Formal wear

People wear special clothes for big days. You might wear them to a wedding. Some women wear long gowns. Some men wear tailcoats.

Men can also wear a frock coat. These clothes are for very special times. People wear them to feel grand. They show respect for the event. It is fun to dress up. Do you like fancy clothes?

Formal wear is a set of rules for special clothes. People wear these clothes for big events. These events include weddings, funerals, and holiday traditions. They also include state dinners and balls.

There are different kinds of formal dress. For the daytime, men may wear morning dress. This includes a morning coat and striped trousers. For the evening, men often wear white tie. This means wearing a tailcoat and a white vest.

Men might also wear a frock coat. This was a common formal coat in the past.

Women have many choices for formal dress. They often wear long ball gowns. Some women even wear long evening gloves.

People can also wear national costumes. These are special clothes from a person's home country. For example, men in Scotland might wear a kilt. People in many places wear their own traditional dress to show pride. This helps people from different cultures join in the celebration.

Formal wear is a special way of dressing for very important events. People wear these clothes for weddings, funerals, and holiday traditions like Easter or Christmas. They are also used for state dinners, balls, and even horse racing. This type of dress shows respect for the occasion. It can also be used when people show off official medals or orders. While fashion changes, many formal rules for men have stayed the same since the early 1900s. These traditions are still seen in Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Japan.

There are specific rules for how to dress during the day and at night. Daytime formal wear for men is called morning dress. This usually includes a morning coat, a waistcoat, and striped trousers. For the evening, the most formal code is white tie.

Men wearing white tie wear a tailcoat and a white piqué vest. They also wear a white bow tie and a stiff-fronted shirt. Women often wear full-length ball gowns for these events. Some very formal white tie events even ask women to wear long gloves that go past the elbow.

Clothing styles have changed many times throughout history. In the 1660s, a man's suit included a justacorps, breeches, and a tricorne hat.

By the 1800s, the tricorne hat was replaced by the top hat. The frock coat was a common formal coat for many years. It was the main formal day wear from the 1820s until the 1920s. Later, the morning coat became the new standard for daytime formal events. Even though some styles fade, the white tie evening style still exists today.

Many different kinds of special clothing can be used instead of Western formal wear. People can wear their national costumes to show their culture.

For example, men in Scotland might wear a kilt. In Vietnam, people might wear the áo dài. Men in the Philippines may wear a barong tagalog. In India, women often wear a beautiful sari. These different clothes allow people from all over the world to join in. It makes formal dress codes work for many different countries.

Formal wear is part of a larger system of dress codes. White tie is the most formal level of all. Below that is semi-formal wear, like a black tie dinner suit or a tuxedo.

There is also a level for business attire and informal clothes. Sometimes, hosts will wear the most formal option to help their guests feel comfortable. This prevents guests from feeling they are dressed too simply. Whether it is a high school prom or a royal wedding, these clothes mark a special moment in time.

Formal wear, also known as full dress, represents the highest category of Western dress codes. It is used for the most significant social and state occasions. These include weddings, christenings, confirmations, and funerals. People also wear it for religious traditions like Easter and Christmas. It is required for state dinners, audiences, balls, and certain horse racing events. Wearing formal attire often serves to display official full-size orders and medals. While fashion trends change, the protocol for men's traditional formal wear has remained largely unchanged since the early 20th century. This tradition is still observed in many regions, including Europe, the Americas, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.

The mechanism of formal dress is divided into specific daytime and evening protocols. For daytime events, the code is known as morning dress. Men wearing morning dress typically wear a morning coat, a waistcoat, and striped trousers. For evening events, the highest level is the white tie dress code. Men in white tie must wear formal trousers that are uncuffed and feature stripes on the leg seams. They also wear a white piqué front or plain stiff-fronted shirt with a detachable wing collar. This outfit is completed with cufflinks, shirt studs, a white piqué bow tie, and a white piqué vest, or waistcoat. A black patent leather court shoe is the standard footwear.

Women's formal wear follows different patterns of change. While the fundamental customs for formal ball gowns and wedding gowns still apply, women's fashion is more dynamic. For the most formal white tie functions, women wear a full-length ball or evening gown. Some invitations may specifically request that women wear long evening gloves that extend past the elbow. Traditional headgear for women includes picture hats of various interpretations. For footwear, women typically wear heeled dress pumps. These garments are designed to match the solemnity and importance of the event.

History shows how these styles evolved from earlier centuries. In the 1660s through the 1790s, the first proper suit was established. It consisted of a justacorps, cravat, breeches, and a tricorne hat. During the Age of Revolution, around the 1790s to 1810s, the front cutaway dress coat replaced the justacorps. This coat had previously been used as casual country leisure wear. Breeches were gradually replaced by pantaloons, and tricorne hats gave way to bicorne hats. By the 19th century, the top hat became the standard headwear. From the 1820s until the 1920s, the dark, closed-front, knee-length frock coat served as the default formal day wear.

As time passed, new styles emerged to replace the older ones. In the 1840s, the first cutaway morning coats appeared. These eventually replaced the frock coat as the standard for formal day wear by the 1920s. Around the 1860s, fashion began to include shorter, more sportive suit jackets. These also originated from country leisure wear. This evolution led to the semi-formal evening wear known as black tie in the 1880s. By the 1920s, the informal lounge suit became accepted by polite society. Even though the frock coat ceased to be a required protocol at the British royal court in 1936, it has not completely vanished from history.

Formal wear also includes many ceremonial and professional alternatives. These include court dresses, diplomatic uniforms, and academic dresses. Military full dress uniforms are another significant type of formal attire. In the U.S. Army, an officer attending a white-tie occasion must wear a wing-collar shirt with a white tie and white vest. For black-tie events, they wear a turndown collar with a black tie and black cummerbund.

Religious clothing provides another alternative. Certain clergy wear a cassock with a ferraiolone, which is a lightweight, ankle-length indoor cape. The color and fabric of this cape, such as scarlet watered silk or black wool, depend on the cleric's rank.

Cultural dress is a vital part of the global formal landscape. Most invitations to white tie events allow for the substitution of national costume. This allows the Western dress code to be versatile and international. For example, men in Scotland may wear a kilt as highland dress. In Vietnam, the áo dài is worn by both men and women. The Philippines features the barong tagalog for men, while Indian women may wear a sari.

Other examples include the hanbok in Korea, the batik shirt in Indonesia, and the dashiki in West Africa. These customs allow people to honor their heritage during formal ceremonies.

Finally, formal wear exists within a structured hierarchy of social conventions. White tie is the most formal level, followed by semi-formal wear. Semi-formal attire includes the daytime black lounge suit and evening black tie, also known as a tuxedo. Below these levels are the male lounge suit and the female cocktail dress, which are associated with informal attire. At events where multiple levels of formality are listed, such as a royal wedding, hosts often wear the most formal version. This is done to prevent guests from feeling embarrassed by being underdressed. This system helps maintain the dignity of events like award ceremonies, balls, and high school proms.