The 'Dinner Suit' has only existed as an option of formal attire since the late 19th century. Prior to this time the traditional mode of formal wear was a suit which included a jacket with tail coat.
As with most inventions, some dispute surrounds the exact person or persons who conceived of the idea in the first place and the methods by which the item became 'fashionable'. The 'Dinner Suit' is no exception to this rule. The following account is the most commonly accepted 'history' of the Dinner Suit.
The original Dinner Suit was designed by or for King Edward VII when he was still Prince of Wales, and was first worn by him at dinner aboard his yacht in Cowes. This suit was simply a traditional tail coat which had had the tails removed.
The concept of the Dinner Suit only rose to prominence following it's debut in America. In 1896, Pierre Lorillard IV designed several coats that he intended to wear to a ball. Pierre wanted to wear something less formal than the traditional dress of the time - black tails with black tie. The coats were black but without tails and were shaped like the red jackets that were then worn for fox hunting. This decision can be seen as an attempt to rebel against the influence of the British upper class - who were influential in setting standards of dress and behaviour during this period.
The Lorillard family were tobacco magnates and owned land in a town called Tuxedo Park, approximately 40 miles north of Manhattan. Pierre Lorillard was due to attend the 1896 Autumn Ball of Tuxedo Park. The coats were custom-made by a local tailor but Pierre backed down from wearing the revolutionary garments on the night of the ball.
However, Griswold Lorillard, Pierre's son, and his friends did wear the new jackets to the ball. The high social status of the young men wearing the new style jackets resulted in the design being imitated and accepted - and not condemned as Pierre had feared.
Consequently, and naturally enough, the new style jacket became known as the 'Tuxedo'. The use of the term 'Tuxedo' (or 'tux') is largely confined to America, with 'Dinner Jacket' or 'Dinner Suit' now being the most common form of description.
The style of the Dinner Suit has essentially remained the same over the years, with changes largely being confined to the design of the lapels and the number of buttons on the jacket. The bow tie did not become popular until the 1920s and the cummerbund was only later introduced following British governance of India (from the Hindu 'kamarband').