What Navy Uniform To Wear To A Wedding?

I remember once when I was pretty young it was a slightly warmer day and I asked a service woman who happened to be in the store at the same time as me and my mom if her uniform was really hot to wear. I always saw service members wearing them and was super curious. She was really nice and explained that its not too bad, and even let me try on her jacket. I remember I gave her the biggest, happiest smile ever and thanked her a lot. It looked like i genuinely made her day, and she went above and beyond in terms of answering a curious kids questions. She didn’t have to let me try on the jacket, but she did. It stands as one of my favorite memories, and I still look back on it very fondly. It’s one of my few memories that will always put a smile on my face. I don’t remember her name or rank, but I’ll always remember her face and how happy she looked at my pure joy and excitement.

When I went thru Recruit Training, all they talked about was how deeply steeped in TRADITION the Navy was. They just brought back the Crackerjacks in time for my graduation, after wearing the business suits. The dress blues were made from wool and itched like a Mutha-Fatha! Beards were allowed while underway as they were a tradition of Sailors. We still wore dungarees (or Seafarers). From what I’m seeing and hearing, tradition has been jettisoned overboard!

For those who think that is a lot, it used to be worse. There used to be working whites and working blues. The peanut butters got rid of those circa 2010. I retired i 2014, and I never wore the Service Working Uniform after I bought them. At sea I actually preferred to wear coveralls. You can make the belt very lose, and if you get them big enough you can wear civvies underneath. The ones I wore at sea were the type shown; the fire retardent ones came out after I retired. I had to sew on “US Navy,” enlisted warefare devices, and my rank tabs on. By green side, HM1 is talking about serving with Marines. Green side corpsmen wear Marine Digital Camouflage as a working uniform. Dress whites are generally a wear them once, dry clean them after type of thing, and you only wear them for special occasions, or for formal functions. Change of command, reporting in to a new command, or brow watches on the ship.

I loved my bell bottom dungarees. And we always called the white cover a “dog bowl” because it looks like a dog bowl. And I liked the working blues, but not the working whites (looked like an ice cream man). Of course, I’m talking 20+ years ago. Working on a flight deck also meant you needed extra camo pants and your jerseys. All that in the coffin locker and stand up locker, plus the handful of civilian clothes for being in port. Some of those ports required trousers and buttoned shirts (like in the Persian Gulf). Some books, writing material, music, movies, etc. You’re going to be gone for 6+ months. You had to be creative in packing.

Damn, when I was a sailor from 88-99 we only had the ugly Dungaree uniform with bell bottom pants. Dress Blues with functional buttons and Dress whites with no piping on the collar. We also had the long sleeve Dress Blue working uniform with tie or “Johnny Cashes” as they were referred to. We also had the working dress whites with short sleeves. Blue coveralls were issued when you got to your shipboard command.

A little extra detail, the reason for the inverted creases and folding inside out for the service dress uniforms…. When they first emerged in the early 20th century/late 19th century, they were stowed ROLLED inside out (to help keep them clean and presentable on coal fired ships) and held that way by metal tipped cords called clothes stops. The creases resulted from the format of rolling, NOT from an iron or a press. In the modern era, the creases were ironed in or pressed in and the blouse and trousers were most commonly stowed on hangers, not folded or rolled. As for folding them the way that HM1 retrieved from the seabag, I have never seen that.

Served in the early 1970’s and we had both dress, and undress, whites and blues. Work uniform was chambray, short or long sleeved shirt, seafarer “bellbottoms”, boondocker boots, ball cap, marshmallow, or watch cap, ( depending upon command preference ) UNLESS you were in the UDT/SEAL, EOD, or Seabees, in which case you wore O.D. utilities, or camouflage utilities in-country Vietnam. Utility cap, or boonie, and even ballcaps could be seen in-country by SPECWAR operators. A light blue jacket, and a woollen peacoat were issued. Airedale enlisted sometimes would wear unauthorized flight jackets, but aircrews wore them as an authorized uniform item. Some squadrons wore ballcaps of a particular color, with squadron insignia to the fore. That was a command authorization. Chiefs, warrants, and Officers, had their dress uniforms, and as everyday wear, wore khaki’s, or a winter uniform of green. Yes, green. Mostly recall warrants wearing the greens. About as much as I can remember…

1 set of dress blues, 2 dress whites 2 working whites 2 working blues 5 dungaree was the standard seabag load with 5 white hats. Then they came up with blue coveralls to replace the dungs as a utility working uniform with the working blue and whites for office work, the utility uniform looked like the Coast Guard utilities. After I retired, they came out with the blueberries and khaki shirt/black pants and god knows what, hope it all fits in the bag. The uniform allowance never seemed to be enough.

