The officer wears a scarlet shell jacket open, with a blue waistcoat, white shirt, and trews. This form of dress was worn in the mess in the evenings when off duty, and according to photographic evidence dates at least since 1855. However, the 1846 Dress Regulations stated that ‘Officers are to continue as heretofore to wear their Dress uniform at Mess.’ But officers in India were defying this and wearing their shell jackets open, with a cummerbund, and the regiments returning to Britain adapted this by having a waistcoat, white shirt and black tie. A sharp rebuke was issued from the Commander-in-Chief but by the 1860s the custom was widespread. The first official mention of mess dress is in the 1874 Dress Regulations. The 1883 DR, in the Highland Regiments section, says,
‘Mess-Waistcoat— Cloth of the colour of the facings, scarlet cloth or regimental tartan.. Kamarband— During a voyage through the Red Sea or Indian Ocean, officers may be allowed to wear at mess a kamarband instead of the mess waistcoat. [it specifies colours for the Rifle Regiments] For every other regiment, corps or department…Red.
‘With the kamarband a white collar and black tie will be worn, and the mess jacket will be fastened at the neck by a loop of gold or black braid, according to the regulation of the respective services.’
The 1891 Dress Regulations also authorised a cavalry-style mess jacket that fastened at the neck, for the infantry, including the Highlanders. The 1900 DR assumes that the mess jacket is also the drill jacket, with mention of the Cameron Highlanders,’The jacket will have buff silk lining, and no facing cloth on the inside.’ This accounts for the buff lapels, but the turned down collar is blue inside, to match the cuffs. Four buttons can be seen on the right side of the jacket which continue up inside the lapel to the top so that the lapels could be folded in and the jacket buttoned to the neck so that it could then be a drill jacket. The shoulders should have twisted gold cord as on the dress doublet, but in this illustration they are blue cloth with rank stars.
