page_title: Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom / Court uniform / Origin, development and detail of the design / Classification
caption_attribution_description: Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King and officials awaiting the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. (L-R): Mr. Arnold Heeney, Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King, Sir A.S. Redfern, Dr. E.H. Coleman (Quebec City, Canada)
context_page_description: Court uniform and dress were required to be worn by those in attendance at the royal court in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
  Specifically, court uniform was worn by those holding particular offices. 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.
  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 comprises a matching tailcoat and waistcoat, breeches and stockings, lace cuffs and cravat, cocked hat and a sword. For women, a white or cream evening dress is directed 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 Queen's Counsel, and is also worn by certain Lord Mayors, parliamentary officials, and high sheriffs of counties.
context_section_description: Court uniforms came in five (later six) classes. Which class of uniform was worn depended on the office held by the wearer: the more senior the position, the higher the class of uniform.
  In India, for example, in 1921, the Governors of Bengal, Bombay and Madras were entitled to wear the 1st class uniform, the President, Members, Secretary and Chief Engineer of the Railway Board (among others) were entitled to 3rd class uniform, while Under Secretaries to Local Governments (among others) were entitled to 5th class uniform.
  The different classes were indicated by different widths of gold oak-leaf embroidery on the coatee: 1st class had 5 inches (13 cm), 2nd class had 4 inches (10 cm), 3rd class had 3 inches (7.6 cm), 4th class 2 inches (5.1 cm), and 5th class ³⁄₈ inch (0.95 cm); (these measurements related to the width of embroidery on the cuffs in both full and levée dress). On the edge of the cuffs, collar and coatee, the embroidery had a wavy edging for 1st class, and saw edge for lower classes.
caption: Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (wearing Privy Counsellor's uniform) alongside two officials wearing 3rd class uniform (Ottawa, 1939).
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