page_title: Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom
section_title: Accoutrements
hierarchical_section_title: Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom / Court uniform / Origin, development and detail of the design / Accoutrements
caption_attribution_description: Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King arriving for the opening of the Third Session of the Eighteenth Parliament
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: Both types of dress were worn with black beaver cocked hat, with black silk cockade; for the 1st class it had white ostrich feather border, as well as treble gold bullion loop and tassels. The 2nd class was as above, but with double gold bullion loop and tassels. The 3rd, 4th, 5th class had black ostrich feather border, plaited gold bullion loops, and no tassels.
  In addition, a scarlet lined blue cloth cloak, double breasted, black velvet collar and two rows of six buttons each, with a detachable cape, was described in 1898 for outdoor wear, with a soft cloth forage cap (military staff shape), with a blue peak and scarlet welts around the crown and gold braid on top for the Household, and gold braid without scarlet welt in the case of other officials. The cap for consular use had silver instead of gold braid. A greatcoat as an alternative to the cloak was available in 1912.
  In 1908, white gloves were still mentioned in the regulations, while in 1912 they were not, and the 1937 regulation said that they are not worn.
caption: The great coat and cape could be worn separately or (as seen here, in 1938) together.
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