Formal wear refers to the clothes that are appropriate for official social events such as dinner, weddings, dance, race or parties. Many people do not usually wear formalwear until they get an invitation to a special occasion that calls for formal dressing.

There are various codes of dressing when it comes to formal wear and hosts often determine what kind of codes to have at the event. A white tie code will require the men to wear black tuxedos that have tails and the vests, shirts and ties have to be white. For the women this code will require them to put on a full length evening gown.

A black tie code will require men to have black tuxedos without tails on. The shirt has to be white but the vest and tie should be black. For this type of formal wear code, the women can opt for a cocktail dress that is dressy or a full length evening gown.

Formal dressing also has a black tie optional code where men are expected to wear black tuxedos or any other dark colored suit, a shirt that is white or light colored and a conventional tie. Women can put on a full length evening gown, formal separates or dressy cocktail dress. No pants are allowed for the women in this formalwear code.

The creative black tie is another code that is used in formal dressing Men are expected to wear a black tuxedo similar to the other codes. For creative black tie, the shirt, cummerbund and tie can be of any trendy colors you prefer. Women can still opt for a dressy cocktail dress or a full evening gown. The gowns and dresses can be accessorized with colorful and trendy items.