Cavalry officer's Garibaldi jacket : Captain, Prince of Wales Victorian Volunteer Light Horse, Victorian Military Forces

Prince of Wales Light Horse officer's scarlet wool superfine Garibaldi jacket. The loose-fitting waist length jacket is gathered into a narrow waistband. The shoulder seams are offset to the back of the jacket. The sleeves, gathered at the head, are cut very wide over the elbow but taper in sharply to a narrow cuff. A self-fabric plastron is fitted to the front of the jacket, opening on the right side. It is edged with a single row of white worsted Russia braid. There is a double row of the same braid down the centre front of the plastron. The plastron fastens with plain silver ball buttons. The same buttons secure the white worsted braid epaulettes, and edge the left (non-opening side) of the plastron. The cuffs are decorated with elaborate white worsted braid Austrian knots for the rank of captain. The stand collar, which fastens with a single hook and eye, is edged with white worsted braid and bears a row of loops in the same braid. Superimposed on these, on either side of the front of the collar, are silver and gold bullion crowns and pips for the rank of captain (pre-1880). There are two buttonholes below the centre of the plastron which are missing their buttons. The waistband, which folds under itself when the jacket is worn to give a bloused effect, has vertical buttonholes on either side of the centre front and centre back for attachment to the trousers. The sleeves are lined with white fabric and the body of the jacket with salmon coloured silk, which is quilted over the chest. Black cotton tape reinforces the inside centre line of the plastron and there is a concealed cotton pocket set into the left side of the plastron's lining.

The Prince of Wales Victorian Volunteer Light Horse was a cavalry militia unit, formed from a number of Troops both in Melbourne and regional areas of the Colony of Victoria, that was raised in 1862. The Garibaldi jacket worn at this time was modelled on the loose-fitting red shirts worn by the followers of the Guiseppe Garibaldi during his fight for Italian unification. He was enthusiastically received both in Britain, where he was presented to Queen Victoria in 1865, and in the United States. The so-called 'Garibaldi jacket or blouse' became fashionable as a result and was adopted in various forms by both the military and women.