Formal wear

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

Unlike for the most 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 firmly observed at socially traditional events such as royal weddings, and provide as starting points for the creative formal wear seen at high school proms, formal dances and leisure industry awards shows.