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UNIFORMS, ARMS & EQUIPMENT - FOOT GUARDS
THE FOOT GUARDS 1881-1902
OFFICER'S CAPS AND FROCKS FOR ACTIVE SERVICE
Folding field caps followed the general trend of the rest of the army. In 1881 the caps were of the Austrian pattern. It was described as blue cloth 5 inches high with flaps 4 inches deep. The top and flaps were edged in gold braid. By 1900 the cap had evolved into the pattern that continues to this day. The flaps were edged in scarlet braid. Field officers may have used gold braid. Regimental badges were borne on the caps,
The field service frock was introduced in 1882 but was not described in regulations until 1891. It was a scarlet frock with collar the same. It had two patch pockets on the breast and two below the waist. The shoulder straps were blue. In typical Guards tradition, there were six buttons on the front, singly for the Grenadiers, in pairs for the Coldstreams and threes for the Scots. The cuff buttons were the same. No mention was made about collar badges but an 1890 photo of some Grenadier Guards officers shows them with gold grenades on the collars. One assumes that the other Guards officers did the same.
In 1896, a blue frock was authorised. This was to be the same as the scarlet frock as far as buttons and other distinctions. In general, it was the same as such frocks in the rest of the Army. When the Irish Guards were formed, it is not known that they adopted the scarlet frock. However photographic evidence shows that they wore the blue frock with buttons in fours.
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