Formal wear (more often in the United States) or formal dress (in the United Kingdom) is a general fashion term used to describe clothing suitable for formal events, including weddings, debutante cotillions, etc. Western formal wear has had a pervasive influence on styles in many countries. It is almost always the standard used in countries where there is no formal version of the national costume. Foreign dignitaries and honoured guests in Western countries often adopt Western evening dress on formal and state occasions, although it is not uncommon for distinguished persons to wear the formal versions of their national dress if such exists; the sari and the dashiki are easily-recognizable examples. Semi-formal is a dress code in the European tradition. ... Informal is a dress code in the European tradition. ... Smart casual or Business casual is a potentially confusing dress code, due to its oxymoronic construction. ... Business casual, sometimes called smart casual, is a potentially confusing dress code, due to its oxymoronic construction. ... Sportswear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or exercise. ... For other uses, see Fashion (disambiguation). ... Clothing protects the vulnerable nude human body from the extremes of weather, other features of our environment, and for safety reasons. ... Nuptial is the adjective of wedding. It is used for example in zoology to denote plumage, coloration, behavior, etc related to or occurring in the mating season. ... A debutante (or deb) (from the French débutante, female beginner) is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her debut or coming out. Originally... For other uses, see Cotillion (disambiguation). ... Faroese folk dance club with some members in national costumes National costume, also known as national dress, regional costume or folk dress, expresses an identity through costume which usually relates to a geographic area, but can also indicate social, marital and/or religious status. ... For the city, see Sari, Iran. ... The Dashiki is a colorful mens garment widely worn in West Africa. ...

Unlike most of the fashion world, the styles of formal attire take their names from men's wear rather than female attire. Traditional 'rules' govern men's formal dress; these are strictly observed at socially conservative events such as royal weddings, and serve as starting points for the creative formal wear seen at high school proms, formal dances and entertainment industry awards shows. For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... “Prom Queen” redirects here. ... The entertainment industry consists of a large number of sub-industries devoted to entertainment. ... Look up Award in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Civilian formal wear can be categorized by dress codes. In the early decades of the twentieth century, the codes in England, Europe and North America were universally accepted as:

• Formal evening wear, also known as full dress or white tie
• Semiformal evening wear, or black tie
• Formal daytime dress, or morning dress
• Semi-formal daytime dress (stroller)
• Informal dress (lounge suits)

The continual relaxing of formal standards since World War II have led to a blurring of what constitutes “formal” and “semi formal”. While pedigreed etiquette and menswear experts tend to still use the traditional terms — particularly when describing dress codes for weddings — many other consultants use more contemporary labels and definitions. It is now common to see white tie described as “very formal” or even “ultra formal” and black tie labeled as “formal”. Even the lounge suit, traditionally regarded as informal wear is sometimes worn as a type of pseudo-formal wear. Additionally, modern advisors allow for black tie at the most formal of events and for black tie alternatives at any other type of formal occasion. Subsequently it has become common to use the terms “white tie” and “black tie” to differentiate these specific dress codes from the more ambiguous and contextual “formal” or “semiformal” labels. Formal evening dress is more strictly regulated than other forms of dress, and properly consists of: Black tailcoat with silk (ribbed or satin) facings, sharply cut-away at the front Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe White stiff... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Morning dress is a particular category of mens formal dress. ... Semi-formal is a dress code in the European tradition. ... A stroller is mens semi-formal daywear, consisting of a grey or black single breasted lounge suit jacket with peaked lapels and usually single button closure. ... Suits from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog A suit, also known as a business suit or lounge suit or three-piece suit, comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of: a coat (commonly known as a jacket) a waistcoat (optional) (USA vest) — without this it is know as a...

The older terminology used in the nineteenth century and even early in the twentieth century was 'full dress' as opposed to 'half dress' and 'undress'.

In the UK, the two evening categories are known as “evening dress” and the day categories are known as “morning dress” because “day wear” is considered informal dress. Daytime formal dress has become extremely rare in the United States where morning dress has been replaced by Strollers or even lounge suits. However, in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australasia and even in Japan morning dress is still worn. A stroller is mens semi-formal daywear, consisting of a grey or black single breasted lounge suit jacket with peaked lapels and usually single button closure. ... Suits from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog A suit, also known as a business suit or lounge suit or three-piece suit, comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of: a coat (commonly known as a jacket) a waistcoat (optional) (USA vest) — without this it is know as a... Australasia Australasia is a term variably used to describe a region of Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. ... Morning dress is a particular category of mens formal dress. ...

Styles of formal wear

The degrees of formal wear and its component elements are described in the individual fashion article below:

Men's styles

Evening styles:

• Court dress — for wear at Royal court
• White tie (Tailcoat)
• Black tie (dinner jacket in British English, tuxedo in American English)
• Red Sea rig (tropical jacketless version of Black tie)

Day styles: To meet Wikipedias quality standards and make it more accessible to a general audience, this article may require cleanup. ... Formal evening dress is more strictly regulated than other forms of dress, and properly consists of: Black tailcoat with silk (ribbed or satin) facings, sharply cut-away at the front Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe White stiff... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Red Sea rig, sometimes known as Gulf Rig or Schooner Rig, is a dress code for Semi-formal evening events, which in general consists of black tie attire with the jacket removed, a red bow tie and red cummerbund, although there are local variations. ...

