Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom
Court uniform and dress were required to be worn by those in attendance at the royal court in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
This article is about courtly dress, and uniform worn by state officials. For legal and judicial dress, see Court dress.
Specifically, court uniform was worn by those holding particular offices associated with the government, the Civil Service, the Royal Household, or similar national institutions. A range of office-holders were entitled to wear it, with different grades of uniform specified for different grades of official. It is still worn today on state occasions by certain dignitaries both in the UK and abroad.[1]
Court dress, on the other hand, is a stylized form of clothing deriving from fashionable eighteenth-century wear, which was directed to be worn at court by those not entitled to a court uniform. For men, it comprised a matching tailcoat and waistcoat, breeches and stockings, lace cuffs and Cravat, cocked hat and a sword. For women, a white or cream evening gown was to be worn, together with a train and other specified accoutrements. Male court dress is still worn today as part of the formal dress of judges and King's Counsel, and is also worn by certain lord mayors, parliamentary officials, and high sheriffs of counties. Formerly, female court dress was required wear for debutantes being presented at court, but it ceased to be regularly worn after the Second World War, as afternoon presentations largely replaced evening courts.[1]
Precise descriptions, both of court uniform and of court dress, were laid down in an official publication called Dress Worn at Court,[2] which was published by the Lord Chamberlain's Office.[3] The 1937 edition remains authoritative for those rare circumstances in which court uniform or court dress are still required.
Sources[edit]
Dress Worn at Court , published by the Lord Chamberlain's Office, provides official regulations for all details of Court Dress and Uniforms. The 1937 edition has not been superseded. Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II by Philip Mansel, London: Yale University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-300-10697-8.