Important Inventory Update (11-16-2023)
Our inventory of cummerbunds is currently exhausted due to unusually high demand and a severe shortage of MIL-SPEC fabric. You may still add a cummerbund to your order at this time and when production resumes we will process the oldest orders first, but we cannot guarantee a specific shipment date. Alternatively, you can postpone your order until we have begun production, but be aware that orders will be fulfilled in the order in which they were received and that back-orders will be given precedence.
We apologize for the inconvenience and will update this page when production has resumed.
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An optional purchase item, the black cummerbund may be manufactured of silk or satin material and has four or five pleats that run the entire length of the cummerbund. Females wear it with the Blue or White Mess and Evening Mess uniforms, while males wear it with the White or Blue Mess uniforms. For males, bow ties are always worn with cummerbunds, and regulations require that these two items must be made with the same type of material.
Our black cummerbund is manufactured in satin with four pleats and is available in large and small sizes, formerly referred to as “men’s” and “women’s.” The large size is 5 inches in height, and the small is approximately 3.75 inches high.
The Army’s wear guidance for cummerbunds is somewhat odd in that it calls for them to be worn with pleats facing down; civilian tuxedo etiquette universally calls for the opposite orientation, which explains such common cummerbund nicknames like the somewhat gauche “crumb catcher” and “ticket holder” (typically opera or live theater tickets, since tuxedoes are involved).