oldfrank
New member
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find a written definition of this dress code? I know perfectly well what I understand (reefer & flannels) but I've ben asked to define it and am struggling a mite. OF
Yachting Best
- Thread starter oldfrank
- Start date
Timcowen
New member
Try looking at www.savilerow-style.com. Describes them quite nicely. Traditional 'reefer' now probably replaced with the 'blazer' .
Timcowen
New member
Further to last, put in reefer and flannels then select the savilerow-style site and you should go straight to the correct page.
Tim
Tim
oldfrank
New member
Thanks for that Tim but I fear it doesn't really help very much. I'm looking for a definition of what might describe 'Yachting Best' today as a dress code. This website purports to give the history ... but it ain't quite right. They seem unaware that there was, for example a social delineation by buttons. Owners wore black club buttons, paid hands gilt. Old Frank
chart5011
New member
The time to put on a Reefer must be when you first think about it!
Kukri
Well-known member
I'll take a shot at it.
A reefer is not a blazer.
The reefer jacket is a descendant of the pea jacket; as such a reefer jacket should be made of very heavy cloth. The correct material is called "doeskin", it is practically bullet proof, but should this be unavailable then at the very least barathea or for preference pilot cloth. The colour should be a uniform very dark blue. It should have two vents, and be double breasted with six working buttons and two show buttons higher and further apart than the working buttons. Normal lapels; not excessively pointed nor too narrow and certainly not a shawl collar. Working cuffs with four buttons.
Yacht owners and amateur crew members should wear black buttons with the crest of their Yacht Club. It is not correct to wear any sort of badge on the breast pocket.
Paid hands wear brass buttons.
A reefer jacket should be worn with a white shirt and the tie of the Yacht Club whose crest is on the buttons - nothing else.
Absolutely NOT a cravat!
It is correct to wear a reefer with grey flannels; the wearing of white flannels is perhaps controversial.
(edited to add) I find, in "Sailing in Eccentric Circles", by Ian Dear, a note to the effect that the Hon. Augustine Courtauld (the "Man on the Ice Cap" founder of the Ocean Youth Club, etc - a genuine hero and a notable benefactor of sailing for the less well off) was reproved by the RYS when, on first being elected, he came ashore from "Duet" in white flannels. It may be that grey flannels are the safer choice.
The same source tells me that he also experimented with wearing a beret with RYS badge and a reefer jacket; this was also reproved.
Deck shoes are correct, but only in sensible colours.
At Club functions, but not, of course, elsewhere, a reefer may be worn in place of a DJ. When thus worn black shoes, preferably patent leather, are correct, unless the function is on board a yacht
Nobody ever wears a yachting cap; this is extinct and attempts to revive the custom will result in laughter. Do not wear a pseudo-yachting cap such as the "breton cap" with a reefer, and see above for berets.
Unlike other garments, with the possible exception of tweed shooting suits, age and shabbiness do not detract from the acceptability of a reefer jacket, provided it was made for the owner in the first place.
How's that?
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oldfrank
New member
Teriffic, Thank you. Did you know that even Gieves have ceased to retail yachting caps? The things are so unfashionable they must be headed for a major rediscovery! How would you feel about a black tie with a club tiepin?
OF
OF
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Rum_Pirate
Well-known member
Cant get there. Can you just post the link?
Is this what you are referring to as being a reefer jacket
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oldfrank
New member
No. Although very smart, that looks like a short female overcoat. Could it be known as something similar to a boat coat? A reefer is a simple, dark blue, double-breasted jacket. Two vents in back, usually six black, club buttons with smaller black buttons on the cuffs. OF
Kukri
Well-known member
Thank you; I think a black tie with a club tiepin would be quite in order.
I must be a dinosaur; I have had two reefer jackets made for me, over the decades - age and advancing girth put paid to the first. However the good news is that if you can find a proper tailor he can find out how to make a good reefer jacket. The chap who made the one that I now wear had never made one before, but he looked it up, described it to me and made an excellent job.
The last man whom I can recall as routinely wearing a yachting cap and not provoking laughter was Sir Alec Rose, who is something of a hero of mine for non-sartorial reasons. He wore his with a reefer jacket.
Romeo
Well-known member
Those of us under 60, who have never been to Cowes, probably think of a US Navy able seaman's jacket when we think of a reefer jacket: similar to RPs picture above.
oldfrank
New member
Garry Beverley Tailoring still make yachting caps and I suspect may have produced them for Gieves. www.GBeverleytailors.co.uk. Prices seem to vary from £69 to £170 if you fancy yourself in an Admirals frame cap. I have no connection with this firm and I've never bought anything from them! OF
Rum_Pirate
Well-known member
Can somebody please post a picture or a (direct) link to a site showing a proper reefer jacker?
oldfrank
New member
This bloke's wearing one - with gilt RN buttons.
scuhapcil
N/A
I skimmed through some of the rules here and didn't see anything against it.
Kukri
Well-known member
Crikey!
I see they also supply mess kit for the RYS, RLYC and RTYC and even an RCC cap badge!
doug748
Well-known member
How's that? Excellent. One of the best posts I have read for a while.
BTW, I grew up in South Lancashire in the 1950s and remember that, for a time, Reefer Jackets were very fashionable. I doubt many of them were tailor made though. Oldham is a long way from the RYS, in all senses of the word.
Keen_Ed
Active member
Bit late to this one.
AIUI, RYS regs/recommendations. If they don't know, who does?
Daytime (before 6pm).
White trousers. Either deckshoes or black lace up shoes. Shirt of "a sober colour" - either white or blue - no stripes/checks etc. Reefer jacket with dark blue club buttons. Black tie and club tie pin (there isn't a club tie). Yachting cap with club crest.
Evening (after 6pm. Doh!) As above, except dark blue trousers to match reefer jacket. Black shoes only - not deckshoes.
Similar to the answer when someone asked what the dresscode at Cazenove was - "Shoes have laces and trousers have braces".
AIUI, RYS regs/recommendations. If they don't know, who does?
Daytime (before 6pm).
White trousers. Either deckshoes or black lace up shoes. Shirt of "a sober colour" - either white or blue - no stripes/checks etc. Reefer jacket with dark blue club buttons. Black tie and club tie pin (there isn't a club tie). Yachting cap with club crest.
Evening (after 6pm. Doh!) As above, except dark blue trousers to match reefer jacket. Black shoes only - not deckshoes.
Similar to the answer when someone asked what the dresscode at Cazenove was - "Shoes have laces and trousers have braces".
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st599
Well-known member
I went to an event at RORC recently, I only go the invite 3 hours before teh event so I rang and asked what the dress-code was and the lady said: "What you wear for work".
Apparently she didn't mean scruffy jeans, dodgy T-shirt and steel toe capped boots.
reginaldon
New member
There's a thread on back or gilt buttons on Scuttlebutt at present.
Did get a peaked cap from Gieves in Londonderry in 1950 in a moment of vanity - a quid, I believe, KUA was being stetched.
Did get a peaked cap from Gieves in Londonderry in 1950 in a moment of vanity - a quid, I believe, KUA was being stetched.