We were issued 1 dress white 2 standard whites 1 dress blues 2 standard blues. Three sets of dungarees 3 tropical shirts and shorts a watch sweater,watch cap, raincoat, peacoat I think a pair of dress shoes and 1 pair of brogans several pairs of black socks. During a seabag inspection you had to account for each article so we would just pack it and buy extra uniforms. Oh yeah three hats. Sure have changed. Since 1968.

6:14 Fun fact, those type of coveralls are not authorized on ships due to them not having the required fire retardant material. Sailors are supposed to receive FEVs when they get to their first ship but most of the time their department is out of them and when ever new ones are ordered, another department steals them.

When I joined in the early 1960’s, the uniforms were: dress blues, neckerchief, white hat, cambray shirt and dungree trousers (work), short sleeved white shirt and white trousers, work boots, dress black shoes, swim trunks (wool), ball cap, peacoat, raincoat, white tee shirts, boxers or briefs, handful of clothes stops, black socks, black belt and buckle and the flat hat (which was never worn) all neatly packed into the olive green seabag. I still have my peacoat, raincoat and swim trunks (hated those things).

Our ‘PT Uniform’ was the same Janitor George outfit issued in boot camp. Of course, the only time we did PT (unless we screwed up) was in boot camp. The dress uniform was almost guaranteed to have you confused with an airline pilot (if lucky) or a doorman (if not). Once out of boot almost everyone switched over to the dugaree uniform which was more comfortable except for the abnormally high waist. Halfway through my time they decided to switch over to the older dress uniform style which included horrible polyester dress whites.

I miss my utility greens . Wire those when I was with the Seabees at my first command. Super comfy!! Then, in late 94, they were replaced with the BDUs. Went back to fleet and wore the dungarees. Not horrible. Somewhat comfy. Liked the Johnny cashes. The working whites were ok, they stained super easily. Hated the dress blues, itchy and hot. Didn’t like the dress whites, hot. We had the good coveralls, no FR. Then in late 99, the dungarees got replaced with utility blues. Very not bad. Comfy. Still wear those shirts today, minus the name, navy tapes and the crows.

The dress whites used to be 100% cotton and the dress blues 100% wool. They’ve both been a polyester blend for way too long and are very uncomfortable in summer and winter temps respectively, compared to the originals. Why the USN changed from the “Johnny Cash” black to the present service uniform is also beyond me, other than to confuse Marines.Replacing the dungaree shirt and jeans with camouflage was also a poor move, as the bell bottoms were easy to remove in water and be used as a flotation device(which was taught in Boot Camp). BTW, if you were ever in Engineering and deployed to a ship, submarine or squadron(which is what the real Navy does), you learn to appreciate the practicality of the coveralls. In both the SSBN and Attack class subs, this is a common working uniform for the entire crew (including sneakers for silent walking). BTW, HM1, the USN borrowed the dress blues and dress whites from the British Navy, amongst many other “traditions”. They take up little space when stowed, when space is at a premium on a combat ship or sub. (EX) IC2 Waldron (Desert Storm/Shield)

I served in the early ’70’s. We got service and dress whites and blues, our working uniform was blue chambrey shirt and dungrees pants, 100% cotton. Very comfortable. No PT gear. We did PT in our dungrees and boondockers. Office workers wore service whites or blues depending on the season/weather. One BIG reason I joined the Navy was the unique.uniforms. We didn’t look like another.branch of service.

Wow. When I was in we had our dress whites and dress blues, our dungarees and our johnny cashes (black pants and shirt). No khaki unless you were a chief and above. We also only had the dixie cover, a baseball cap, and watch cap. 2 shoes: work shoes/boots, dress shoes. If I saw an enlisted with the new navy khaki shirt and blue pants I would’ve said he was a marine. But they have green pants I think.

Uniforms have changed a ton since I got out in 2002. Dungarees and later the Utility uniform were used for what the Camo is used for now… and Service uniform replaced our old working whites… sure wish we had Service uni back then, because working whites got trashed so easily. We wore the coveralls as the daily uniform at sea, and green coveralls for working. Coveralls were the best uniform… so comfortable, easy to keep up… too bad we only got to wear them at sea.

