A cummerbund is a broad waist

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...

, usually

pleat A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling textile, 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. Pleat ...

ed, which is often worn with

single-breasted A single-breasted garment is a coat, jacket, vest, or similar item having one column of buttons and a narrow overlap of fabric. In contrast, a double-breasted coat has a wider overlap and two parallel rows of buttons. Single-breasted suit ...

dinner jacket Black tie is a semi-formal wear, semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for clothing, attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdoc ...

s (or ''tuxedos''). The cummerbund was adopted by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

military officers in

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

, where they saw it worn by

sepoys ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Europ ...

(Indian soldiers) of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

. It was adopted as an alternative to the

waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit) or vest ( US and Canada) is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wea ...

, and later spread to civilian use. The modern use of the cummerbund for Europeans and North Americans is as a component of the traditional

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

Western dress code.

Etymology

The word ''cummerbund'' is the Anglicized form of Hindustani ''kamarband'' ( Hindustani: कमरबंद; ), which originated from the Persian (). It entered English vocabulary in 1616 from India. It is a combination of the words ''kamar'' meaning 'waist' and ''band'' meaning 'to close' or 'fasten' (not to be confused with ‘band’ from Old Norse, reinforced in late Middle English by Old French bande, of Germanic origin; related to bind). 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

Form and occasion

The form of the cummerbund is a wide band around the waist. The fastening is a ribbon around the back, tied or held shut by a buckle or

velcro Velcro IP Holdings LLC, trading as Velcro Companies and commonly referred to as Velcro (pronounced ), is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of ho ...

. The contemporary use of the cummerbund is purely aesthetic, providing a transition between the shirt and the waistband. 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.

Pleats

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 primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

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.

Colours

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, later, 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). In contemporary use, it is now common to see coloured bow ties and cummerbunds, often matching, but this is considered non-traditional.

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 ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French language, French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of France, French and Belgium, Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History T ...

; 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 c ...

. 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). Cummerbunds (kamarbands) were an accessory to the dress uniform used in several modern South Asian armies, including the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and 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 ...

, the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

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 defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

. 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 Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sho ...

and/or

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a 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 opponent (''knock ...

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 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 A dry suit or drysuit provides the wearer with environmental protection by way of thermal insulation and exclusion of water, and is worn by underwater diving, divers, boating, boaters, List of water sports, water sports enthusiasts, and others wh ...

where a flexible rubber waistband helps to maintain a watertight seal between the jacket and the pants of the suit.

In women's fashion

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