Red Sea Rig - History

History

Red Sea rig was originally a Royal Navy concept appearing c. 1800. Historically, it was felt that Royal Navy officers, being gentlemen, should wear the full appropriate uniform for all formal events, whatever the temperature. The sole exception was in the Red Sea, where the heat and humidity often made this physically impossible. Here, officers were permitted to remove their jackets in the wardroom, provided they added a cummerbund to temper the somewhat informal look. Royal Air Force officers serving on Navy ships follow the naval tradition wearing a Red Sea rig version of their own mess dress.

In his reminiscences For King and Country, Nelson Albert Tomalin describes a rather home-made version of Red Sea rig worn on board the whaler Southern Sea in 1943 as "...white shirt with epaulettes and long blue trousers with a black scarf as a cummerbund...".

Because of its obvious practicality, Red Sea rig was adopted into civilian life, first by British diplomats in the Red Sea town of Jeddah, and later by the local British Business Group. It is now widely worn by many military and civilian organisations and is often the dress code of choice for dinner parties in British expatriate communities in the Middle East and Far East.

Red Sea rig originated prior to air conditioning as a purely practical measure, but has now become a dress-style in its own right, even if the party or function is held in an air conditioned venue.

Decorations, even in miniature, are not normally worn with Red Sea rig, although medal miniature ribbons are.