White Tie – Coat

The first thing to note is that there is a difference between the evening tail coat worn as a part of white tie and the morning coat. They are both black and with tails. However the evening tail coat is double-breasted and cut small so that the fronts don't fasten even though there are three buttons on either front. (The morning coat is invariably single-breasted now, has one button – which may well be a double-button – and does fasten.) Furthermore, the evening tail coat has a facing to its lapels (as a dinner jacket does) – the morning coat doesn't. Don't confuse the two.

In general, the coat is made of the same material as the trousers it is worn with (in this sense it is a "suit"). However, since the colour is black any slight difference in texture is unlikely to be visible.

The coat has no hips and therefore no hip pockets. It has an outside welted pocket and probably two inside breast pockets. Older tail coats have a pair of inside pockets in the tails. (These are for gloves or a handkerchief – they are not suitable for a mobile telephone or the like!)

Note
A second-hand tail coat is likely to cost you around thirty pounds. In Cambridge, the best place to look is on the market stalls. Note that though the phrase "second-hand clothes" doesn't sound terribly attractive, second-hand formal clothes are usually in very good condition simply because they will have been worn very rarely – sometimes never at all – so it is possible to pick up a very good bargain. Furthermore, something dating from a few decades ago is likely to have a far better cut than most items made today.

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