Traditional Morning Dress
Morning dress - a morning coat, striped trousers, shirt, tie and waistcoat - is the traditional dress for weddings.
The slightly odd name derives from a time when weddings took place in the morning and gentlemen naturally wore their morning attire.
Traditional morning dress consists of:
The morning coat (jacket): single-breasted with one button, usually has peaked lapels. Grey is the traditional colour, but black is also very popular.
Trousers: striped trousers come in a variety of styles; explore the options to find the most flattering stripe. An alternative to stripes is dogtooth check (also known as 'spongebag'). Flat fronted trousers give a slimmer look; a pleat down the front works better for thinner builds.
Waistcoat: grey is the traditional colour; other plain colours or lightly patterned soft tones are also popular. Waistcoats should be made of linen, silk or brocade. They may be double-breasted or single-breasted; the bottom button of a single-breasted waistcoat should always be left undone. Backless waistcoats should be avoided as it restricts the wearer from removing their coat.
Ties: originally black to show formality; a silvery speckled tone later became the norm. Today there is no rule, but softer tones look best. Cravats may be worn instead, with a pin.
Shirt: a plain, pale colour such as white, cream, blue or pink, ideally with double cuffs and be worn with cufflinks. Traditionally shirts were always white with a stiff, turned down detachable collar, but this quite formal by today's standards.
Shoes: black lace-ups with minimal decoration should be worn. Loafers can appear too informal. Socks should be black or grey.
Braces: if worn, they should be made of felt and fitted with buttons.
Gloves: always grey but tend not to be worn nowadays.
