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Western dress codes are a set ofdress codes detailing what clothes are worn for what occasion that originated inWestern Europe and theUnited States in the 19th century. Conversely, since most cultures have intuitively applied some level equivalent to the more formal Western dress code traditions, these dress codes are simply a versatile framework, open to amalgamation of international and local customs. This versatility has made this scale of formality a practical international formality scale.
| Formality Dress Code | Civilian | Military | Supplementary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | |||||
| Day | Evening | Day | Evening | |||
| Formal wear i.e."Full dress" | Morning dress | White tie | Trouser suit or skirt with blazer | Ball gown | Full dress uniform | Ceremonial dress, religious clothing, folk costumes, |
| Semi-formal wear i.e."Half dress" | Black lounge suit | Black tie | Evening gown | Mess dress uniform | ||
| Informal wear i.e."Undress" | Suit | Cocktail dress | Service dress uniform | |||
| Casual wear | Workwear,Streetwear,Sportswear, etc. | Combat uniform | Casualfolk costumes | |||
Classifications are divided intoformal wear (full dress),semi-formal wear (half dress), andinformal wear (undress). Anything below this level is referred to ascasual wear, although sometimes in combinations such as "smart casual" or "business casual" in order to indicate higher expectation than none at all.
For both men and women,hats corresponding to the various levels of formality exist. As supplements to the standard dress codes,headgear can be worn, though certain settings have etiquette regarding this; for example, inChristian churches, traditional norms have enjoined the wearing of aheadcovering (such as a veil or cap) by women, while men are prohibited from wearing a hat.[1][2][3]
Ceremonial dress,military uniform,religious clothing,academic dress, andfolk costume appropriate to the formality level are encouraged, but face-covering garments (niqab,hijab) are not always accepted. France outlawed the public use ofburqas in 2010 and the European court of law seconded the law because "uncovered faces encourage citizens to live together" (see alsoburqa by country).[4]
Typical events: Weddings, state dinners and affairs, formal balls, royal events, etc.
Typical events: Theatre opening nights, charity balls, etc.There is some variation in style depending on whether it is summer, spring, winter or fall. Seeblack tie andstroller for more details.
Typical events: Diplomatic and business meetings, many social occasions, everyday wear
Casual wear encompassesbusiness casual,smart casual, etc.
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The background of traditional contemporary Western dress codes as fixed in 20th century relied on several steps of replacement of preexisting formal wear, while in turn increasing the formality levels of the previously less formal alternatives. Thus was the case with the ceasing of thejustacorps, extensively worn from the 1660s until the 1790s, followed by the same fate of the 18th centuryfrock (not to be confused with frockcoat), in turn followed by thefrock coat.
Formal, semi-formal, and informal all have roots in 19th century customs subsequent to the replacement of the 18th century genericjustaucorps, and has remained fixed defined since the 20th century. The 19th centuryfrock coat rarely occurs except as formal alternative. For women, interpretations have fluctuated more dynamically according tofashion.
Before the modern system offormal,semi-formal, andinformal was consolidated in the 20th century, the terms were looser. In the 19th century, during theVictorian andEdwardian periods, the principal classifications of clothing werefull dress andundress, and, less commonly the intermediatehalf dress.Full dress covered the most formal option: frock coat forday wear, anddress coat (white tie) forevening wear (sometimes with supplementary alternative being a full dress uniform independent of what time of the day). As such,full dress may still appear in use designatingformal wear.
Whenmorning dress became common (in the modern sense, using a morning tailcoat rather than a frock coat), it was considered less formal than a frock coat, and even when the frock coat was increasingly phased out, morning dress never achieved full dress status.[citation needed] Therefore, in the 21st century,full dress often refers to white tie only.[citation needed]
Today's semi-formal evening black tie (originallydinner clothes) was initially described asinformal wear, while the "lounge suit," now standard business wear, was originally considered (as its name suggests)casual wear.Half dress, when used, was variously applied at different times, but was used to cover modern morning dress (the termmorning dress is fairly undescriptive and has not always meant modern morning dress).Undress (not to be confused withnudity) in turn was similarly loose in meaning, corresponding to anything from adressing gown to alounge suit or its evening equivalent of dinner clothes (now one of the more formal dress codes seen in many Western regions).[5]
Today many people associate rules about veiling and headscarves with the Muslim world, but in the eighteenth century they were common among Christians as well, in line with 1 Corinthians 11:4-13 which appears not only to prescribe headcoverings for any women who prays or goes to church, but explicitly to associate it with female subordination, which Islamic veiling traditions do not typically do. Many Christian women wore a head-covering all the time, and certainly when they went outside; those who did not would have been barred from church and likely harassed on the street. … Veils were, of course, required for Catholic nuns, and a veil that actually obscured the face was also a mark of elite status throughout most of Europe. Spanish noblewomen wore them well into the eighteenth century, and so did Venetian women, both elites and non-elites. Across Europe almost any woman who could afford them also wore them to travel.
Hat etiquette also has roots in Christianity, as it's long been considered customary for men to remove their hats upon entering a church. As we all know, however, church hats are a historic tradition for women to wear in the South.
In most forms of Christianity, however, men remove their hats as a sign of deference to the deity. The bareheadedness derives from the comments of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:4 that "a man who keeps his head covered when he prays or prophesies brings shame upon his head" (NEB).
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