Etiquette, Diplomats and Uniforms

Mr. Sanford resigned on a point of etiquette. He had adopted the “Marcy uniform” — that is, a plain dress for State occasions…

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“Did the U.S. Ever Require Diplomatic Uniforms? Before the Department of State formally established uniforms in 1817, American diplomats often designed their own. That year, the State Department prescribed an official ‘civilian suit’ modeled after what U.S. delegates wore to the Conference of Ghent in 1814, which ended the War of 1812. Even then, uniforms were mostly reserved for ceremonial occasions, and the practice quickly fell out of favor. By 1853, Secretary of State William L. Marcy issued a circular recommending that U.S. diplomats simply wear ‘the simple dress of an American citizen’ (U.S. Department of State, 2003). Still, many foreign governments preferred a standardized diplomatic uniform for formal events, which left American diplomats to decide for themselves. That flexibility made the U.S. stand out in the 19th century—and it continues to set the tone today, as uniforms remain common in many other diplomatic corps around the world” — From a terrific article by Victoria Monroy on LinkedIn.

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Above — Wearing the official Belgian diplomatic uniform, Baron Henri Beyens photographed in 2011. Courtesy of Wikipedia

A Question of Dress

Mr. Sandford, for a long time Secretary of Legation at Paris, has resigned, and Mr. Pratt, of Ohio, is to have the place. Mr. Sanford resigned on a point of etiquette. He had adopted the Marcy uniform — that is, a plain dress for State occasions — and Mr. Mason had determined that the Legation should adhere to the court dress heretofore worn, and the difficulty being in itself irreconcilable, Mr. Sandford resigned. Our foreign missions must be important when dress is the principal subject of discussion and dissension.—The San Joaquin Republican, 1854

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor of the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia