Formal wear

Formal wear or formal dress is an ordinary fashion term used to explain clothing apt for formal procedures, with weddings, debutante cotillions, etc. Western formal dress has had a ubiquitous influence on styles in different countries. It is almost forever the normal used in countries where there is no formal edition of the national costume. Foreign dignitaries and honored visitors in Western countries frequently take on Western evening dress on formal and state occasions, even though it is not unusual for distinguished persons to wear the formal versions of their common dress if such exists; the sari and the dashiki are easily-recognizable for examples.

Unlike for the majority part of the fashion world, the styles of formal dress take their names from men's wear rather than female dress. Traditional 'rules' oversee men's formal dress; these are definitely observed at socially traditional events for example royal weddings, and give as starting points for the creative formal wear seen at high school proms, formal dances and in free time industry awards shows.