What a splendid evening it was! And the "post party party" in the Cowdray Room was a good one too!
5A did indeed used to be worn "when ladies were present", and so was the rig at Summer Balls and LGNs, but IIRC (which I may not
) was worn with black tie.
There were a few black tie wearers with Mess Kit last week (yes you are guilty Sir Stephen!!), and even the occasional cummerbund.
There seemed to be very few proper stiff shirts with separate starched collars, and rather too many soft fronted "wing collared" shirts for my liking, which one might associate with travelling salesmen .......
One half expected them to be matched with white socks and suede shoes......
And as to the single-winged cohort, one did glimpse a VSO (pilot) pointedly obscuring the words "Incorporating Air Navigators" on the menu with his knife!