When a daytime dress code is truly formal, the morning coat is the answer. Weddings, official ceremonies, race meetings held to Royal Enclosure standard, and a handful of other occasions where the old code still applies. It is a single-breasted coat that sweeps away from one button at the front into long tails at the back, worn with striped trousers, a waistcoat and a formal collar and tie. We make them for customers who need the thing done exactly right, because with a dress code this precise there is no such thing as close enough.
Where it came from and where it is still worn
The morning coat started life as a riding coat. The front was cut away so it would not bunch up under a man on a horse, which is why the shape looks the way it does. By the middle of the nineteenth century it had left the stables and settled into formal daytime events, and it has stayed there ever since as the smartest thing you can wear before the sun goes down.
In India you will see it at formal government functions, at investitures, in the higher courts, at weddings where the family has specified morning dress, and at international occasions that call for it on the invitation. It comes up far less often than a dinner suit, but it has certainly not died out, and when it is called for, nothing else will do.
The full rig is: the coat in black or dark charcoal, striped trousers in the particular grey and black stripe, a waistcoat in grey or buff, a white shirt with a stiff wing or a turndown collar, a grey or buff cravat, and black formal shoes. Come in and we will walk you through the whole thing, including the pieces we do not make ourselves.
Cutting a morning coat here
This is one of the harder patterns in the shop. The curve running from the front button back into the tails has to be shaped precisely or the whole coat looks wrong from the side. The tails have to hang symmetrically and finish at the right length. And the silhouette has to carry the formality of the garment without swamping the man inside it. We put our most experienced pattern work on these.
We cut morning coats in fine barathea or a smooth black or charcoal worsted, and we build them full canvas. Peak lapel, a single closure at the waist, jetted pockets and a breast pocket. The waistcoat and the striped trousers are made alongside it so the complete outfit reads as one thing rather than three separate purchases.