Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Morning Dress On the Cheap

3PcSuit

One of the Regulars
Messages
160
Sorry, didn't realize the age of this thread. Congratulations on winning and nice looking Stroller suit. You need a Homburg or a Bowler to complete it.

-Max

No worries. Too bad the guy I took the photo for disappeared in 2012 :-/

I DID have an umbrella, although it was grey. Threw it in the car. Woulda taken that whether or not it was raining and hats are mking a comeback, but IDK if I would want a Homburg or Bowler in court. Too costume-y.


Was it cheating wearing a blue shirt and a black vest? Had a white detachable collar shirt with cufflinks I would've worn, but it got destroyed, long story. Wish I had time to buy a dmned replacement pocket watch, too. They had them at Kohls like two years ago for under $30!

Had my hair tied back until the moment I walked oout of the courtroom, too. Conservative and ultra-formal.

Will have to try the e-cig next time too. Didn't have one on me B)
 

Picard1138

One of the Regulars
Messages
229
Location
Philadelphia
Don't buy a $30 pocket watch from Kohls. That would make it a costume. For about $100 you can get a real working vintage Elgin pocket watch. Almost all of my vintage pocket watches I got for under $120, and I have some really very nice ones.

Blue shirt with a white collar is perfectly fine, look at the recent Royal wedding and Royal Ascot photos for examples of morning pairings.

-Max
 

3PcSuit

One of the Regulars
Messages
160
Thanks for the tips guys. Will definitely look into these. The Kohl's watch wasn't bad though, even if it was battery-powered.
 

Evan Everhart

A-List Customer
Messages
457
Location
Hollywood, California
Forgive my ignorance, but what is a Streseman? IDK about a hat, definitely not a cane, but I could get away with an umbrella :) There's a joke about the UK and umbrellas. Spats are out for court. I'd basically just have the stuff in my hands the whole time there anyway, correct? Gloves are removed indoors too, right? I wear my trusty pocketwatch everywhere, even with jeans; would seem silly NOT to wear it in a more formal setting. Is it still appropriate with morning dress? I have a silver-colored one. Seem to remember gold is/was a no no, but I am not afraid to break rules on an outfit that has been extinct here 50 years.

-I don't know who possibly told you that gold is now, or ever has been in the past a "no-no", but they were grossly misinformed. Gold is always acceptable, and it would not be a breach of any of the rules of formal/dress etiquette to wear gold with Morning wear of any class; Frock, Cutaway, or Stroller/Stresemann.

I know overseas it is different, with what Japanese politicians still wearing morning dress along w/other countries. But here I think tails can only be gotten away with at night, and tophats are essentially extinct.

-The tails worn with full-fig white tie formal evening wear are entirely different from the tailed Cutaway Morning Coat worn with Morning Dress, both are body coats, both have tails and two buttons at the rear waist seam, but the similarities in basic composition and detailing end there for the most part; the Evening Tail Coat is cut sharply back from the front facings and lapels, to end in points in the front, much like a waist-coat, and to have a sharply angled meeting of that waist seam which is the bottom edge of the body of the coat with the rear tails, it is also always double breasted with peak lapels, never meant to ever be buttoned, and always has silk satin or grosgrain silk lapels, and all of the other accessories are also vastly different. The Morning Cutaway coat is a body coat, and can be double breasted, though almost never is, and is usually single breasted with from 1 to 3 buttons, and usually 1 since the 1930s, it can be peak or notch lapeled, and there is no square belly on the Morning coat. The tails sweep gently back from the middle or single button of the coat, down to the points of the tails. The morning coat can also be made up in various types of Oxford gray or textured fabrics, or even paler dove grays when paired with trousers and a waist-coat in a Morning Suit for weddings or the races.

Where does one obtain affordable patent leather gloves?

-One does not. You should never wear patent leather gloves. It would be a serious faux pas. With Morning wear, you should wear buff, or dove, or lilac, colored gloves in smooth, or preferably suede/rough-out finish leather, or some sort of peccary in the buff spectrum.

And what type of shoes specifically? If you could provide examples of items for sale, I'd appreciate, even overseas, to give me a starting point. Looking for shoes, trousers, and a vest, specifically.

-Patent leather balmoral boots were the original choice of style for this type of clothing, though most would not wear them now, and if you do, they should have gray or buff colored suede uppers, other than that, box calf cap toed Oxfords should be fine. I would abstain from wearing open laced or wing-tipped or brown or "fancy" colored or patterned shoes. Simplicity and discretion are the name of the game here. The less brogueing, the better leave the medallion brogued toes elsewhere.

