Overview
- The Royal Navy will swap out the women’s No 1 dress jacket after an internal paper said the top two decorative buttons sit in an inappropriately high position.
- More than 950 female officers, including those in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, will receive the revised jacket in two waves starting in September and then from February.
- The service pegs the cost at about £200,000 and says it will offset the spend by issuing fewer uniforms.
- Some serving personnel have condemned the plan as a waste of taxpayer money during a wider funding squeeze, and several women say they already paid out of pocket for the current jacket.
- Lower‑ranked sailors are not included because their jackets have three rows of buttons, and the No 1 dress is used for ceremonies such as inspections, official visits and funerals.