• Frock coat
• Morning dress
• Stroller
• Lounge suit

Grey tie (combination of the tail coat and the black tie style, only worn by servants and waiters) Formal black frock coat with silk-faced lapels, light grey waistcoat, striped trousers, button boots, gloves, ascot-knotted cravate, and necktie pin; April 1904. ... Morning dress is a particular category of mens formal dress. ... A stroller is mens semi-formal daywear, consisting of a grey or black single breasted lounge suit jacket with peaked lapels and usually single button closure. ... Suits from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog A suit, also known as a business suit or lounge suit or three-piece suit, comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of: a coat (commonly known as a jacket) a waistcoat (optional) (USA vest) — without this it is know as a...

Women's styles

• ballgown
• evening gown - describes elements of women's formal dress
• cocktail dress
• quinceanera

A Ball gown is the female attire for social occasions where white tie or evening dress is specified on the invitation. ... An evening gown is a ladys dress worn to a formal affair. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Quinceañera is a young Latina womans celebration of her fifteenth birthday, which is celebrated in a specific and different way from her other birthdays. ...

Unisex attire

• Court dress - worn in a court of law
• Academic regalia - the costume of academics and graduates
• Dress uniform - the most formal military uniform.
• Mess dress - formal wear for military personnel.

Court dress comprises two forms of dress: dress prescribed for Royal courts; and dress prescribed for courts of law. ... Academic dress or academical dress (also known in the United States as academic regalia) is traditional clothing worn specifically in academic settings. ... See military uniform and full dress for wider coverage of dress uniforms. ... Three Canadian officers in shawl or rolled collar jacket and waistcoat style mess dress or mess kit. ...

Components of formal dress

For men's white tie: Formal evening dress is more strictly regulated than other forms of dress, and properly consists of: Black tailcoat with silk (ribbed or satin) facings, sharply cut-away at the front Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe White stiff...

• Tailcoat
• Formal trousers, (with satin stripes on the left and right sides) which are never cuffed
• White pique bow tie
• White (black on some occasions) pique vest
• White pique-front shirt
• Cufflinks and studs
• Black patent leather shoes (or, as has been the norm more recently, black dress shoes)
• Suspenders may also be worn

For men's black tie: Bandleader Vincent Lopez in white tie, early 1920s Evening dress (also known as full evening dress) or white tie is the most formal dress code that exists for civilians today. ... Germanic trousers of the 4th century found in the Thorsberg moor, Germany Early use of trousers in France: a sans-culotte by Louis-Léopold Boilly. ... Satin used in bedding Structure of silk satin Look up Satin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... pique Pique refers to a weaving style, as in pique cotton, which is characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing (for example, in the collar of a polo shirt or tennis shirt). ... One option to tie a bowtie The bowtie is a mens fashion accessory, popularly worn with other formal attire, such as suits. ... VEST (Very Efficient Substitution Transposition) ciphers are a set of families of general-purpose hardware-dedicated ciphers that support single pass authenticated encryption and can operate as collision-resistant hash functions. ... Business shirt A shirt is a piece of clothing for the trunk of the body. ... Cufflinks are small objects used for keeping the cuffs of shirt sleeves together. ... Stud could refer to any of these : stud, a horse or other male animal employed for breeding, or stud farm, an establishment for horse breeding: see horse breeding, animal husbandry, dog breeding, selective breeding a traction device used on the bottom of horse shoes. ... Patent leather is leather that has been given a high gloss finish. ... A shoe is an item of footwear worn on the foot or feet of a human, dog, cat, horse, or doll. ... A dress shoe is a shoe used as a component of formal wear. ... A man wearing classic suspenders, which hook directly into the trousers instead of using clips. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

• Tuxedo jacket or dinner jacket
• Formal trousers, (with satin stripes on the left and right sides) which are never cuffed
• Formal shirt, which may have a wing collar, a standard collar, or a band collar, and may have a pleated, standard, or pique front (or may have a ruffled front)
• A bow tie or neck tie
• A vest (worn with either a bow tie or a long tie) or a cummerbund (worn only with a bow tie)
• Black patent leather shoes (or, as has been the norm more recently, black dress shoes)
• Cufflinks and studs
• Suspenders may also be worn

Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and U.S. President Ronald Reagan wearing black tie with wives in Quebec, Canada, March 18, 1985. ... Black tie, known in the United Kingdom (and also in the north-eastern United States, and Canada) as a dinner jacket and in the United States generally as a tuxedo, is a dress code for formal evening events that are not formal enough to require white tie. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ... A Band Collar is a standing band-shaped collar that encircles the neck without a full turndown or a collar cape. It can be any height or stand, but is usually under 2 at the front, so as not to push up into the chin. ... A pique front shirt is a mans formal shirt normally worn with a white tie. ... Blue necktie. ... Orange cummerbund A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with black tie. ... A dress shoe is a shoe used as a component of formal wear. ...

See also

Ceremonial dress Ceremonial dress is the clothing worn for very special occasions, such as coronations, graduations, parades, religious rites, and trials. ...