Help on dress-code for Navy ball

[EthelredOnAGoodDay]

Hello. DH and I, who are civvies (I think that's the correct term ) are going along as guests of a friend of ours who is an officer in the RN, to the BRNC ball at Dartmouth in the summer. Just a quick question re: the dress code. For ladies, is it long dresses and covered shoulders? Does that just mean a pashmina, or actual sleeves?? are there any other rules i need to be aware of? Thanks in anticipation and sorry to be so clueless!! :o

OOh thanks herbietea will have a look. :)

And NO winged collar! very important!!!

No winged collar? I thought all dress shirts had winged collars? I am sooo clueless! :o
herbietea, that site is great. Very reasonable prices. I am off to a dress warehouse type place tomorrow and if they don't have anything suitable, will get something off there.

Definitely no winged collars! just a normal collar, but dress everything else! cuffs, breast etc.

I most often got my dresses from TKMaxx or Coast.

I will (tomorrow) pull out an old dress code and tell you what it says, then it'll be right and you can get prepared early.

Ps. Very slippery Highly polished floors solo slides well when walking having drunk wine!!! Very funny to watch

Dress breasts?!? It is a sartorial minefield! :o

That would be marvellous, very much appreciated. Thanks so much. (And will make sure i sandpaper my soles! :) )

Hehehe! be sure to say hello on the 6th too!

By dress breast, I mean the fancy front on a dress shirt!

ahh, right! What a relief. If DH had turned up with blackadder style dress-breasts, you would have spotted us a mile off! Ha ha ha! :o

Joking aside, am very much looking forward to it and will be on my best behaviour.

forgot about the Blackadder style dress breasts! yes, I think you may have looked a little noticable on the dance floor!

It's a fab night Ethel. The highlight of my year :) (lead a very boring, mundane existance usually).

I went to a few BRNC balls a few centuries ago - I always remember them as being relatively informal! You could just wander about at will - there was a fairground with dodgems, too.

It is most definitely a full-length gown do, though - you can't really over-dress for this one. Well, unless you were winched into place wearing a Big Fat Gypsy Wedding-style pantechnicon with under-skirt lighting and motorised butterflies...

The food and drink was abundant and fabulous. I particularly enjoyed seeing an Admiral strutting his funky stuff, Tony Manero-like, on the dance floor; tailcoat and all. Ah, those were the days.

Ok, dress code...

Ladies Ball Gown or plain dress

Dresses are to be calf to floor length
Splits in dresses are not to be thigh length
Dresses may be strappy or strapless
(they then say whether or not shoulders have to be covered or not when eating, but I've only known them to say not once on the dress code and once actually in the dining hall before).

Gentlemen Civilians (Black Tie)

Dinner suits only - with white shirts (no lounge suits)
Colour co-ordinated bow ties & cummerbunds are acceptable.

Having copied that down, I'm not sure if the no winged collars are just for servicemen or a general rule for all men...take both perhaps? anyway, hope this helps.

TalcAndTurnips, there are two different balls held there afaik and one lot doesn't speak to the other lot . I tried to take a serving Royal Navy Officer of the other lot once and was told that he could only attend if he wore civvies and no medals &.
The last ball I attended there was in 2008 and had been to every ball since Christmas 1999 when I stood in for a friends wife...I've never known them to have any type of fairground for ours, but I did see a fairground that hadn't been dismantled for the 'other lots' do once which is usually held on the evening before 'ours'.

Thank you Solo! very much appreciated. Just need to get shopping now. :o

Solo - it was the very early 90s when we went - once when DH was attending BRNC, and a couple of times afterwards. There were a few civvies; but it was mostly BRNC students, staff officers and friends. The place was heaving - so many guests. I don't recall a fat lot else, except that it was great fun!

I wasn't aware at the time of there being two separate balls - I only remember just the three main ones, at the end of each term (I think they were usually organised by the ball committee of current BRNC officer cadets.)

Who are 'the other lot' then? I am intrigued!

I really can't remember Talc; it was about 8 years ago that I got to know that there were two different Balls held on the same weekend and that our lot didn't associate with the other lot! seems odd to me, but I'm not the expert really :)

Good luck with the shopping trip Ethel :) really hope you say hello on the night:)

I'd love to go again - you've reignited my interest in taking a trip down to the west country; I've not been back to Dartmouth since about 1994.

Any excuse for a new frock too - been recycling the same bunch for few years now. Hmm; think I fancy a nice midnight blue...

Perhaps you'd be bored with no fairground though?
We could have a MN table!!!!

Pah- i'd love to be able to tell you, but, despite being a Navy wife for almost 10years, I only discovered last year (through another Navy wife!!) that they even HAD balls and such! DH has no interest in such things, and, as such, didn't even think to mention them to me Feel a bit like Cinders!

remember that liz hurley black dress with the safety pins?

i well remember the night some totty turned up wearing that.

the entire mess practically crumbled to the ground in shock as she teetered through the door.

have a lovely time!

Once I have my dress solo I will send you a description so you can look out for me!!! Exciting times!

Joolyjoolyjoo that's such a shame! One doesn't get many chances to dress in full evening shebang very often - it's great fun to spend an evening mincing about in all your spendour with all the chaps looking fine in their mess dress. It's usually a good chance to catch up with people you haven't seen for ages, too - although it does tend to lead to a fair bit of shop-talk by one's OH ('fair bit' being probably the understatement of the century)

Go on, give your DH a dig and get a whole new wardrobe!!

Am envious of the ball-attending. I haven't been to one for two years - husband fortnightly commutes and with three children aged four and under it simply isn't possible to travel down for any of the dinners/balls in his current Mess.

He's off to a Waterloo dinner tonight in full rig and will be celebrating as he's just had a bit of a surprise promotion!

Congratulations to your DH jcscot!

Fortnightly commuting must be double the nightmare weekly is!! I have a job holding it together monday to friday without dh. Does he do it as it's less unsettling for the children or because it's so far away?