Formal wear

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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, balls, 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.

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.

Civilian formal wear can be categorized by dress codes. For the first half of the twentieth century, the codes in North America were universally accepted as:

Formal evening wear, also known as Full Dress or white tie
Semiformal evening, wear also known as black tie
Formal day wear
Semiformal day wear

However, 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”. 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.

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 clothing.

Contents

1 Styles of Formal Wear

1.1 Men's Styles
1.2 Women's Styles
1.3 Unisex Attire
1.4 Components of Formal Dress

2 External links

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))

Day Styles:

Grey tie (Combination of the Tail coat and the Black tie style, only worn by servants and waiters)

Women's Styles

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

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.

Components of Formal Dress

necktie/tie
dress shoe

External links

[Proper table manners]

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