Q. During all the hoopla about the Royal Wedding, I heard that the appropriate formal attire for men was to wear military uniforms or mourning suits. I wondered why would a wedding – and especially something as festive as a royal wedding – call for something so funeral-like. Can you explain?
A. Yes, I can. And I should point out that you are definitely not the only one to misinterpret the term. It is not “mourning” suits, but rather, “morning” suits.
The rules for what male guests should wear to the wedding were quite precise. According to the royal wedding invitation, men were required to wear one of three kinds of dress: a military uniform, a morning coat, or a lounge suit. Most men did not choose the less formal British “lounge suit,” which is really a lot dressier than it sounds. Most chose either a uniform or a formal morning coat.
In the realm of men’s correct formal garb, there are three basic categories: 1.] Black tie, 2.] White tie and tails, and 3.] Morning dressing. The well-known first one, black-tie attire, is not totally formal dressing, but a step down, semi-formal. It consists of a formal single-breasted or double-breasted black suit (with either black satin or grosgrain lapels and a stripe of the same fabric down the leg of the matching black trousers), a white pleated-front shirt (with studs and cufflinks), and a black silk bow tie.
Black-tie dressing, commonly referred to as “a tuxedo,” is not considered formal enough for ultra formal occasions. Incidentally, in upper-crust elite circles, the more elegant terms for a tuxedo are “a dinner suit,” “a dinner jacket,” or “an evening suit,” because it is not traditionally correct to wear it before dark or at least before evening hours.
While the dressier and more elegant category of formal evening attire, known as “white tie and tails,” is also all black and white, the cut of the suit is quite different from black-tie dressing. The single-breasted long black swallow-tail jacket is cut short in front and goes down in back all the way to behind the knees. It is worn with matching black trousers, a white wing-collar shirt, and a white cotton piqué bow tie.
On the other hand, what a man wears for formal occasions held during the morning or daytime hours is a morning suit (a.k.a. a morning coat, sometimes called a “cut-away”). The jacket is usually black (but may be gray); it has a single-button in front and long swallow-tail back that is similar to the jacket worn for evening white-tie occasions, but not exactly. The rest of the combination is very different indeed. The formal trousers are gray (usually pinstriped); the shirt is white cotton with a spread collar. There is always a waistcoat (vest) and a long traditional necktie (usually tied in a Windsor – or half-Windsor – knot, never a bow tie). But, unlike the all-black-and-white combination of both black-tie and white-tie dressing, morning dressing allows for a good bit of flair and individuality in the color of the waistcoat as well as the necktie.
And if a man wishes to wear a hat with his morning suit, it should be a dashing formal silk top hat in either black or gray.
At the royal wedding, most of the men who were not decked out in dress military uniforms (including any appropriate sashes and medals) wore morning suits and looked quite splendid. The bride’s father wore a light blue waistcoat and a tiny-checked red and blue tie. David Beckham looked fantastic in a morning suit from Ralph Lauren Purple Label, a silver-gray tie, and a dark waistcoat; he carried his top hat. Elton John wore a purple tie and buff-colored vest; his partner wore a navy tie and light blue vest. Rowan Atkinson, the actor, chose a pearl gray tie and near-matching vest; he wore his top hat (apparently not worried about “hat hair”). Prime Minister David Cameron wore a medium-blue tie and double-breasted light gray waistcoat. Monaco's Prince Albert arrived in an all-gray morning suit, with a lighter gray tie and matching waistcoat. I guess if you are a prince, you might own more than one morning suit, one in black and one in gray.
You may have wondered why the women all wore such dressy outfits including some rather spectacular hats, but no one wore a long gown. The answer: In the same way that white-tie-and-tails dressing is inappropriate for a formal morning event, a long gown would be considered awkward so early in the day.
The one wedding rule for women that everyone obeyed: Do not outshine the bride.
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