US Army Mess Dress

[Woot22]

Just curious after seeing another member in the process of converting a US Army Dress Blues jacket to work with a kilt. Didn't want to hijack his thread so figured I would post my question here. Has anyone ever seen someone wearing the kilt with a US Army mess dress jacket? If so did it work good or look terrible? Here is what I am talking about, this is a US Army NCO mess dress jacket.

[Santa Kona]

It is a great style jacket with the right tartan I think it would look fine. Just my 2 cents
US Army Retired 1969 ~ 1977

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

The short answer is yes; I've seen it done well, and I've seen it done poorly.

In the "done well" department the mess jacket had been ordered from Marlow-White (www.marlowwhite.com) with the branch of service facings on the lapels chosen to compliment the kilt (for those not in the know, each branch of service in the army has a specific colour: sky blue for infantry, red for artillery, gold for cavalry, etc.). Absolutely no military trim appeared on the jacket and, because it had been made to measure by Marlow-White, the fit was excellent. The down side to all of this is cost-- military uniforming isn't cheap, and for about the same money one could probably buy a well-made coatee or doublet.

Done poorly? -- I've seen men show up at Highland games in second hand mess jackets that were sizes waay too big, complete with insignia of rank and shoulder knots. Not a pretty sight.

Done right, a mess jacket makes an excellent alternative to a doublet or coatee, and the "summer white" mess jackets worn by all branches of the US forces can be very comfortable when the temperatures rise. The Army's blue mess jackets are just that-- blue-- and may not look their best when paired with some tartans; the Navy's blue mess jackets are a deep, inky, blue-black colour, and are probably a better choice for conversion.

[CMcG]

Over on the Civilian Mess Jackets thread, some people were talking about rules and regulations for wearing the kilt with US Armed Forces uniforms. I'm no expert and it seemed to be a somewhat conflicted issue; if you are in the Army, best check with your superiors regarding mess dress regulations. For people who aren't actively serving, it was recommended to remove the insignia from a military mess jacket or else just get a civilian version of it.

[longhuntr74]

They're not very good pics, but here are two cases where individuals are wearing their mess uniform jacket with a kilt. As the function it is worn to is a quasi-military (a veterans organization) affair, they have opted to wear the jacket with all shoulder boards, rank, awards, and decorations. (If you decide to go browsing through the rest of this album, you will find a bunch of ammunition for "what not to wear" or "how not to wear it"...just a warning...as I said, they aren't particularly good photos or examples maybe)
http://picasaweb.google.com/sams1921...30331840470834
http://picasaweb.google.com/sams1921...31003528815154
As I have stated (I think in CMcG's mess jacket thread), I have a mess jacket and have contemplated wearing it with a kilt...but have opted against it. While I've been known to break the rules a time or two (many more, actually) during my career, I'm not keen on committing a flagrant violation of uniform regulations. As MoR has explained quite well, it can be done (the mess jacket thing)...but you'd need to dedicate the jacket strictly as a kilt jacket and make some modifications (buttons, removing some trim, etc) and as the mess jackets are quite costly, you'd probably be better off just getting a PC or Argyll jacket.

[Woot22]

Awesome, honestly it was mere curiosity if it had been tried and if it was successful or not. Don't ever really plan on wearing one as I never did while I was in the Army. In fact I never wore dress blues either to be honest. Just saw a pic of someone wearing this and thought it may look good with a kilt for a veterans event. Sounds like it is possible but not really the best option. Thanks for all the replies and the info.