by In a Soldier Systems article highlighting US Navy Uniform updates, I noticed this:
b. Tiara. The tiara is reinstated as an optional Navy uniform component for all female Sailors (E-1 through O-10) when wearing Dinner Dress Blue and White Jacket Uniforms. Note: the tiara will be available for personal purchase as a special order item via Navy Exchange Online Customer Service with a lead time of approximately four weeks.
As a long time watcher of the TV show Big Bang Theory, I knew the character Amy Farrah Fowler played by Mayim Bialik loved tiaras. That got me to wondering just what the Navy tiara looked like. Would officers have one with diamonds while enlisted Sailors have to make due CZs set in silver?
From a web forum devoted to militaria, I found this:
They also had one displayed on a mannikin head:
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum had this illustration done in 1967 showing a female Lt. JG wearing a tiara while wearing her Dinner Dress Blue jacket.
It seems the tiara was abandoned in 2016 when new uniform regulations were adopted. The Navy also abandoned the traditional hat called the bucket cover worn by female Sailors (officers and enlisted) at the same time. It, too, is now going to be authorized as an optional head covering for female Sailors.
I find it interesting that these changes are coming as the Navy now has a female Chief of Naval Operations. As Admiral Franchetti was commissioned in 1985, she may have wanted to bring back some of the headgear she wore earlier in her career. I think it might have been hard for a male admiral to bring back these items without running the risk of being labeled sexist.