US Army officers of the Cold War period were, above all else, “officers and gentlemen”, and for any formal event that would normally call for a tuxedo being worn by a civilian, a US Army officer would don his blue mess dress uniform. In warmer weather, he would don his white mess dress uniform. This US Army Vietnam Era Lieutenant Colonel Infantry BOS Dress Uniform Grouping is in Very Good condition, with moderate scattered fraying to the rows of bullion rank on the cuffs of the blue jacket, and with some light overall age wear evident. Most interestingly, it consists of a dark blue, almost black mess dress jacket with 4 elegant looping rows of gold bullion rank insignia at the cuffs, denoting the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel, which surmounts officer’s gold bullion cuff braiding with Infantry BOS blue colored piping, sports matching Infantry BOS blue colored satin facings on the collar, and carries the original “JAMES S. LEE & CO.” of Kowloon, Hong Kong tailor’s labels inside. It also features the original, elegant bright gold bullion shoulder knots. That jacket is complete with the original, matching dark blue almost black mess dress pants, which carry the original, matching tailor’s label inside, but this tag is also stamped with the name “MR. CLARK DONALD P.”, and the date, “AUGUST 10, 1967.”. Those pants can be worn with another piece in the grouping, the scarce white mess dress jacket with 4 elegant looping rows of white rayon soutache at the cuffs, denoting the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel, along with matching officer’s cuff braiding. That jacket too is labeled to the same James S. Lee & Co. of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The grouping also includes a scarce white wool 4 pocket tropical dress jacket, rarely seen at that time. This piece was also almost certainly custom tailor made for Colonel Clark. That jacket can be worn with the included original white wool tropical dress pants, which bear the matching tailor tag, name, and date as the other pieces (that have such tags) in the grouping. The set is complete with an extra pair of gold bullion shoulder knots, and several gilt brass US Army spread wing “American Eagle” officer’s tunic buttons. A fine example of a rare, original US Army Vietnam Era Lieutenant Colonel Infantry BOS Dress Uniform Grouping.
Uniforms