I am not a fan of Below Deck (Bravo TV) but sit through it with my wife because she loves it, and because I love her I’ll suffer the pain it brings me. Not only does she watch the latest episodes but also cycles through previous episodes one season at a time. I like Captain Lee but why is his uniform wrong?
What blows my mind about this wacky show is that wealthy people voluntarily appear on the show and proceed to make fools of themselves. I do not tar all wealthy people with the same brush and want to believe most of them are normal folks; but below deck doesn’t do them any favours.
But this article is about Captain Lee’s uniform rather than the reality garbage available on television.
I’d like to point out that I am not in the military, but consider myself reasonably knowledgeable on military life. My father was in the military for 36 years and we lived on the base for much of my earlier life. On weekends we hung out with military families and attended many military functions. In addition, once I had a family of my own I worked at a military installation comprising Army, Navy and Air Force. I worked closely with all branches of the military and all ranks from the lowest to the very highest.
Officer Uniforms
For now I will concentrate on Naval personnel, this includes the Merchant Navy because their uniforms are much the same. As far as I am aware officers on board super yachts are effectively merchant navy. With that in mind let’s also only talk about the rank of Captain.
When wearing a shirt rank is worn, in the form of epaulets, on the shoulders. Where long sleeve dinner suit style jackets are required rank is displayed at the end of the sleeves.
A captain is always identified by four bars.
The colour of the uniform can be a guide as to where rank is shown. Dark blue will usually have rank on the sleeves while white has it on the shoulders. Either way, there is a right & wrong way to visually announce your rank. This is where my irritation begins because Captain Lee appears to be wearing a fancy dress version of his formal uniform. Rank is never displayed on both shoulders and sleeves; never ever!
When Captain Lee dines with guests
When invited to dinner with guests Lee puts on his formal uniform, which is absolutely the right thing to do. My complaint is that his uniform is wrong and his rank is displayed on both his shoulders and sleeves. I have searched the internet for examples of this and cannot find an it in any navy anywhere.
The only examples of this style of uniform I’ve found are sold on sites such as aliexpress or amazon. Sold as fancy dress and deliberately wrong in order to distinguish them from the real thing.
I don’t know where Captain Lee got his from, or perhaps he had it tailor made; either way I can’t find examples of that style in any navy, merchant or otherwise.
Getting it wrong irritates me
I’m all for shows, such as Below Deck, being as authentic as possible because it adds an air of realism, however, in this case the captains should at least wear the correct uniforms. I’m not suggesting the Below Deck captains aren’t real but I want them to get things right.
Is that too much to ask?
If I had to choose favourite captains I’d pick Sandy, Glenn and Lee. So my whinging isn’t about Lee himself, but about his uniform.
Featured image at top of page – Credit: https://pixabay.com/users/dkatana-1469103/