Morning dress
[7][8] Morning dress is generally restricted to certain weddings, royal, government, or municipal audiences, and social season events, e.g., horse races.
In the Edwardian era, it took over in popularity from the frock coat as the standard daytime form of men's full dress.
[11][12] It is traditionally in either black or Oxford grey[13][14] herringbone wool,[1] which should not be too heavy a weight,[14] with curved front edges sloping back into tails[1][12] of knee length.
[15] The coat may feature ribbon braiding around the edges of the collar, lapels, and down around the tails;[16] it may also be present on the hook vent, breast pocket, and sleeves.
At social or festive occasions, such as horse races and weddings, a contrasting waistcoat is usually worn.
[1] Single-breasted models with lapels usually feature a step collar and are worn with the bottom button undone, whilst double-breasted models commonly have either a shawl collar or a peak lapel and are worn fully buttoned.
[1] Formal trousers should not have turn-ups (cuffs in American English),[32] and have either flat-fronts or one to two forward pleats to each leg.
[33] Braces (suspenders in American English) may be worn[33] to prevent the waistband from appearing beneath the waistcoat if required.
Since the Second World War, in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms, the traditional shirt for morning dress has been a white or light-coloured shirt with double cuffs (fastened with cufflinks) and a plain white stiff turn-down collar (often of the cutaway variety[36]) worn with a long tie.
[42] Morning dress shirts (other than the collar) are usually solid in colour[26] or have thin vertical stripes[37] but may have a slightly bolder pattern such as a houndstooth or glencheck.
The original silver Macclesfield design (a small check) is still used particularly with cravats, and is often called a wedding tie.
[27][25] Although there is no longer a strict rule governing the colour and pattern of ties that are worn to weddings these days, garish options are inadvisable.
[26] The American etiquette authority, The Emily Post Institute, states that either a tie or a dress ascot may be worn with a morning coat.
[46] Some style authorities, including Bernhard Roetzel and Nicholas Antongiavanni, advise against the wearing of bow ties with morning dress.
[16] Shoes should be of the traditional, highly polished black plain cap-toe Oxford type[1][10] without brogueing[47] but may include a single line of tooling across the toe cap.
[26] Spats were once frequently seen with morning dress,[5] but are now rarely worn and, by 1939, the practise of wearing them was considered to be almost extinct.
[52] In the Commonwealth of Nations, traditional black, or grey (less formal, but becoming more widely accepted), top hats are considered an optional accessory for weddings.
Whilst a simple white linen square with rolled edges is classic, they may instead be a solid colour or patterned and should always complement the neckwear.
However, although it is very common practice in wedding parties, many style authorities do not recommend wearing a matching (i.e., identical) pocket square and tie, as it tends to look contrived, draws attention away from the wearer's face, and displays sartorial uncertainty.
An invitation will generally indicate whether or not they should be worn and, in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms, are more common for religious services or public functions of official significance.
In Europe, the groom sets the sartorial tone: the guests may wear morning dress if he does.
The skirt waist construction of the coats is equestrian in origin, to ease the wearer's riding his horse.
Men at upper and upper-middle class weddings usually wear their own morning coats and their own ties.
For the British working class (constituting the majority of the population), a wedding party tends to wear hired morning suits that are co-ordinated, the men usually dressed in outfits of identical ties, handkerchiefs and waistcoats.
[62][63] The deputy U.S. solicitors general also wear morning dress when attending the Supreme Court,[64][65] as do other Justice Department attorneys.
[65][66] This contrasts with the attire of other attorneys, who usually wear ordinary business suits when arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
