Dress
Their distinctive piper-green head-dress, the Caubeen (which was worn by all Irish regiments later, although the LIR were the first to adopt it) was characterised by being sloped to the left instead of the right—a distinction maintained today between the Royal Irish Regiment (the sponsor Regiment of the LIR) being sloped on the right and the LIR and Liverpool Irish being sloped on the left.
The "sloping" difference was because the bonnets, which were based on the Balmoral of the time, were so big, and sloping fashions of the time were so "rakish", that Riflemen needed to slope to the left in order to see down the sights of the rifle.
2RUR (Royal Ulster Rifles) also sloped to the left.
The LIR sloped to the right whilst part of the Royal Irish Rangers, but reverted to type after the amalgamation or the RIR and the UDR. They are also unique in being the only British Army unit to wear their headdress with the cap badge positioned between the right eye and the right ear - all other units wear theirs with their insignia over the left.
Read more about this topic: London Irish Rifles
Famous quotes containing the word dress:
“Jerry: That’s quite a dress you almost have on.
Milo: Thanks.
Jerry: What holds it up?
Milo: Modesty.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)
“There is not enough exercise in this way of life. I try to make up by active gymnastics before I dress when I get up, by walking rapidly in the lower hall and the greenhouse after each meal for perhaps five to ten minutes, and a good hand rubbing before going to bed. I eat moderately; drink one cup of coffee at breakfast and one cup of tea at lunch and no other stimulant. My health is now, and usually, excellent.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“In art, a dress is never just a dress; nor in life either.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)