"....incredibly shrinking mess kit....."
"I've got one of those, though oddly its arguably due to me being fitter now than when I originally brought it. Two alterations down and I'm out of excess across the chest."
I graduated from Henlow being incredibly fit with a 30" waist and had uniform to fit perfectly. Sadly, over the years, my girth expanded (sports injury stopped the running) and the gap between the buttons of my mess kit jacket slowly increased over the years. This came to a head with a VSO visit to Station and the calling of a Dining in Night which carried a three line whip. This in its self was not a problem until the Stn Cdr stipulated that dress was to be No 5 with waistcoats and not cummerbunds. My waistcoat was one of the old bib type without a material back and was held together by elastic straps ... on the night I put on the waistcoat, donned the jacket and discovered that where my own incredibly shrinking jacket stopped at the front failed to reach to where the backless waistcoat front ended and there was a pair of vertical white shirt stripes showing at the front.
My only solution was to wear a cummerbund, claim ignorance, and accept the bill for a bottle of port. A new No 5 soon followed - somewhat larger than my old one!