How to Dress for a Formal Party

Formal parties are lots of fun, and most high street and designer shops will stock formal party
dresses in plenty of sizes, including plus size and petite stores. There are plenty of special
occasion that might warrant you wearing a formal dress, prom, Christmas, a cocktail party, a
wedding or a graduation party.

Basic rules are that if it's a day event, you wear a brightly coloured dress, perhaps with a print,
probably in a natural fabric. Then if it's a night event, you'll want to wear something a little more
figure hugging, in a darker colour with no print.

But these are just the basics. Next, you need to consider your body shape and buy something that
is appropriate for it, that will show it off to it's greatest advantage. Short formal party dresses
might not look great on everyone, but make sure that you find a length that is flattering for you.

Formal wear (US) and formal dress (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other
Commonwealth Realms) are the general terms for clothing suitable for formal social events, such
as a wedding, formal garden party or dinner, débutante cotillion, dance, or race. The Western
style of formal evening dress, characterized by black and white garments, has spread through
many countries; it is almost always the standard formal social dress in countries without a formal
national costume.

A dress code is a set of rules governing a certain combination of clothing; some examples are
black tie and morning dress. Formal dress is the grouping of all the dress codes which govern
clothes worn to formal events. The traditional rules that govern men's formal dress are strictly
observed[by whom?]; from these derive the evening dress variants worn on many occasions, such as
high school prom dances, formal dances, and entertainment industry award programs.

The dress codes considered formal in the evening are white tie and black tie[citation needed]. In the
UK, morning dress is standard formal day time clothing (a lounge suit being still considered
informal dress), but in the US/Canada morning dress is rare, having been replaced with the
stroller and then the lounge, or business suit. Morning dress, however, does remain in certain
settings in Europe, Australia, and Japan. Some countries still have the semi-formal daywear
code, the stroller.

Contents
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 1 Terminology: formal
 2 Dress codes
o 2.1 White tie
o 2.2 Black tie
 3 Worldwide
  4 Gallery
 5 See also

Terminology: formal

Girl in formal dress, USA, 1950s

The continual relaxation of formal dress standards since the end of the Second World War is
redefining what clothes constitute formal and semi-formal dress. The original term full dress was
used in the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century to mean the most formal option
available, while half dress and undress ranked beneath it. They indicated different clothes, but
correspond somewhat to the twenty-first century structure of formal, semi-formal, and informal.
These are the terms used by traditional etiquette and dress consultants (especially for weddings),
while contemporary consultants use looser, modern definitions, in which white tie is styled as
most formal, very formal or ultra formal; black tie as formal; and the traditionally informal
lounge suit as pseudo-formal. Moreover, modern advisers recommend black tie for events
traditionally considered to require formal dress (white tie), and alternatives for what would have
been semi-formal events.

However, formal and semi-formal are unambiguous when it is known they are being used in a
traditional setting, even though changing fashions can make these terms ambiguous; white tie
and black tie on the other hand refer solely to the combination of relevant clothes themselves,
regardless of their setting, and so are much less susceptible to misinterpretation.
Particularly in America, but also around the Western world, there has also been a relaxation
regarding the dress codes themselves, with full formal dress (white tie or morning dress) almost
unheard of in many places. An example of such a variant is removing the traditional, classic
black bow tie required by the black tie dress code in favour of a black or coloured regular tie and
waistcoat, a development which would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago.

Dress codes

The dress codes counted as formal wear are the formal dress codes of white tie for evenings and
morning dress for daytime, as well as the semi-formal ones of black tie for the evening and
strollers in daytime. Dinner suits and dress suits differ in which they don't follow strict coloration
(e.g. a blue bow tie worn instead of a black one).

The clothes dictated by these dress codes for women include cocktail dresses, semi-formal
dresses, formal dresses, and evening gowns. For many uniforms, the official clothing is unisex.
Examples of this are law court dress, academic and graduate dress, formal military uniforms and
formal military evening dress.

