Uniforms of The United States Marine Corps - Dress Uniform - Evening Dress

Evening Dress

The Evening Dress is the most formal (and by U.S. Military standards, the most elaborate) of the Dress uniforms, and is the equivalent of white tie in usage. It is only authorized for wear by officers and SNCOs, and only a required uniform item for senior officers (Majors and above). It comes in three varieties:

  • Evening dress "A" For male officers, it consists of an evening coat with strip collar, white waistcoat, and white shirt with pique placket. The stripe on the midnight-blue trousers is a thin red stripe inside a gold embroidered stripe. Female officers wear a mess jacket with scarlet lapels, a white dress shirt, a red cummerbund, and a long skirt. Miniature medals and badges are worn.
  • Evening dress "B" is identical to Evening Dress "A" except men wear a scarlet waistcoat (General officers) or cummerbund (all other officers), and women may wear a short skirt. Miniature medals and badges are worn.
  • SNCO Evening Dress Staff Non-Commissioned Officers wear a semi-formfitting mess-jacket with historic 1890s-era rank insignia sewn on the sleeves, a black bow tie and sky blue trousers. Miniature medals and badges are worn.

A blue boatcloak with a scarlet silk liner is optional. Junior officers not required to possess Evening Dress may substitute Blue or Blue-White dress "A". It is appropriate for such occasions as State functions, inaugural receptions and dinners, and formal dinners.

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