventful. I can recall the humid heat of the tropics and the Red sea and the discomfort of mess dress - Red Sea rig - white shirt with epaulettes and long blue trousers with a black scarf as a cummerbund - stifling!"

-- http://samilitaryhistory.org/diaries/nat5.html

http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/r...nRedsearig.htm

T.

[MacLowlife]

I agree wholeheartedly about black hose being nearly as bad as white. Drac, if you are going to wear Lamont, why not invest in a pair of blue and black diced hose from the Scottish Tartans Museum? They are custom done so probably not available in time for this year's ball, but I think they'd be very sharp indeed.