A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually

pleat A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference. Pleats are cat ...

ed, which is often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets (or ''tuxedos''). The cummerbund was adopted by British military officers in

colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spices. The search for the wealth and prospe ...

, where they saw it worn by sepoys (Indian soldiers) of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

. It was adopted as an alternative to the waistcoat, and later spread to civilian use. The modern use of the cummerbund to Europeans and North Americans is as a component of traditional

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

events.

Etymology

The word ''cummerbund'' is the Anglicized form of Hindustani ''kamarband'' ( Hindustani: कमरबंद; ), which is in turn from Persian (). It entered

English vocabulary English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

in 1616 from India. It is a combination of the words ''kamar'' meaning 'waist' and ''band'' meaning 'strap' or 'lacing'. The 'waist-band' was a sash accessory worn by Indian men for many occasions. The word ''cummerband'' (see below), and less commonly the German spelling (a Germanized spelling variation of the English word), are often used synonymously with ''cummerbund'' in English.

Description

The form of the cummerbund is a wide band around the waist, and its origin as part of

determined the acceptable colours. It was adopted as civilian dress, beginning as a largely summer option with informal dinner jackets, such as Burmese fawn and white, it was restricted to the narrow range of colours which accompany black tie. These were predominantly black, sometimes midnight blue to match the trousers, and occasionally maroon (the normal hue for coloured accessories). The pleats face up because they were originally used to hold ticket stubs and similar items,Bridges, John (2008). ''How to be a Gentleman: A Timely Guide to Timeless Manners'' Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. explaining the slang name 'crumb-catcher'. However, the cummerbunds worn as part of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Blue Mess and Blue Evening Mess uniforms are worn with the pleats down, as prescribed by Army Regulation 670–1 Chapter 24 Section 10(b). The US Navy Uniform Regulations NAVPERS 15665 stipulate the cummerbund be worn with the pleats up for the Navy Dinner Dress Jacket. The contemporary use of the cummerbund is purely aesthetic, providing a transition between the shirt and the waistband. The fastening is a ribbon around the back, tied or held shut by a buckle or velcro. In contemporary use, it is now common to see coloured bow ties and cummerbunds, often matching, but this is considered non-traditional. They have also expanded in less formal situations into use with components of white tie, particularly by musicians, who sometimes wear a white cummerbund instead of the traditional piqué waistcoat.

Military cummerbunds

Most units of the French Army of Africa wore cummerbunds of two different colours: blue for the European soldiers of the Zouaves and

Chasseurs d'Afrique The ''Chasseurs d'Afrique'' were a light cavalry corps of chasseurs in the French Armée d'Afrique (Army of Africa). First raised in 1831 from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered five regiments by World War II. For most of ...

; and red for the native Spahis and

Tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...

. Some modern French regiments with a colonial history origin, still retain cummerbunds as part of their full dress uniform (notably the French Foreign Legion and the Spahis). Similar to the cummerbund, a cummerband is an accessory to the dress uniform used in several modern South Asian armies, including the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

, the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

and the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities to deliver the Bangladeshi government's security and defe ...

. It is generally worn during ceremonial parades and dinners. The colour or combination of colours varies widely according to regiment or corps.John Gaylor, "Sons of John Company – the Indian and Pakistan Armies", Unlike the civilian cummerbund, a leather belt is worn above this cloth piece and one end hangs free displaying an ornamental fringe.

Athletic cummerbunds

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, cotton cummerbunds were commonly worn by athletes participating in gymnastic and/or

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppo ...

training and competition.

Cummerbunds in scuba diving

A ''cummerbund'' is also an informal word used in scuba diving to mean a wide waistband either on a

buoyancy control device A buoyancy compensator (BC), also called a buoyancy control device (BCD), stabilizer, stabilisor, stab jacket, wing or adjustable buoyancy life jacket (ABLJ), depending on design, is a type of diving equipment which is worn by divers to establis ...

designed to provide more comfort to the user than a standard waistband and usually made of a stout fabric backed with velcro fastenings, or on a two-piece dry suit where a flexible rubber waistband helps to maintain a watertight seal between the jacket and the pants of the suit.

In women dresses

In some cases cummerbund can be worn as an element of an evening dress. 1912 evening dress

References

{{clothing Indian English idioms Belts (clothing) Fashion accessories Sportswear Semi-formal wear he:אבנט