Formal dress (U.K.) as well as formal wear (U.S.) are the universal fashion terms meant for clothing appropriate for formal societal events (wedding, formal backyard gathering or banquet, debutante cotillion, boogie, races, et cetera.). The Western fashion of formal twilight dress, black and white fashion, has pervaded the matching fashion of many countries; it is almost the normal formal social dress in many countries with no formal national costume. In Western formal state ceremonial and social functions, diplomat, foreign dignitary, and visitors of honors wear Western evening dress if not tiring their corresponding national dress.
Unlike in most of style, official evening dress styles are named for the clothing of men rather than the clothing of women. The customary sartorial policy that govern men's formal dress are severely observed; from them derive the evening clothing variants worn to high school prom boogie, official dances, and entertainment industry award agenda.