A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the tails, with the front of the skirt cut away.
The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Modern era. Ever since the 18th century, however, tailcoats evolved into general forms of day and evening formal wear, in parallel to how the lounge suit succeeded the frock coat (19th century) and the justacorps (18th century).
Thus, in 21st-century Western dress codes for men, mainly two types of tailcoats have survived:
Dress coat, an evening wear with a squarely cut away front, worn for formal white tie
Morning coat (or cutaway in American English), a day wear with a gradually tapered front cut away, worn for formal morning dress
In colloquial language without further specification, "tailcoat" typically designates the former, that is the evening dress coat for white tie.
Duke of Westminster (Herzog von Westminster) ist ein erblicher britischer Adelstitel in der Peerage of the United Kingdom. Der Titel ist nach dem Londoner Stadtteil benannt.
Der hauptsächlich genutzte Landsitz der Familie ist Eaton Hall, in der Nähe von Chester in Cheshire; daneben wird Ely Lodge im nordirischen County Fermanagh genutzt. Die Familie besaß in der Vergangenheit außerdem ein großes Stadthaus in der Londoner Park Lane, das Grosvenor House genannt wurde.
Der Titel wurde am 27. Februar 1874 von Königin Victoria an Hugh Grosvenor, 3. Marquess of Westminster, verliehen. Er führte bereits seit 1869 die fortan nachgeordneten Titel 3. Marquess of Westminster, 4. Earl Grosvenor, 4. Viscount Belgrave, 4. Baron Grosvenor und 11. Baronet, of Eaton.
Der Titel Marquess of Westminster war am 13. September 1831 in der Peerage of the United Kingdom seinem Großvater Robert Grosvenor, 2. Earl Grosvenor, bei der Krönung von Wilhelm IV. verliehen worden. Dessen Vater Sir Richard Grosvenor, 7. Baronet, war von Georg III. in der Peerage of Great Britain am 8. April 1761 zum Baron Grosvenor, of Eaton in the County of Chester, und am 5. Juli 1784 zum Earl Grosvenor und Viscount Belgrave, of Belgrave in the County of Chester, erhoben worden. Dessen Ur-ur-urgroßvater, der Unterhausabgeordnete Sir Richard Grosvenor, war am 23. Februar 1622 in der Baronetage of England der Titel Baronet, of Eaton in the County of Chester, verliehen worden.
Der Heir Apparent des jeweiligen Herzogs führt den Höflichkeitstitel Earl Grosvenor, dessen Heir Apparent den Höflichkeitstitel Viscount Belgrave.
Der heutige Duke of Westminster zählt mit einem geschätzten Vermögen von ca. 9,9 Mrd. £ zu den reichsten Männern Großbritanniens. Im Forbes Magazine von 2009 wurde er in der Liste der reichsten Personen der Welt auf Platz 29 geführt. Er verfügt u. a. über Grundbesitz von ca. 1,2 km2 Größe in den Londoner Nobelstadtteilen Mayfair, Belgravia und Pimlico, davon allein 770.000 m2 im an den Buckingham Palast angrenzenden Belgravia, sowie über den Landsitz Eaton Hall in Cheshire.
A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or sometimes grey, the top hat emerged in Western fashion by the end of the 18th century. Although it declined by the time of the counterculture of the 1960s, it remains a formal fashion accessory. A collapsible variant of a top hat, developed in the 19th century, is known as an opera hat.
A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat, and often draped down the chest.
Variants include the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cravat, and knit. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neckties are generally unsized but may be available in a longer size. In some cultures, men and boys wear neckties as part of office attire or formal wear. Women wear them less often. Neckties can also be part of a uniform. Neckties are traditionally worn with the top shirt button fastened, and the tie knot resting between the collar points.
