purple with the RNEC lettering in gold. Traditionally, half-Wellington boots were worn with mess dress and mess undress, but today shoes are more common. The optional outer garment worn with evening dress is the boat cloak, which is a knee-length navy blue cloak lined with white silk, with four gilt buttons, and fastened at the neck with two gilt lions' heads joined with a chain. Miniature medals are worn with both mess dress and mess undress, though previously medal ribbons only were worn with mess undress on routine occasions, such as by the officer of the day. Officers who are members of orders of chivalry wear their stars and ribbons as appropriate. The Elder Brethren of Trinity House are authorised to wear a mess dress based upon that of a Royal Navy captain. British Army Mess uniforms first appeared in the British Army in about 1845, initially utilizing the short "shell jacket" worn since 1831. This working jacket was worn open over a regimental waistcoat for evening dress. The original purpose was to provide a relatively comfortable and inexpensive alternative to the stiff and elaborate full-dress uniforms then worn by officers for evening social functions such as regimental dinners or balls. With the general disappearance of full dress uniforms after World War I, mess dress became the most colourful and traditional uniform to be retained by most officers in British and Commonwealth armies. Immediately after World War II the cheaper "blue patrols" were worn for several years as mess dress, but by 1956 the traditional uniforms had been readopted. The formal designation of the most commonly worn mess uniform in the British Army is "No. 10 (Temperate) Mess Dress". The form varies according to regiment or corps, but generally a short mess jacket is worn, which either fastens at the neck (being cut away to show the waistcoat, this being traditionally the style worn by cavalry regiments and other mounted corps), or is worn with a white shirt and black bow tie (traditionally the usual style for unmounted regiments, corps, and services). Since regimental amalgamations, the "cut away" or cavalry-style jacket has been adopted by some British Army infantry regiments such as the Royal Regiment of Wales, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and corps such as the Adjutant General's Corps and the Royal Logistic Corps. Officers of the Foot Guards, Royal Engineers, the Parachute Regiment, the Royal Army Medical Corps,