Unlike the “choker” style collar found on the Evening Dress uniform jackets worn by male Officers, the collar on the female Evening Dress jacket lies flat in front and turns up in the rear to follow the white dress shirt collar. The jacket collar is made of scarlet wool tropical, and features embroidered gold ornamentation that is centered along the back seam. Dress-collar insignia (approximately 11/16-inch in diameter) is worn in the eyelets found at the end of each collar.
Although the Marine Corps commissioned its first female officer in 1943, it was not until 1950 that the Corps created an Evening Dress uniform for them. Patterned after the Full Dress uniform of male Marine Officers, it was introduced by Colonel Katherine A. Towle at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball held at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D.C. in November of that year.
In 2017, the Marine Corps had another first regarding women Officers: The Corps announced in September of that year that, for the first time ever, a female had successfully completed the service’s rigorous Infantry Officer Course. Although the Officer chose to keep her identity anonymous, it was revealed that she would be assigned to the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.
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