Dress code (Western)

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Dress code
(Western)

This page is intended to describe the different levels of dress code used in Western countries.

As a general rule, you can wear clothes at the specified level or above; ie. if the invitation specifies Black tie, you can wear White tie instead. The exceptions are:

  • Do not out-dress your host or hostess (if there is one)
  • Many people will consider it impolite or eccentric if you are too far above the dress code. "Too far" varies from situation to situation. If in doubt, ask your host or stick to the dress code.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Level Other names Men Women
Morning dress Evening dress
Formal Full formal, Full dress, Formal attire Morning wear White tie Ball gown
Semi-formal Smoking, Le Smoking Black tie Evening gown
Informal Cocktail or Business attire Business wear
Smart casual Business casual Executive Casual, Corporate Casual, Semi-casual, Neat casual Smart casual, Semi-casual
Casual chic Dressy, Resort Casual, Country Club See External links: "Cracking the Dress Code", below, for examples of these styles
Rugged attire Sporty
Leisure attire Saturday Casual
Active attire

[edit] National dress

National dress is appropriate on all occasions; see the appropriate section on White tie for details.

[edit] Formal, Semi-formal, and Informal

The first three styles listed above are the strict definitions. People often confuse the three; please check with your invitor to ensure that they intend for you to wear the style specified (eg. people often use "Formal" to mean any of the first three, and "Informal" to indicate "Casual").

[edit] Formal

Typical events: Diplomatic receptions/balls, the Opera, Mardi Gras/charity/debutante ball, important fund-raising dinner

[edit] Semi-formal

Typical events: Weddings, theatre opening nights, debutante balls

There is variation in style depending on whether it is summer or winter. See Black tie for more details.

[edit] Informal

Main article: International standard business attire

Although some attire is described as "business", many offices do not enforce (or expect) the Informal dress code specified above. Many habitually wear clothes from the Smart casual and Casual chic categories. As a general rule, though, when people say "business wear", they refer to the Informal category above.

[edit] Casual

The term Casual describes a wide variety of clothing, ranging from Smart casual to Active attire.

[edit] Definitions

For Dress code purposes, the following definitions are used:

US UK Generic
Day/Morning Before 6pm
Evening After 6pm
Mid-April through to Labor day Summer
Labor day through to mid-April Winter
Wear Attire Clothes (ie. Formal wear = Formal attire)

[edit] External Links

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