The dress off
Not only did we have to wear many different uniforms at West Point, we had to wear them all the right way. Attention to detail was paramount.
Our shoes had to be highly spit-shined with the outside edges of the soles appropriately blackened. Our brass belt buckles had to glisten with a metallic sheen. New cadets quickly become intimately familiar with Kiwi shoe polish, edge dressing, and Brasso. Shining shoes becomes second nature, and every cadet knows some little trick of the trade to make his or her shoes shine better. Whether it actually works or not.
Our nametags, when we wore them, had to go in specific places and be perfectly aligned. Any brass or rank insignia or military badges or ribbons we might be entitled to wear had to go in very specific locations and be perfectly aligned. We had manuals that told us where all of these items went on different uniforms, and we were issued small rulers to help us make sure we were in compliance.
The brass buttons on all of our coats had the USMA crest on them. We were to ensure that all buttons aligned so that the USMA crest was straight up and down.
Gig lines were de rigueur. This meant cadets had to have one straight line up and down. The line on their shirts where they buttoned in the front had to align with the outer edge of their belt buckles had to align with the line created where their trousers zippered up. This line could not be off, even a fraction of an inch. Or you would be hazed mercilessly.
Most people do not even think about this sort of thing when they get dressed. Cadets obsess about them. And these seemingly quirky details all became second nature. Very quickly.
The most unusual requirement, however, was the dress off. In any uniform that entailed wearing a shirt tucked into trousers, we had to have a dress off. A tight dress off. This meant your shirt had to fit to the shape of your body and not be the least bit loose or baggy. To achieve this state, you would have to grab any loose folds of fabric on each side of the shirt as you were wearing it and pull them back so they folded behind you. You would then fasten your pants and belt so that the folds, the dress off, would stay as tight as possible. Since shirts tend to become loose as you move around, you would have to give yourself a dress off periodically throughout the day.
The best dress offs came from someone else standing behind you and pulling the shirt back for you while you then fastened your trousers and belt. It was not uncommon for coed new cadets or plebes to knock on one another’s doors and ask for a dress off. Male and female cadets would think nothing of undoing their belts and trousers so a classmate could give them a dress off. Roommates gave each other dress offs without even asking. It was ingrained.
New cadets would get hazed unmercifully if they didn’t have good dress offs. We even had to give each other dress offs when we were wearing Gym Alpha. The loose fabric of the white t-shirts had to be pulled back and tucked tightly into our shorts. It looked rather ridiculous, but we never questioned it. We were told to have dress offs, and we did what we were told. It was not worth getting hazed for having a poor or non-existent dress off.
The only time we didn’t have to worry about a dress off was when we were wearing dress gray or full dress. At all other times, we were expected to have dress offs. Even if you were wearing an authorized cadet sweater over your shirt, if you were a plebe, you were expected to have a dress off underneath.
By the time you became an upperclassman giving yourself a good, tight dress off was second nature. It was just a part of how you dressed yourself. You did suddenly become concerned about making sure all plebes you encountered had good dress offs, though.
I have never seen a dress off anywhere but at West Point. I suppose it may exist elsewhere, perhaps at some of the other service academies. But I have never heard about it.
I do not give myself a dress off today. I think it is kind of weird actually. In fact, sometimes I will pull my shirts out more from my pants and make them even looser. Just because I can.
But I insist on making sure my gig line is one straight up and down line. I would never go anywhere if my gig line weren’t aligned properly.
And I always notice when other people’s gig lines are off. Although I realize that they probably do not even know what a gig line is. I don’t ever tell them their gig line is off, though. That would be weird.
Our shoes had to be highly spit-shined with the outside edges of the soles appropriately blackened. Our brass belt buckles had to glisten with a metallic sheen. New cadets quickly become intimately familiar with Kiwi shoe polish, edge dressing, and Brasso. Shining shoes becomes second nature, and every cadet knows some little trick of the trade to make his or her shoes shine better. Whether it actually works or not.
Our nametags, when we wore them, had to go in specific places and be perfectly aligned. Any brass or rank insignia or military badges or ribbons we might be entitled to wear had to go in very specific locations and be perfectly aligned. We had manuals that told us where all of these items went on different uniforms, and we were issued small rulers to help us make sure we were in compliance.
The brass buttons on all of our coats had the USMA crest on them. We were to ensure that all buttons aligned so that the USMA crest was straight up and down.
Gig lines were de rigueur. This meant cadets had to have one straight line up and down. The line on their shirts where they buttoned in the front had to align with the outer edge of their belt buckles had to align with the line created where their trousers zippered up. This line could not be off, even a fraction of an inch. Or you would be hazed mercilessly.
Most people do not even think about this sort of thing when they get dressed. Cadets obsess about them. And these seemingly quirky details all became second nature. Very quickly.
The most unusual requirement, however, was the dress off. In any uniform that entailed wearing a shirt tucked into trousers, we had to have a dress off. A tight dress off. This meant your shirt had to fit to the shape of your body and not be the least bit loose or baggy. To achieve this state, you would have to grab any loose folds of fabric on each side of the shirt as you were wearing it and pull them back so they folded behind you. You would then fasten your pants and belt so that the folds, the dress off, would stay as tight as possible. Since shirts tend to become loose as you move around, you would have to give yourself a dress off periodically throughout the day.
The best dress offs came from someone else standing behind you and pulling the shirt back for you while you then fastened your trousers and belt. It was not uncommon for coed new cadets or plebes to knock on one another’s doors and ask for a dress off. Male and female cadets would think nothing of undoing their belts and trousers so a classmate could give them a dress off. Roommates gave each other dress offs without even asking. It was ingrained.
New cadets would get hazed unmercifully if they didn’t have good dress offs. We even had to give each other dress offs when we were wearing Gym Alpha. The loose fabric of the white t-shirts had to be pulled back and tucked tightly into our shorts. It looked rather ridiculous, but we never questioned it. We were told to have dress offs, and we did what we were told. It was not worth getting hazed for having a poor or non-existent dress off.
The only time we didn’t have to worry about a dress off was when we were wearing dress gray or full dress. At all other times, we were expected to have dress offs. Even if you were wearing an authorized cadet sweater over your shirt, if you were a plebe, you were expected to have a dress off underneath.
By the time you became an upperclassman giving yourself a good, tight dress off was second nature. It was just a part of how you dressed yourself. You did suddenly become concerned about making sure all plebes you encountered had good dress offs, though.
I have never seen a dress off anywhere but at West Point. I suppose it may exist elsewhere, perhaps at some of the other service academies. But I have never heard about it.
I do not give myself a dress off today. I think it is kind of weird actually. In fact, sometimes I will pull my shirts out more from my pants and make them even looser. Just because I can.
But I insist on making sure my gig line is one straight up and down line. I would never go anywhere if my gig line weren’t aligned properly.
And I always notice when other people’s gig lines are off. Although I realize that they probably do not even know what a gig line is. I don’t ever tell them their gig line is off, though. That would be weird.
posted by delta at 4:08 PM
3 Comments:
My gig line is perpetually off. Thank you for not mentioning it. Also, my dress off would be NONEXISTENT.
I'd make a lousy cadet. I am perpetually disheveled.
I do the same thing. Like you, I don't do the dress off (one good reason is that the dress off only works if you have the physique of a cadet, which is long gone on me), but you bet I check that gig line.
This is excellent. Oxford dictionary just added twerk and selfie to its list. Oxford fails to provide us a definition for "dress off." Any idea whether dress offs are still required today, or is this another case of the the Corps Has.
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