Blue Dress Uniform

The Blue Dress uniform is one of the most recognizable uniforms in the world. Marines have worn a blue uniform for most of their existence. Since 1912, only a few major changes have been made to the uniform. For example, enlisted Marines used to wear pocketless Blue Dress coats, while officers wore coats with pockets. Now, both wear pocketed coats. The photograph on the right shows a Marine in Dress Blues around 1915. Notice the lack of pockets and the narrower cap.

The Marines also have a variation on the Dress Blues, called Blue-White Dress. Worn only in summer, this uniform was created by putting the White Dress trousers together with the Blue Dress coat.

I addition to this variation, there are two other variations of Blue Dress, 'C' and 'D'. Blue Dress 'C' consists of the khaki long-sleeved shirt, tie and tie-clip, Blue Dress trousers and the khaki web belt. The quarter-length sleeve khaki shirt, Blue Dress trousers and khaki web belt make up Blue Dress 'D'.

The Marine shown in the picture on the right wears Blue Dress 'A' with the NCO sword. Blue Dress 'B' is the same as 'A', but ribbons are worn in lieu of medals. The white belt in this picture is worn with the white NCO sword frog.

The difference between enlisted and officer versions of Blue Dress are minimal. Officers wear no red trim, wear blue belts and their coats are a slighty darker blue color.

Female Marines didn't start wearing Blue Dress until 1952. Since then, the most major changes have been the wearing of a necktab instead of a tie, the cap being white in color instead of the original blue, and the authorization to wear slacks on some occasions. The color of the dress cap was also changed for male Marines, but their change took place many years prior to the female's change. A change in the color of Marne leather items from brown to black (1963) affected females and males as well.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Kemp

© 1997, 1998 D.B.

Thanks to Capt. Williamson, Ms. J. Petsch, Capt. Carsten and Mrs. N. King for assistance in my research.