[Paladin2b]

That's the old Mess Dress uniform, not the Service Dress uniform sought to be changed.

That being said, I'd deep-six the Mess Dress as well. The most embarassing moment in my father's duty in the USAF was when he (a major) was mistaken for a waiter at a swank dinner party in a Chicago club.

[TontoKowalski]

That being said, I'd deep-six the Mess Dress as well.

Dump the Navy version, too. It has a sparkly gold cumberbund. Who the hell came up with that. Otherwise, it doesn't look too bad. Depending on the affair, you could actually wear funny non-regulation bow ties. I recall at a squadron dinner once, our wardroom all wore red ties with white stars a-spangling them.

Well, nothing we had was worse than those old-style covers the women had to wear. Talk about unflattering.