Mess jacket

The mess jacket is a type of formal jacket that ends at the waist. It features either a non-fastening double breast cut or a single-breasted version that fastens. The jackets have shawl or peak lapels. Used in military mess dress, during the 1930s it became a popular alternative to the white dinner jacket in hot and tropical weather for black tie occasions. It also was prominently used, in single-breasted form, as part of the uniform for underclassmen at Eton College, leading to the alternative name Eton jacket. Its origin was a spencer, a tail-less adaptation of the tailcoat worn by both men and women during the Regency period. The term mess is the area where military personnel dine and socialize, and thus "mess jacket" corresponds etymologically to "(military) dinner jacket".