Formal wear (more often in the United States) or formal dress (in the United Kingdom) is a general fashion term used to describe clothing suitable for formal events, including weddings, debutante cotillions, balls, etc. Western formal wear has had a pervasive influence on styles in many countries. It is almost always the standard used in countries where there is no formal version of the national costume. Foreign dignitaries and honoured guests in Western countries often adopt Western evening dress on formal and state occasions, although it is not uncommon for distinguished persons to wear the formal versions of their national dress if such exists; the sari and the dashiki are easily-recognizable examples.

Unlike most of the fashion world, the styles of formal attire take their names from men's wear rather than female attire. Traditional 'rules' govern men's formal dress; these are strictly observed at socially conservative events such as royal weddings, and serve as starting points for the creative formal wear seen at high school proms, formal dances and entertainment industry awards shows.

Civilian formal wear can be categorized by dress codes. For the first half of the twentieth century, the codes in North America were universally accepted as:

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