What is the meaning of No. 1 mess kit?

[Beck's-a-kilted]

I have been invited to a formal clan dinner in which my wife and I are very excited. The invitation calls for evening doublets, dinner jackets or No.1 mess kit. My question to the rabble is - What does a No. 1 mess kit consist of?

I love to eat and at times I admit I can be a little messy. My first thought was maybe a tartan bib could be in order although I don't think this is the meaning. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Beck

May we remember to give our tongues a holiday before our brains!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

No. 1 mess kit refers to the uniform worn by officers, warrant officers, sergeants/petty officers, and other ranks/ratings, when attending formal dinners. In short, it is the military equivalent of civilian "black tie".

Don't worry. You'll be fine with your tartan bib!

[O'Callaghan]

The mess is a sort of club on a base, like there is usually an officer's mess and also a sergeant's mess or NCO's mess, and sometimes there are more than two based on rank. As for No. 1, that would be the best uniform, No. 2 not so smart, and in some services there may also be a No. 3 uniform which is even less formal. Ergo, No. 1 mess kit means the best uniform you would wear when eating a formal meal in the mess. What that actually means will depend on the service, regiment, etc., not to mention which country's forces we are discussing.

If you aren't going in military uniform it's a huge irrelevance. So, DJ or No. 1 mess kit essentially means DJ, or if you are American a tux is a DJ. I'm editting this to say I noticed that it also gave a doublet as a third alternative, and to say that I agree entirely with MacMillan's answer but thought you might be wondering what the actual terms meant.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I've noticed something that does affect the way in which questions are answered here on XMTS. Not all members bother to list where they are from (eg: USA, UK, Chile, etc.). If they did, it would make answering "location specific" questions a lot easier. I presume that Beck's-a-kilted is from the UK or a commonwealth country because the invitation used typically UK-speak ("dinner jacket" being the big tip off). Of course, I could be wrong and he could be here in the USA, in which case the invitation is a triffle more than pretentious.

So, could you XMarkers who present yourselves as men/women without a country maybe amend your profile in the interest of better communications?

[beloitpiper]

Here's the Royal Regiment of Scotland 10A Mess Dress



If you're not in the military, you don't have to worry about it.

[george7]

It's like spilling applesauce all over everything. What a number 1 mess!

[Jordan]

I would like to point out that within the RAF there is also no 4 dress which is flying kit I think and no 5 which is mess dress, that is almost the same as our no1's only instead of being blue it's a light gold and all insignia/ medals worn are minitures. I can find pics and put them up if required

[bowser]

was that black tie/mess dress or no1 dress, that would make more sense.

Mess dress is different for each regiment but similar to posted photo, No1 dress is Blues which is what I got married in its a tunic with high colar worn with matching trousers, with red stripe, No2 dress is normall BEST uniform, and is a green tunic, worn with shirt and tie.
Blues is worn in the mess if you don have mess dress.
Kilt, Formal jacket (argyle/charlie) waistcoat, wing shirt and bow tie, is always acceptable in place of dinner suit

[bowser]

no1 dress blues

this is what number 1 dress looks like, this happens to be blues and royal but they all look the same, only thing that alters is the width of the stripe on the trousers depending if Caverly or Infantry

[Nervous Jock]

no1 dress blues

this is what number 1 dress looks like, this happens to be blues and royal but they all look the same, only thing that alters is the width of the stripe on the trousers depending if Caverly or Infantry

Not always the case