Morning dress consists of a tailcoat, a waistcoat and striped trousers. Today, it is only worn for really special occasions, such as weddings. Occasionally, an invitation to a royal event will stipulate that the men must wear morning dress. For hundreds of years morning dress has been the uniform of Eton and is occasionally worn at other UK public schools. The tradition of wearing morning dress to Ascot races has recently become popular again.

Morning dress was so called because gentlemen used to go riding in the mornings. When they rode they wore a special tail coat, which had been cut away at the front to allow them to sit on their horse without creasing their coat. When they returned home after their ride, they changed out of this special coat, which meant that they only wore this outfit in the mornings, hence the name. Gradually morning wear became more acceptable for wear later in the day.

Morning dress can be worn as long as the event begins prior to 7pm. From then on white tie replaces the morning suit as correct full formal dress attire.

The tradition of the wedding party wearing morning dress at a wedding is still popular in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and a few other commonwealth countries. If the groom chooses not to wear morning dress then it is considered bad manners for other members of the wedding party to wear it. To look good morning dress needs to fit perfectly. If it is your wedding day it is worth buying a bespoke morning dress suit. It is more expensive than off the peg, but your wedding day is the one day everything must be perfect.

In the US morning dress rarely worn. It is only really worn regularly by the Solicitor General or his deputies when making oral arguments before the Supreme Court. However, one notable exception to this was President Regan who wore a morning coat for his presidential swearing in ceremony.

Most men choose to wear the traditional white shirt when they wear morning dress. If a wing tip shirt is chosen, it is worn with an Ascot tie. When a shirt with a turn-down collar is worn then a traditional tie is worn, in this case the shirt should also have double cuffs.

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