As an American I know we don’t do formal the way, for example, the British do. I feel like for men’s levels of formal ware tends to be rather set in stone like semi-formal is a suit and tie business casual loses the jacket and the tie and if you go formal you wear a tux (black or white tie makes some arbitrary difference that I’ve never quite understood but it still is easy to recognize). Its very easy for me to look at what a man wears and know what level of formality they are at.
Women’s clothing on the other hand seems much more loose. I have no idea if a dress is supposed to be formal or semi-formal or anything. Half the time I think the determining factor is how much skin is showing. So what are the hints I’m supposed to look at to know which dress (gown?) is which level of formality.
The difference between black and white tie for men is that black tie is “dinner jacket” (tuxedo). The tux was introduced to be less-formal formal wear (in the 1920s, I think?).
“White tie” goes with the full soup-and-fish: coat with tails, top hat, etc. Google Fred Astaire.
Women’s wear, I have no idea. Cocktail dress, short (meaning knee or calf-length) for evenings, long gown for the serious stuff? NO TAFFETA UNTIL AFTER SIX!
Black tie and white tie are for evenings only, of course. I don’t know if it’s ever worn in the U.S., but there’s a level called “morning dress” for formal daytime occasions; picture the opening day at Ascot sort of thing.
The funny thing is that in the US, the tuxedo has become the height of formality. The two biggest, most formal events in the US each year are the Academy Awards ceremony and the Met Gala. From what I’ve seen, men attending those events mostly wear tuxedos. (Although even at the Oscars, you’ll see a few men are in business suits with long ties.)
But if you look at a European formal event like the Nobel Prize ceremony, the men are wearing tails (no top hats, though).
A few months ago, another thread about men’s formal wear prompted me to check the websites for the big American department stores. I couldn’t find tails for sale at any of them. So I’m not sure where one would even buy tails.
As a Middle-American, I have become so informal that I often feel out of place even wearing a dress to dinner at a sit-down restaurant.
If the occasion arose to get dressed up, and the hubby actually agreed to wear a nice suit or tux, I’d ask Emily Post what I should wear. It sounds pretty flexible for women:http://emilypost.com/advice/attire-guide-dress-codes-from-casual-to-white-tie/
I just re-read your question and I see where you’re going now.
I don’t know either- my dresses tend to be printed fabric in a casual style, but with beading to give them a little sparkle, so is that casual or formal? Either way, nothing I own would pass at a black-tie or white-tie event.
I guess the only answer when in doubt is that a simple black dress is almost always ok, as long as you accessorize accordingly.
Today the rules are pretty loosey goosey for women. Which makes getting dressed for an event more stressful, not less.
Dresses come in five general lengths: floor, tea, knee, above the knee and slut. Classically, floor length was the most formal, tea length the equivalent of men’s Morning Jacket, knee length more causal, above the knee (by a few inches) the default for just about any occasion short of formal. Anything shorter than that good for scandalizing the church ladies.
But you can’t really generalize formality from hem lines anymore. Cotton maxidresses are floor length, but not formal. Very short skirts aren’t formal, except when they are.
Type of fabric and embellishments such as beading or sequins determine formality a bit more than length, but even there, putting a rule into words is nearly impossible. Your crazy aunt’s rhinestone studded mini dress probably isn’t formal…but the Grammy’s are full of rhinestone studded mini dresses that are formal.
It’s all a mess. This is why women are neurotic when we’re getting ready to go anywhere important.
That’s not so much formal as hyperformal, though. The Princesa de Asturias ceremony (previously Príncipe de Asturias) won’t get a lot of people in tees and jeans, but no tails and no gowns.
