cummerbund

Orange cummerbund

A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with black tie. The cummerbund was first adopted by British military officers in colonial India and later spread to civilian use. The modern day use of the cummerbund is as an elegant fashion accessory to complement the wearing of a dinner jacket during formal evening occasions.

The name comes from the Persian for waist restraint (kamar "waist" and band "to close") and was borrowed into English from the Hindi word meaning "loinband" in 1616. The word "cummerband" (see below), and less commonly the German spelling "kummerbund", are often used synonymously with "cummerbund" in English. The word is also quite commonly misspelled and mispronounced as "cumberbun".

Cummerbunds were traditionally worn with pleats facing up in order to hold ticket stubs and similar items. These days however such a fact is purely academic as cummerbunds are now a mere decoration to a gentleman's black tie attire.

A Cummerbund is also the name of a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, entitled 'The Cummerbund, a poem from India', where it refers to the cummerbund as a ferocious woman-eating beast.

Designers and retailers of cummerbunds

Many of the top fashion houses offer formal cummerbunds in their annual collections. Leading designers of cummerbunds include Thomas Pink, Turnbull & Asser and Robert Charles. Robert Charles is particularly renowned for silk cummerbunds with interesting and colourful designs (mostly floral).

Within the UK cummerbunds are available from leading men's apparel and accessory retailers including the likes of Charles Tyrwhitt, KJ Beckett, John Lewis Partnership, House of Fraser, and Moss Bros. Within the US retailers include the department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. In addition, a gentleman wishing to purchase a cummerbund can visit a local traditional men's formal evening wear store.

Cummerbands

Similar to the cummerbund, a cummerband is an accessory to the dress uniform used extensively in both the modern Indian Army and Pakistan Army. This sash like item is a holdover from the uniforms of the Indian regiments raised during the period of British rule. It is generally worn during ceremonial parades and dinners. Like the cummerbund it is a long strip of cloth (usually based on the regimental colours) which is tightly worn around a soldier's waist. Unlike the civilian cummerbund, a leather belt is generally worn on top of this cloth piece.

Cummerbunds in diving

A commerbund is also an informal word used in SCUBA diving to mean a wide waistband either on a diving stability jacket—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 where a flexible rubber waistband helps to maintain a watertight seal between the jacket and the pants of the suit.

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