Most popular is the view that the red coats are called pinks not because of their hue, but because the original hunting coat was designed by an London tailor called Pink (or Pinke, or Pinque) who bought large quantities of material after the American War of Independence in 1783 and became popular for hunting attire.

Although there is no evidence for this story, a number of clothing retailers in both England and America repeat the tailor story in their advertising literature.

In the pink
The Oxford English Dictionary gives lots of examples from the 1800s of the use of the term “pink” in relation to fox-hunting, although it doesn’t mention tailor Pink.

Some of the other theories are just as believable. 

• The term could come from “pink” meaning fashionable in the early 1800s.
  
  

• It could come from meaning pinnacle or the height of something, as in “pink of health”.
  
  

• After a season’s use, a scarlet coat fades to pink, or rain washes the dye out to pink.
  
  

• One theorist claims that there might have been a tailor called Pink in a novel or play (it is an occupational surname, which was a popular practice in Victorian writing) and people have forgotten he was fictional.

Other members of the mounted field followed strict rules of clothing etiquette, and it was considered a courtesy to the Hunt and to farmers for the field to be well turned out.

The correct clothing was cream or fawn breeches or jodhpurs, a dark or tweed jacket and a velvet hat. The outfit was set off by a white stock or hunting tie. Gloves were not obligatory, but should have been leather, string or woollen. 

On the catwalk
Despite fox-hunting now being illegal, it continues to make benign appearances in the fashion world. This is nothing new – the riding coat became the epitome of style across the world in the 19th century, and has often come back from season to season.

Take, for example, the Hermès 2004 winter collection. Designer Jean-Paul Gaultier drew on the house's saddle-making past and created an equestrian look.

In February 2006, Ralph Lauren showed a gaming- and hunting-inspired twist on the catwalk with equestrian-styled jackets, double-breasted suits, thigh-high brown suede riding boots and leather gloves, which all gave a feminised huntsman look.