Navy to spend £200k fixing female sailors’ jacket buttons due to awkward placement

A staggering £200,000 of UK taxpayer money will be spent on redesigning Royal Navy uniforms for female sailors to remove ‘inappropriately placed’ buttons.

No 1 jacket, worn by the Princess Royal at ceremonial events, is set to be redesigned ‘at the Crown’s expense’, an internal document seen by The Times said – meaning taxpayers will bear the cost.

The current uniform has four rows of two buttons, the highest sitting – awkwardly – roughly at nipple height. The new uniform will have all eight buttons placed lower, the outlet said.

The change was announced after female officers raised issues about the button placement and the fit of the jacket.

A Royal Navy temporary memorandum sent to the fleet said: ‘The position of the top two ‘decorative’ buttons on the older design of the female officer’s No 1 jacket is deemed to be inappropriately placed.’

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: ‘The Navy is both a modern organisation which continuously adapts and is also hugely proud of our history.

‘This change, which will be brought in over several years, addresses issues raised by serving personnel regarding the fit of female officers’ jackets, and is a positive step for women in the Navy while balancing operational and financial factors.’

More than 950 serving female officers will be issued the new uniform in the coming year.

Meanwhile, non-commissioned officers, such as petty officers and warrant officers, only have three rows of buttons and are not affected.

The Royal Navy has said the cost of the new jackets will be offset by a reduction in the number of uniforms issued.

Not all officers are pleased, though.

A Royal Navy insider told the Times: ‘It’s clearly absurd for the Royal Navy to be frittering away money on such a minor change to this uniform.

‘The button placement on the jacket has always been a bit of a joke within the service, but at a time when the Navy has been tasked with gearing up to a warfighting readiness, surely there are more urgent matters for the Navy to focus on and better uses for this money. 

‘Surely the obvious answer would have been to simply cut off the offensive nipple buttons on the existing uniforms?’

Earlier this year, the UK armed forces warned that it was facing a £28billion funding shortfall ahead of planned modernisation.

Keir Starmer has vowed to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 to tackle the shortfall and prepare Britain for any potential future conflicts.

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