I have the honour of playing with a most creative and energetic group of musicians in a fife and drum corps called Connecticut Valley Field Music. In the language of fife and drum, we are considered a civil war corps (as opposed to revolutionary war, for example). I think it’s safe to say that we seek to play music that was being played then, or is inspired by the music of that period of time. By no means are we a reenactor unit, but we do want to evoke the feel of the time period, and of course we want to look sharp.

Our uniforms were in need of updating, so we went back to the drawing board for ideas. I say, ‘we’, but really it was ‘they’, because at the time I was still content with watching and listening from the sidelines, cheering them on. Now ‘they’ is ‘we’, so I will say that I am happy with our decisions regarding this very public part of our ensemble. The new trousers are of a higher quality wool and cut as trousers were back then. The frock coats are wonderful! Their longer line is forgiving to a wider variety of shapes, the wool chosen has a lovely soft drape. Our tailor, Jim Williams, is fitting us with care and each coat is custom made to follow the individual slope of the shoulder, length of torso and arm, and other fine details. This magician of the cloth is one of us, a musician who is a long time (for his young age) fife and drum participant.

We’re down to decisions about the final details and I took a few photos so other members could see details of the new uniforms that were being discussed. We are all looking forward to stepping out with new music and new uniforms this spring!

Click the link below to see the full image, in all of its vertical-ness, especially for a look at the length and line of the frock coats:
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