One last question, is a ventless black jacket apropos? I'm thinking I'll only be able to scrounge up for the above items for now. I think even a wing-collared shirt would be too much, thogh am tempted as I have worn them to Easter and funerals before.

A ventless black jacket is thoroughly appropriate, and you should be able to find one in most any thrift shop; we've got them coming out of the woodwork over here.

I would highly recommend the detachable collared shirt for wear with your Morning suit. It completes the look like nothing else can. You should be able to pick up a few collars for not more than 50 USD, or AUSD, or thereabouts. The shirts will run you about the same, or less, if you use a maker like Natty, just be sure to cite the details that you want in your description, or cruise Ebay.

@Godfrey, am talking about morning dress. It's been a while, but isn't the tailcoat different on a tuxedo than the one used in the day? We very very rarely encounter morning dress in the US. They are Absolutely Different, yes.

Really wish there were some better photos of the solicitor general. That is the closest one could prolly get to a sleek, streamlined, modern version of the outfit.

-Check out the Morning Dress Guide. I can't remember the URL, and am too lazy to go search for it, but do a simple Google Search and it should pop up.

I could get away w/cutaway, but definitely NOT tails, I would be confined to the psych ward at the end of the trial, not walk out of court a winner! :p Cutaway can be black or grey, correct? Am hesitant to buy anything from a used tux shop, as the knockoffs they do are poorly tailored and cheesy. Maybe a cutaway'd be OK, but defeinitely NOT the trousers.

Check Ebay, Check Ebay, and Check Ebay. I got my Morning Coat for a song from England. Fits perfectly, if you know your measurements. - I replied to each of your questions beneath each question; so look into your quoted text for my responses. I hope I didn't come off as snippy, just trying to be informative, but I am very pleased that someone else is interested in Morning wear, as am I, and I've tried to explain everything in as much relative detail as possible. Have a Great one man!
 

Evan Everhart

A-List Customer
Messages
457
Location
Hollywood, California
Whilst I own a morning coat, I've yet found the opportunity to wear it. I figured as its probably the most formal of jackets (well for me any way) that perhaps i'll wear it at a wedding but its possible that in my socio-economic circle that i'd be overdressed or worse mistaken for the groom. Still I have a hankering to wear it and one day i'm quite sure the new tags will be removed and the jacket dutifully worn.

knize-morning-coat.jpg
Isn't it such a drag that there are so few socially acceptable occasions for which one would not be over-dressed if wearing such beautiful clothing? Kind of sad really. It's even worse here in the US. At least over there, you have Ascot.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
24,737
Location
London, UK
Ah, Ascot.... well, that's a whole other ballgame. I went there once by mistake.

Morning dress is more common in the UK, certainly; at least some form thereof is still typical at weddings (even if adapted to suit some contemporary fashion, or whim of the parties involved: at one wedding at which I was a Bridesman, we wore black barentha herringbone pattern trousers that matched the cutaway coat because the groom decided he didn't like stripes), even if recent years have seen the lounge suit make a comeback for many grooms.

Interestingly, while the stroller look in the US has stuck around more, here it's all but disappeared outside the ranks of the Freemasons and undertakers. Amusing that semi-formal daywear is much less common in the UK than formal daywear, yet for the evening the opposite is true. As to opportunities to wear it: create them. I wear white tie half a dozen times a year since I got it. It's not so hard to find an occasion if you really want. Sure, to a lot of people out there it might look costumey, but who cares (unless you're in court, natch, as this old thread started with)? To the same people, you'll as likely look costumey if you wear a suit. I once got asked if I was going to a wedding when I was wearing khakis, a corduroy sports jacket and a tie....
 

Dirk Wainscotting

A-List Customer
Messages
354
Location
Irgendwo
Morning dress is more common in the UK, certainly; at least some form thereof is still typical at weddings (even if adapted to suit some contemporary fashion, or whim of the parties involved: at one wedding at which I was a Bridesman, we wore black barentha herringbone pattern trousers...

I was reading way too fast. I saw "bridesmaid" and thought: 'Oh yes, what have we here?' To be fair though the matching barathea trousers part is far more shocking.

I once got asked if I was going to a wedding when I was wearing khakis, a corduroy sports jacket and a tie....

Oh no.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
24,737
Location
London, UK
Ha. I wanted us to be called "Boy Bridesmaids", but the other guy's masculinity was a touch more fragile than mine. ;)
 

Forum statistics

Threads
107,033
Messages
3,026,818
Members
52,537
Latest member
OldBoot
Top