Court Uniform and Dress

Court dress (as distinguished from court uniform mentioned in the section below) is worn by all men not entitled to court uniform or military uniform on all occasions of state where such are customarily worn. Court occasions include courts, state balls, and evening state parties.

Peers’ robes were worn over normal dress, which gradually became stylised as the court suit. It was only from the late eighteenth century that court dress became fossilised. By the early to mid eighteenth century velvet was largely confined to court dress. Court dress was obligatory in Westminster Abbey for all not wearing official or lordly apparel.

air”>http://www.himfr.com/buy-air_jordan_t_shirt/”>air jordan t shirtDuring the seventeenth century, gentlemen’s court dress was largely determined by two related influences, the retention of out-dated styles, producing a distinctive form of dress, and an interest in military uniform. The first produced the court suit, a coat with tails, waistcoat and knee breeches, worn with silk stockings, and a formal court sword with a cut-steel hilt and embellishments, and bicorne hat. The court suit has undergone a number of changes since the eighteenth century. However, apart from changes in the cut of the sleeves and shoulders, there was little basic alteration until the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

In the eighteenth century, dress worn at court comprised gold and silver stuff, brocades, velvets and cloth coats. They were always embroidered, and worn with waistcoats generally of a different colour- gold or silver brocade, damask, silk or satin, heavily embroidered or laced in silver or gold. From the 1730s at least cloth was popular for court wear. By the 1780s dress was established as dark cloth or velvet, embroidered in silk or metal, single-breasted silk waistcoat (usually white), with the fronts curved away.

From 1810, the Lord Chamberlain laid down regulations for court dress. In the nineteenth century court dress coats were commonly black, brown, dark green, purple, or blue. Breeches matched, or could be silk of a similar colour. The coat, and sometimes the breeches, were embroidered. The waistcoat was generally white satin, sometimes embroidered. These were worn with white silk stockings, black buckled shoes, and sword. A wig-bag was found on the back of the neck. A crescent-shaped chapeau-bras, known as an opera-hat, developed in the 1760s-70s from the three-cornered hat. In the second decade of the nineteenth century, this hat became known simply as the cocked hat.

In the 1830s and 40s, the full court dress was sometimes decorated with embroidery, and sometimes not. Cloth was most general, but velvet was also used. For lev?es cloth trousers were worn.

The court suit consisted of a coat and breeches of fine wool cloth, or increasingly from 1840, velvet, the waistcoat of white or cream silk, single breasted, without lapels and cut with points at the front. It would be embroidered in coloured silk in a conventional pattern of flowers.

The new style of court dress, worn from the 1840s, comprised a dark, frequently black, cloth (or silk-velvet) single-breasted dress coat (lined with black silk, except for the tail, which was white), with a stand collar. The new style is cut like a modern tail coat. This was worn with a white satin or black silk collarless waistcoat, and white neckcloth. For lev?es, this was worn with matching velvet trousers with a gold lace stripe down the seam. For drawing rooms matching breeches with white silk stockings, and a white neck-cloth was worn.

In 1869, the Lord Chamberlain’s Department issued new regulations for gentlemen at Court. The new style of suit was described, in which the cloth coat and breeches were replaced with silk velvet. This had been permitted before, but in place of the embroidered waistcoat was a waistcoat of plain white silk. A coat for leve dress had dark coloured cloth, single-breasted, with a stand collar, and trousers of the same material and colour as the coat, both decorated with narrow gold lace on collar, cuffs and pocket flaps, similar to that worn on certain classes of the civil uniform. A gold lace loop and button were similarly worn on the hat, and a sword of the same pattern carried.

In 1898, court dress was described as black (often very dark blue) velvet, or a dark colour cloth suit (not black). The velvet version in 1898 was without gold embroidery on the coat, and the buttons were gilt, steel or plain. The waistcoat was either black velvet, or the normal white one. Trousers were of velvet. Hats were as for the cloth version, that is beaver or silk cocked hat with black silk cockade, but the loop and buttons were gilt or steel, and there was no lace. The sword was gilt or steel with silk shoulder belt. A white neckcloth was worn. When breeches were worn they were black velvet with black silk hose. Gilt or steel buckled shoes were worn. The velvet suit was all black.

In 1898, the cloth coat had embroidery on collar, cuffs and pocket flaps was specified as similar to 5th class civil uniform (3/8th). The buttons were convex gilt with mounted crown in relief. Gold lace striped trousers (for leve dress) or white breeches, black or white silk stockings, gilt buckled shoes, beaver or silk cocked hat with black silk cockade gold lace loop and buttons, sword same as civil, suspended by a silk shoulder belt worn underneath the waistcoat, white neck cloth.

By 1908, the new style court dress was described as being a single-breasted black silk-velvet coat, worn open but with six buttons, a stand collar, gauntlet cuffs, four buttons at back, two at centre waist, two at bottom of tails. It was lined with black silk, except for the tail, which was white. Buttons were cut steel. The waistcoat was white satin or black silk, breeches were black velvet, with three steel buttons and steel buckles at knee. Black silk stockings, black patent leather shoes with steel buckles, black silk or beaver hat, steel hilt sword and black scabbard, belt under waistcoat, white gloves, white bow tie completed the dress. At leves velvet trousers with patent leather military boots were worn.

In 1908, a dark cloth suit was worn for courts and evening parties. This was mulberry, claret, or green, but not black or blue. It was single-breasted, worn open but with six gilt buttons and dummy button-holes. There was a stand collar, gauntlet cuffs, two buttons at back centre waist, and two at bottom of tails. Gold embroidery was on the collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps as for the 5th class. There were matching breeches, gilt buckled, a white corded silk or marcella waistcoat with four small gilt buttons. Stockings, tie, gloves, shoes, and hat were as for the new style, but gilt buckles were added to the shoes, and a gold loop on the hat. The sword was “Court Dress with gilt hilt”, in a black scabbard gilt mounted, with gold knot. At leves, trousers were worn instead of breeches, to match the coat, and patent leather military boots.

The regulations for 1912 were substantially the same as in 1908. The only difference for the new style was that the pocket flaps were to have the three points on the waist seams, the coat lined with white silk, tails with black lining, trousers were now not allowed at leves. The hat has a steel loop as a black silk cockade or rosette, sword belt a black silk waist belt under the waistcoat, with blue velvet frog. The cloth court dress is still embroidered on the collar, cuffs and pocket flaps as for 5th class. Buttons are gilt, convex, mounted with the imperial crown. Matching cloth trousers with rows 5/8th” wide gold lace. At es one could wear with the velvet or cloth dress a black or very dark Inverness cape, or a long full dark overcoat.

In 1937, the final edition of Dress Worn at Court was published. The new style velvet court dress included a white satin waistcoat (not white corded silk or marcella), or a new optional black velvet waistcoat. The cocked hat is described as “beaver”, silk being omitted. The shirt was to be as worn with evening dress, soft front with stiff white cuffs. Trousers were still prohibited. The cloth coat was now to be decorated with gold embroidery similar to the edge of a Privy Counsellor’s uniform coat

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