The purpose of the cracker jacks in the modern navy is for recruitment of high schoolers. It serves no practical purpose aboard ship. The PT uniform is nice. In the 80s the only PT uniform issued was a very crappy pair of tennis shoes with no arch support. The forest or blue camo is stupid on a ship. A color that is easily spotted in water would be much better. I hope those boots float because those would be very hard to get off if you were in the water. The work shoes from 80s (boon dockers) were easy to remove. I’m surprised that the ship uniforms don’t have an airtight inflatable pocket by now. Maybe even with a built in CO2 canister. The best piece issued was the raincoat.

Just one correction – the jumpers are not folded inside-out to keep the integrity of the creases. They are folded inside-out to keep the outside of the uniform clean when stowed in your coffin locker. The reverse creases are an artifact of that. I’m glad that he didn’t repeat the “thirteen buttons for thirteen colonies” myth.

It has changed so much. This HM1 said he never cleaned his whites. When I was in, I received what was called a ditty bag. In that bag, I received a scrub brush and soap. Those items were our tools to keep our clothes clean during recruit training. I started in Camp Moffit, where we had old barracks, and inside we had what we called our laundry room. We also had strings called clothes stops, and all our laundry was hung outside on lines with those clothes stops. It was a chore, but as time went by, we had 12 weeks to learn it the right way, then never seen another clothes stop. We had no hot water to wash our clothes, and the trick was, getting all the soap rinsed out of our white clothes.

As a sailor myself I’ll say the Blues hands down are the most uncomfortable uniform I’ve ever had to wear. They look clean and I understand and completely respect the history behind the uniform but man they just suck to wear haha. Personally I love the whites, much more breathable and the pants are normal fitting and don’t have to be pulled up to your belly like the blues. Our camis are hands down the most badass looking uniform I think the Navy’s ever had and they’re incredibly comfortable. We rarely wear the NSUs and the yellow on blue PTUs are slowly being phased out by the much cleaner and more breathable all blue dri fit PTUs. Overall I think the Navy does a great job at staying true to its history while still offering a badass look to sailors with its uniforms nowadays. Hooooooooyah

navy vet here . 1972-1976 how sad the bell bottoms are gone and the work uniform looks like the army /marines . We looked like sailors back then . our uniforms except the wool dress / undress blues all could be used as flotation devices . the bell bottoms let us get our pants off to make floatation devices too .

I was in the Navy back when they switched over from the CPO style uniform for all enlisted ranks back to the crackerjacks (mid-80s). I utterly hated the crackerjacks (white or navy blue). They were a PITA to maintain and were not as comfortable as the CPO style… and the dixie cup is a horrible hat, it blows off in any stiff wind unless you hold it on with one hand… and usually, if you are in the Navy, you are near the ocean and it tends to be windy… which meant that you were walking around holding your dixie cup on and getting slapped in the back of the head with the flap collar of the crackerjacks. Awesome. Only CPOs and Officers wore khaki, it was an indicator of rank. Replacing the utilities/dungarees with coveralls is good. I was in the submarine service and (at that time) we were the only ones wearing coveralls (surface people wore utilities/dungarees).. we also wore athletic shoes rather than workboots underway because of noise.

Blues, Whites, (dress & undress), dungarees & chambray shirts for work and poopie suits on the Boats (submarines) white hats for all uniforms, dress shoes and boondockers for work. Additionally ball caps and winter hats (squirrel hats). Loved it! Oh we did have this POS Chiefy uniform but it only lasted a couple of years. Yuck!

People don’t know but NONE of these Uniforms are free. Everyone had to pay for these Uniforms at Boot Camp and for the rest of their careers. You get an annual $100 Uniform Allowance which covers little to nothing. a Service Dress Uniform cost nearly $300 (pending the amount of medals and service years you have).

The clothing worn today in large part are a lot different from the time I was in the navy back in early to mid seventies. Whites were to be worn in summer season and blues in winter. There was no camouflage in that time to which working uniform was light blue shirt with dark pants. Khaki colors were worn only by crew chiefs and officers for the most part.

