The men's band appeared around 1850 in India; initially it was not used as part of formal clothing, but as a dining accessory for the British military unit stationed in India at the time of the British Raj. For formal dinners the British Army customarily wore a waistcoat under their jackets. But due to the great heat they endured in India, the military looked for a cooler uniform, and so they adopted the band that replaced the waistcoat.
