"Rules" for dressing up

[Daaaaang]

And one more "rule:" black tie if for after five o'clock, not for 2:00 PM. Many of us for whom a tux is a rarity think that wearing a tux or tails means you're really dressed up, no matter the hour. The fact is that a tux at noon makes you look like someone who doesn't know how to dress, and tails at noon are worse. With trousers, it's a swallow-tail coat for daytime; a black argyl would suffice with a kilt.

This is not something I know anything about. Is it just the jacket that changes with the time of day, or is it the entire ensemble? By the rules, that is.

I totally plan on breaking the rules, but to echo fluter, I'd rather know what they are before I break them, so that I am at least aware that I'm breaking them.

[davedove]

And of course, all the rules are trumped by the host of the event. If someone wants to have an afternoon event and make it black tie, then that's how you should dress.

[fluter]

This is not something I know anything about. Is it just the jacket that changes with the time of day, or is it the entire ensemble? By the rules, that is.
.

I think daytime formal (morning dress) and possibly semi-formal uses striped gray trousers. Some of the links in the wikipedia.org article are very informative.

The morning dress article addresses a question that I had---namely, what's the kilted equivalent? Can anyone vouch for its accuracy?

It indicates that my charcoal grey jacket and vest would serve for morning formal, with appropriate tie and hose... That'd be nice, since I don't have a black jacket!