Retired Corpsman, and in the late 70’s was stationed at the Recruit Medical Clinic on the old Orlando Training Base, and was seriously considering applying to be a “Red Rope” like him (terminology was different then), but I was informed that Corpsmen could not apply. Recently, was perusal a number of articles about Boot Camp, and I was surprised to notice that there was a large number of Corpsmen like him who are “Red Rope’s”. Believe that I would of done a good job

I’m Old Navy, 21 years served….I’m talking Dixie cup with denim dungarees old Navy when the Navy still had BT’s, RM’s, SM’s…etc. And for you young sailors out there. I was in during the early 1990’s, the pre-internet cell phone smart phone era, where to communicate home was regular mail and using the phones at the call centers using the pre-paid phone cards….ahhhh those were the days…LOL. A lot of you old school Old Navy guys can remember our seabags had 5 pairs of dungarees, BoonDockers, the heavy wool P-coat, 1 set of dress blue crackerjacks, 2 sets of the dress whites (there were no pipes on the dress whites back in my day) 2 pair of working whites. But you can purchase the CMT whites (which I prefer) 2 pair of working blues or Johnny Cash’s, the raincoat, knit cap, gloves, the blue all weather jacket. I retired just as the Navy were getting rid of the “smurfs” or the digital blue working uniform in 2014.

I spent 4 years as a surface fleet sailor in an engineering rate as an Engineman. I wore my coveralls daily, utilities occasionally, dress uniforms rarely, working uniforms very rarely. In fact, the only time I remember wearing my working uniforms at all, was when I attended E-5 leadership training. I think I would have preferred the peanut butters more than having 2 different sets of working uniforms. I loved my coveralls. Easy in, easy out. They had just started changing over to the fire retardent one’s for everyone on ship, about the time I got out in 2003. I hated them, but the only time we had to wear the fire retardent ones, was when you were standing watch in a main engine room, so I didn’t have to wear them very often. The only bad thing about coveralls was that you couldn’t leave the pier in them. If you had to go to base medical or leave base for any reason. You had to be wearing utilities, working, or dress uniforms. I’m glad to see they finally added a zipper to the dress blues. My dress blue pants still had the 13 buttons. Straight PITA to go to the bathroom. I also think I would have preferred the cammies to utilities. I think they look sharper, and more designed for a fighting force.

Ex Australian Navy 20 years. When I put my Petty Officer’s cap on for the first time the visor was such a hinderance to my upper peripherals I removed said cap and pretended I had suffered a head injury. It worked for a while until some smart arsed midshipman called me out for proof paper work. Damn had to put it back on and salute the midshipman. 2 weeks that lasted and by then it did not bother me as much. We had what the navy called a kit muster which had to be laid in a specific fashion. This was drummed into you in recruit school. Weekly. Every item was accounted for and except the uniform you were standing in and one allowed to be for laundry. Cleaned pressed and exact as to the navy’s specs. This was my most hated task whilst in the navy. Your superiors could use a kit muster as a punishment ad hoc.

I have my Dad’s sea bag. He died in 1976. He was a Korean War vet. The contents were completely different. My favorite item was his pea coat. Unfortunately I’m four inches taller and 30 lbs heavier than he was so nothing fits me. I also have his Dad’s WWI foot locker and it’s contents but that’s another story.

I still have the neckerchief from my sailor days almost 55 years ago. it was rolled around a dime so i always had a coin for a telephone call. The working uniform was blue dungarees and short sleeve light blue shirt. This uniform made sense. The rest were for show and inconvenient as Hell. Polishing shoes was a great time waster. One thing I do remember is doing boot camp at Great Lakes near Milwaukee in the winter without cold weather gear. That was damned cold. By contrast the Mekong Delta was damned hot. FWIW – You do NOT want polyester anywhere near open fire. Molten plastic sticks to burns and makes treatment terribly painful. Cotton washed with /borax is far better but does wrinkle and look “sloppy”. Polyester in cloths must have been created by some neat freak desk jockey. Some things never change. It has been 55 years and I am still bitching about the Navy

He should have explained what the Green/Blue sides are. Green side are the Navy corpsmen detached with the Marines( commonly referred to as “Doc”). The Blue side is just the regular Navy. The best Navy uniform was the Seafarer bell bottom jeans. I got about 10 of them when i was in. Semper Fi to all the Green side sailors, You are more Marines than Navy.

