Crimea to Cyprus (1850-1960)

During the forty years of peace before Crimea the dress of the army had grown ornate, elaborate and impractical. The British infantry went to the Crimea dressed in tight coatees, those of the officers ornamented with heavy gold epaulettes and wearing cumbersome shakos which were universally disliked. During the war the worst defects of this uniform were remedied.
The coatee was replaced by a looser tunic, epaulettes abolished with the loops of white tape which ornamented the coatees of the rank and file. The shako was replaced by a smaller one – scarcely more popular. Shakos were hardly worn in Crimea, instead used as flower-pots or draught excluders. Most photographs of Crimea show soldiers wearing undress caps even on full-dress occasions.
Up to Crimea a battle was a full-dress occasion, and full dress was intended to be a battledress. Some more ornate items were sometimes removed but for a set battle out came the gold-lace. Crimean was the last to which this applied.
In India at this time khaki, or dust-coloured uniform appeared. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 saw many Indian regiments, raised to put down the Mutiny, clothed in khaki.  When later mustered into the regular Indian Army khaki was their ceremonial and their battledress. Khaki was first worn by the regular British Army during the fighting to suppress the Mutiny.