When it comes to the morning suit, go grey

The morning suit has long been a thing of subtle subversion, despite its patrician, stately appeal. It was originally designed in the latter half of the 19th century as a racy, gallivanting riding coat, with cut-away tails and but- tons on the back that recall (even to this day) its equestrian roots. (The severe cut of things stopped those pesky coat-tails flapping at your legs when you rode at high speeds. They now serve a similar purpose on the marquee dance floor.)

In the early 20th century, King George V disdained the morning suit entirely, preferring to wear its fustier Victorian counterpart, the frock coat, for formal occasions. This soon led his son, Edward VIII, to rebel (as royal sons really tend to) and install the more debonair morn- ing coat once again as the item of choice in his court from 1936 onward. As rebellions go, it sure beats Montecito.

Today, the morning suit remains a reliable canvas for deft rule-breaking (though one must know the rules before breaking them, of course). And its convention-bender in chief remains King Charles III, who has now promoted the grey morning suit — an ensemble long seen as the more louche, laidback cousin to the traditional black-coat-and- charcoal-worsted-trousers number — to a fresh supremacy.

King Charles III leading the style field at day three of Royal Ascot 2023, with his classic grey morning suit

It’s one that Huntsman, on Savile Row, will no doubt welcome. A tailor of both tradition and flair, it has long been the go-to for grey morning suits on the Row. The house made actor Gregory Peck an exquisitely cut mid-grey morning suit in 1961 — an ensemble he later reprised for his role as Robert Thorn in the 1976 movie The Omen. This sleek look was underscored with unfussy adornments: black umbrella; white carnation.

Meanwhile, at Ascot, King Charles has , historically favoured three-piece morning suits in a smattering of differing greys when attending the jauntiest horse race around. Today, he often opts for a gorgeous, almost Gatsby-esque number in dove- grey sharkskin, cut for him by John Hitchcock when the tailor was at Anderson & Sheppard.

Gregory Peck (far right), in 1976 film The Omen, with a dashing David Niven, and Hjordis Niven and Veronique Peck

But as a younger man he went for more brooding and robust suits in deep charcoal — a look also sported, as it happens, by Bond baddy Max Zorin during his Ascot jolly in A View to a Kill. An ensemble fit, then, for both kings and villains, actors and diplomats? Surely the perfect brief for your next wedding suit.

This article was taken from the summer 2025 issue of Gentleman's Journal, which you can read more about here.

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