Military ensemble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to the donor, this ensemble was worn by Obedeak [sic] Herbert, a Continental Naval Admiral of the Revolutionary War. This form of jacket, the tail coat, persisted first, as men's everyday wear and, later, as formal attire throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The epaulettes retain sense of delicacy and refinement as handmade objects. The silk on the underside is padded and sewn into a roll at the edge to enhance the shape of the tassels as they fall over the shoulders. The tape on the other end is meant to tie into corresponding studs on the shoulders of the jacket. The phrase on the medallion of the bicorne, "E Pluribus Unum" (translated as "Out of Many, One") was submitted by the committee Congress as part of a design for the seal for the United States of America in 1776, which, upon revisions, was passed as the official seal in 1782. The phrase was considered the motto of the United States until 1956 when it was replaced with the motto, "In God We Trust."

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art