General Chat

When I attended Black Tie social functions organised by or on behalf of my employers, the hire of an evening suit was at my own expense :-(

In The Daily Mail it is reported that the taxpayer is billed thousands of pounds to hire and buy dinner suits and posh frocks for civil servants to go to parties :-|

At the Ministry of Defence alone, expense claims for evening dress have reached almost £16,000 since 2008.

Vince Cable's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills paid out almost £3,000 from December 2011 and to May 2013.

At least five other departments offer the evening dress allowance but could not say how much it cost the taxpayer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328453/Taxpayer-billed-thousands-pounds-hire-buy-dinner-suits-posh-frocks-civil-servants-to-parties.html

Should we paying for government employees and officials to get all dolled up?

If it is part of the job then yes of course. If just a social event for the benefit of staff then no.

No, under no circumstances. In certain jobs, you are regularly attending black tie events. But no man hires them, they buy their own. A big incentive to keep the weight off;-)

I have a rather nice one (chest 40") that has lain in my wardrobe for over 30 years. Now 46" going on 48" so no use. But not in that social swing these days. OH used to rent a dress, as they needed to be different for each event.

No employer would have paid for clothes for social events 30 years ago - and am absolutely amazed by this revelation that some do today:-0

Ken, I have to disagree, I had to buy my own Mess dress when serving in the Army and also buy my wife's very expensive dresses to attend official functions

Roy

At work, it is quite a dirty and sweaty job and I wear protective clothes provided by my employer. Think that is right - supermarket staff get some clothes provided, so do nurses, police etc. All for protection primarily (elf and safety).

Twice a year we have a social function and the invite says either "smart casual" or "lounge suits". And the freebie usually costs a bob or two as I go down to George at Asda. Never thought about claiming back the Asda receipt :-) :-)

I only had to hire an evening suit a couple of times as I had the full Scottish outfit, Kilt, Sporran, Prince Charlie Jacket & Waistcoat, Gillie Brogues, Sgian Dubh and where I could I opted to wear that ;-)

Can we see this outfit on your avatar, OFG. Sounds fantastic. How do you pronounce Dubh, incidentally.

The word for "black" in the Welsh language is "du". It looks similar but is pronounced "dee" as in River Dee. Think yours may be do - as in "do the washing up".

And, on behalf of the girls (who are all shy), I will ask the question they really want to know






Perhaps not :-D :-D

John, I'm the one on the right.

Roy

Very smart, Roy. :-D

Maybe if the MOD cut back a bit on the bulls botty dropsat social functions they would save a bit.

I can understand the need for uniform and some of the discipline when they are working,just as in any job, but I do wonder if all the mess dining and stuff is really so important.

Sharron, Mess functions are a very important part of military life often having historical significance, None of which are at the tax payers expense, They are paid for from subs and funds raised from sales in the relevant Mess which could be bar takings profits from slot machine, Sales of things like regimental track suites, ties, stable belts, and much more

Roy

You scub up very well Roy :-D

"Vince Cable's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills paid out almost £3,000 from December 2011 and to May 2013."

It can work out to be quite expensive to hire now, I heard on radio 4 around Christmas time a man from Savile Row saying you could buy a Dinner suit from Asda of (his words) excellent quality for under £100. Maybe someone should tell Vince Cable. :-D

OFITG, This must be just restricted to Whitehall staff, I have a mate who works for the MOD "civilian staff" attached to the Army up north And he borrows my dinner suit when he has to attend a function because he cannot afford to buy one and they are expensive to hire,

Outside of the big smoke these civil servants are paid peanuts,

Roy

JohnLovesHorlicks, I looked for a picture but none down here, probably in some of the family albums back up home, Sgian Dubh is usually pronounced skian du.

The figure here seem to bring to mind Parkinson's law of triviality. That is everyone can understand the sums involved and the need, or not, to wear evening dress.

£16,000 in 5 years looks to me consistent with the number of staff who might have had to attend functions who would not normally do so, but then I don't know.

As a taxpayer I am more concerned with whether the MoD is getting good value from the 50 year old planes it is buying for the RAF, or from the carriers being limited in the aircraft they can use.