Why Royal Navy women’s uniform design is under criticism

The buttons on the ceremonial women’s uniforms of the Royal Navy have come under criticism. According to critics, they are positioned in an inappropriate place, which is why new uniforms now need to be ordered. The cost: £200,000. And not everyone is happy about that.

Royal Navy updates women’s uniforms

The issue concerns the buttons on the Number 1 uniform shown above. This is the uniform worn during ceremonial occasions such as funerals and official visits. Just like the men, women wear a jacket with double-breasted buttons. Junior and mid-ranking personnel wear jackets with three rows of buttons. Officers, however, wear four rows with a total of eight buttons. On the women’s version, the upper buttons sit at nipple height, which has now become a topic of discussion.

As a result, the Royal Navy has decided to order new ceremonial uniforms for 950 female officers. This comes down to around £210 per jacket. That is not an unusual amount for a uniform, but some people still consider it unnecessary. The organisation stated that the changes would be funded “at Crown expense”. It also claimed the costs would be offset by issuing fewer uniforms elsewhere.

On paper, those may sound like reassuring financial statements, but in practice “at Crown expense” means the costs are covered by taxpayers. And not everyone is pleased about that.

History of Royal Navy women’s uniforms

You may wonder why this has suddenly become an issue. Surely someone could have noticed this earlier?

But the situation is more complicated than that. The ceremonial uniform has existed for a very long time. During the Second World War, members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), the women’s branch of the Royal Navy, already wore the same style jacket.

Men’s uniforms as inspiration

At the time, British fashion designer Edward Molyneux designed the uniform and tried to keep the men’s and women’s versions as similar as possible. Women wore a skirt and a slightly different hat, but otherwise the design stayed largely the same. All ranks wore a double-breasted jacket, shirt and tie.

It is not surprising that the buttons have only now become controversial. People had joked about their placement on women’s uniforms for years, but nobody took those comments seriously. Until now.

For decades, designers created uniforms with the male body as the starting point. You can still see this in the rise of unisex uniforms, which often have a straight fit and mainly suit a male body shape. Yet once organisations label something as “unisex”, they expect women to wear it too.

Public services are no exception. The fact that women also had to wear ties once again shows that men remained the standard. Around the world, people traditionally view ties as a male accessory. But once women enter the profession, organisations suddenly stop treating the accessory as gendered. Instead, women are expected to adapt. That attitude has slowly started to change in recent years.

Changing women’s uniforms takes time

Organisations are paying more attention to female fit and appearance in uniforms than before. But change takes time. Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan, the first female lieutenant general in the Dutch armed forces, experienced this herself. When she took office, she publicly removed her tie as a statement. She wanted to show that women do not have to become men in order to appear strong.

During her time in office, she pushed for improvements to women’s uniforms. Among other things, she helped introduce dresses as part of the daily uniform and advocated for body armour designed for the female body. She regularly spoke about these issues in the media as well. During that period, she once hired me as an advisor on women’s uniforms. Many people, including myself, admired her determination. But behind the scenes she also received significant criticism. Some people within an organisation built around traditions shaped from a male perspective viewed her as a disruptive force.

And that is exactly what we are now seeing within the Royal Navy. People no longer follow traditions without questioning them. Today, organisations examine details more critically instead of dismissing concerns. The buttons had been an issue for years. The difference is that they concerned women’s uniforms, and for a long time people simply did not consider that important. That is finally starting to change. After all, without friction there is no shine.

Want to read more about Royal Navy uniforms?

Also check:

• Royal Navy members now allowed to combine cultural clothing with uniform
• What the curl on uniform stripes means
  
  

Groetjes,
Aileen