Royal Navy Captain, undress uniform

Until 1748 there was no regulation uniform for the Royal Navy and officers wore whatever they wished. In that year the first regulations for officers' uniforms were laid down, after a petition to the Admiralty in 1746 for a regulation uniform by officers who wished to be identified as officers in the Royal Navy and to be assured of the respect due to those in the service of the Crown. Regulation clothing for ratings was introduced only in 1857 but since at least the early 18th century a sort of uniform was produced by the supply of purser's "slops", mass-produced ready made clothing that sailors could buy from the ship's purser.

This is the undress uniform of a captain - dress uniform did not have the lapels but had more gold lace.

This was part of a commission of templates of 18th century naval uniform by Moshe, who kindly allowed me to present this for general use.