White tie
Main article: White tie

The required clothing for men is roughly the following: a (dress) tailcoat; formal trousers,
uncuffed, with stripes on leg seams; white piqué bow tie; white piqué vest (waistcoat); white
piqué front or plain stiff-fronted shirt with a detachable wing collar; cuff links and shirt studs;
black patent leather court shoe; accessories.
Women wear a variety of dresses. See prom dresses, evening gowns, and wedding dresses.
Business attire for women had a developmental history of its own and generally looks different
than formal dress for social occasions.

Black tie
Main article: Black tie

Briefly, men wear a dinner jacket (US English: tuxedo coat); trousers, uncuffed, with one stripe
on leg seams; shirt (stiff wing or soft folded collar) with either a placketed, pleated, piqué, or
ruffled front; a black bow tie; a black evening waistcoat or a cummerbund; black, patent leather
or calf Oxfords or court shoes; cuff links and shirt studs; accessories. However, this is not strictly
formal. It would correctly be classified as semi-formal.

Again, a variety of dresses is worn by women, including cocktail dresses, little black dresses, and
evening gowns.

Worldwide

An Icelandic man wears the hátíðarbúningur formal dress on his wedding day along with a boutonnière.

In Western formal state ceremonies and social functions, diplomats, foreign dignitaries, and
guests of honour wear Western formal dress if not wearing their own national dress.

Many cultures have formal evening and day dress, for example:

 Daura Suruwal — worn as formal dress by men in Nepal.

 Scottish kilt — worn as formal dress by men in Scotland or of Scottish descent
 Bunad — worn as formal dress by women and men in Norway.
 Hátíðarbúningur — worn by men in Iceland to formal events such as state dinners and
weddings.
  Sari — worn by women in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
 Shalwar Qameez — worn by men and women in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
 Sherwani worn by men in India
 Dashiki — worn by men in West African countries
 Barong Tagalog — worn by men in the Philippines
 Kebaya — worn by women in Malaysia and Indonesia
 Qipao — a modern female variation of the Qing Dynasty silk dress, characterized by a high
mandarin collar, and side open slits of varying lengths. It can be sleeveless, short, elbow or long
sleeve, and has been adopted by most Chinese women as a Chinese wear, depending on
materials and occasions.
 Changshan — a long male version of the qipao, which originated during the Qing Dynasty. It can
be of cotton for ordinary wear, or of silk for those within aristocratic families. Beneath the
changshan, the male generally wears white mandarin-collar long-sleeve shirt and a pair of dark
colored long pants. Like the qipao, this changshan male gown has slits on both sides (at least
knee level) as well. Worn nowadays either by Chinese men in the martial arts world, or as a
attire for weddings to match the qipao the bride wears.

The qipao and Changshan originated as Manchurian dresses that were forced onto the Chinese
population during the Qing Dynasty's queue laws under the penalty of death. Thus, the
traditional Chinese hanfu clothing were replaced by the qipao and changshan.

 Av Pak — both traditional and modern embroided blouse worn by women in Cambodia at
Special occasion, traditional festival and Formal show.

Gallery

White and black formal attire for men

Men's formal evening wear, or white tie, in 1912.

In India, saris can make any female look beautiful no matter weather she is short, tall,
thin, fat, dark or fair. The same way no matter what an individuals physical features are,
formal dresses give a major elevation to one’s personality. For men, formal dresses mainly
comprises of a formal trouser, formal (plain or stripes) shirt, a tie, a suspender, formal
black or brown shoes and an overcoat. Many a times people dressed in formals are termed
as “Decent”. So in other words formal dresses speak an individuals personality.. in many
offices, the dress code is formals.. the reason being that formal dresses reflect discipline
and the personality of its employees which in turn reflects the company. Formal dress code
is applicable mostly to people engaged in typical 9 to 5 job i.e. white-collar jobs.