Worn with uniform of the same name during Summer to official functions and ceremonies at which civilians would normally wear black-tie clothing, the Female Dinner Dress White Jacket (DDWJ) is a mandatory clothing item for Officers in the rank of Lieutenant Commander and above. Although it is an optional item for lower-ranked Officers, Chief Petty Officers, and Junior Enlisted personnel, all Sailors dedicated to the Navy as a career should consider it an essential seabag component even though they are permitted to wear the Dinner Dress White Uniform with the Service Dress White Coat in its stead.
The Female DDWJ is a bolero-style jacket with a narrow shawl collar. Three 22.5-ligne Navy eagle buttons—gold for Officers and CPOs, silver for Junior Enlisted—run down each front panel, but they are not functional as the jacket is worn open (the men’s version is closed with a two chain-linked buttons). Unlike their male counterparts who wear hard shoulder boards to display their rank and corps affiliation (Line or Staff), female Officers wear sleeve stripes and
sleeve devices, while all Enlisted personnel display their rate and pay grade with
rating badges and their length of service with
service stripes (commonly referred to as "hashmarks" or "hash marks").
Note: Our military dress coats and jackets are manufactured and ship with unfinished sleeves longer than most customers would ever need. This is to accommodate various arm lengths and to minimize total alteration costs, since placement of sleeve devices and sleeve stripes or services stripes is predicated on the distance from the sleeve end. We offer a variety of sleeve alteration services that will be suggested to you when add the coat to your shopping cart.