Considering how hard it can be to spot a Navy Crewmember if they fall overboard at sea, why would there be such a thing as camo uniforms for Sea Duty? I’ve had discussions with those in Washington who came up with the camo pattern, in both blue and green. Supposedly, a seaman ‘painting and chipping’ in these could get paint on them and it was not as noticeable as paint on the Dungarees. Not sure I agree with that one… any thoughts? The old blue Dungaree uniform was very comfortable and would ‘breathe’ even in hot climates. During deployment to WestPac/IO, my C.O. (Commander Hodge) changed the ‘Uniform of the Day’ to short dungaree pants and white T’s (and sandels, with back straps). It was perfect for the hot climates we experienced. You were responsible for hemming the shorts and replacing them with regulation long dungaree pants as needed. The uniform changed back when we were in a port of call. In 1977, we were issued salt and peppers at Basic (similar to the Peanut Butters, but black pants and white shirts). The Trop White pants were used with the same shirt. They had done away with ‘Cracker Jacks’ and ‘Dixie Cups’ during this time, and our dress uniform hat was similar to what Chiefs wore with a white cover. We also had a black double-breasted dress coat for winter use. The hats were difficult to store under your rack aboard ship without damaging them, and a standing locker was the answer. I’m glad to see the old Dress Blues reissued again! Nothing says “NAVY” like these.

I joined the Navy in ‘58 and then we had undress blues, undress whites, which became dress whites with a neckerchief, dress blues, and dungarees. Now there’s camos, black pants, khaki shirts, three different hats, coveralls, “dress whites”, and some uniforms that aren’t allowed in a sea bag. I know I’m old and old school, but I’ll take dungarees, undress blues and whites, and a white hat that definitely says “Navy” any day over what sailors have to wear now.

I was Navy from 1967-71. Things sure have changed. At least they got rid of the dungarees. Very poor quality material and always looked crappy unless you starched them stiff as a board. Tropical whites are gone also. Too bad…my summer favorite. Undress blues and whites (no neckerchief and no piping) are also gone. Coveralls…..really. I like the khaki shirt and black pants but we had a different name for that style cover. My standard uniform loadout in bootcamp: 1 dress blue jumper 2 undress blue jumpers (no piping) 2 blue trousers with 13 buttons no zipper 2 white jumpers with no piping 2 white trousers with button fly 2 white tropical short-sleeved shirts 2 chambray dungaree shirts long-sleeved 2 dungaree trousers with button fly 6 white t shirts 6 white boxer shorts Black dress socks (can’t remember how many) White athletic socks (ditto quantity) White handkerchiefs (ditto quantity) 1 black silk neckerchief 1 wool peacoat 1 black raincoat 1 deck jacket 3 white dixie cups 1 knit watch cap 1 ball cap 2 pairs black dress oxfords 1 pair boondocker boots 1 pair athletic sneakers 1 pair black fur lined winter gloves 1 white web belt 1 dark blue web belt We then went to the Navy Exchange and purchased our personal hygiene items. I probably forgot something but can’t remember what. Upon graduating boot camp you somehow stuffed all this into your canvas seabag save for your dress blues because they were required since you would be traveling under orders regardless of the climate and season.

As an Army veteran I say: 1) Ditch the whites – I don’t think there is a piece of gear as frustrating in the Army except ‘real’ brass and leather low quarters. Shining brass and leather sucks, it takes forever to get those items to standard, and then it’s a matter of minutes until something gets touched. This is a huge expense in time and money that could be saved, if there’s a tradition problem there’s probably a way around it. Not many people in the Army use real brass or leather, there’s lots of parade ready options out there that I have never even heard of getting a ding during a board. 2) Pick a dress uniform 3) Whatever happened to the dungarees? The Navy is full of mechanics and technicians, they need functional clothes with pockets. These would be a useful uniform, I suppose cammies can kind of fill the place, do you have to wear the 8 point with cammies, or can Ya’ll use the “ship” cap (sorry I don’t know what you call the ball caps with the ship name on them, those are cool)? Looks like the Navy is spending too much time cleaning and maintaining uniforms.

So cooool !!! I like those uniforms and I want to join the Navy to try all of them 🤩🤩😍😍🥰Why Navy has an age range for recruit? Age discrimination 😁😁🤩 Will they accept my application? I must say gifted minds designed those uniforms. We need to invent a material that cleans it’s self so we do not have to worry too much about how to keep them clean.

My interest is in submarines their officers and enlisted uniforms. In the article, he covered submarines uniforms briefly. I thought he got it a bit wrong. He pointed out the black work boots with the coveralls. I thought submariners wore sneakers and had slightly different coveralls (e.g. lighter weight material) than those described. I know during the cold war period the Navy issued US made snakers that were by a company called Jimmy and were always CVO (Circular Vamp Oxford). I’m wondering about today’s submariner and their uniforms iinside and outside of the tube. Thank you. Oh, P.S. How do the officer uniforms differ (all areas of the US Navy). Again, thank you.