How it works: 5 main types of dress code

White Tie

If the invitation says White Tie, it means there will be at least a reception with the ambassador, a ball or an award ceremony, and no lower than the Nobel Prize, because even at the Oscars ceremony they observe the less solemn Black Tie. It is difficult to remember a dress code that matches White Tie in terms of severity and formality, probably because there is simply no such thing.

Dressing a man seems to be a little simpler task compared to choosing a woman's toilet. The point is that there are strict regulations: almost every item of the outfit is prescribed, so you can only make a mistake on purpose. A man going to an event where White Tie is prescribed must wear a bow tie and a tailcoat. The tailcoat, in turn, must be black - other colors are not allowed. Under the tailcoat they wear a vest with three buttons, about which you need to remember two things: it must only be white and always fully buttoned. Mandatory accessories include a white bow tie and a white scarf, which gives the name to the dress code; desirable accessories include a pocket watch, white gloves and, no matter how much of a joke it may seem, a thin cane.

For women, everything is a little more complicated, if only because the floor-length dress, without which it is better not to appear at a White Tie event, has more styles than the classic men's tailcoat. If the choice of this style is still left to the woman, then in other details amateur performance is excluded: the hair must certainly be styled, the eyes and lips must be made up, and the hands must be covered with gloves of maximum length, which, however, corresponds to the length of the sleeve of the dress. There may be, but is not required, a fur cape on the shoulders. It’s also better not to come without jewelry - you can rent them, as long as the stones are real. You can and should take a tiny handbag with you.

Black tie dress code

This style is traditionally followed at weddings, anniversaries and other special evening celebrations, theatrical outings, that is, events that begin after 18.00. First appeared in England in the nineteenth century.

It is a mistake to believe that Black Time is necessarily black. Translated, it means “black tie” and is directly related only to the way a man dresses, and even then not always. The black tie dress code for women is much simpler.

There are several classifications:

Black tie Invited.

Classic option. Women should choose evening dresses, preferably floor-length; a length no higher than the ankle is allowed. Dresses in dark, restrained shades: blue, gray, black, burgundy. Closed-toe heels, a matching clutch, modest jewelry are allowed. If gloves go with the dress, they should be slightly above the elbow. Hair collected or natural elegant styling.

For men, this is a must-have black color: a tuxedo with a satin lapel and a bow tie. Classic trousers and non-varnish shoes: Oxfords, Derbys. At first glance, it seems that it is much easier for men to match the style, but few people have a pressed black tuxedo hanging in their closet.

(In the photo: “Swans” earrings with cubic zirconia, matching the black outfit, and for men, the “Oil Baron” signet).

Black tie optional.

A little looser than the previous version. Women can choose any elegant dress. The only exception is white, since the image of a bride would be inappropriate at such a reception. You should also be careful when choosing an option with a print, especially a floral one. If you overdo the image, it may turn out to be rustic.

Photos of women with Black tie Optional dress code demonstrate a certain freedom, but not at the expense of elegance.

Men are allowed to choose a classic dark-colored suit, a tie is suitable instead of a bow tie, and a jacket pocket can be decorated with a scarf.

Black tie Creative.

The modern and most popular is black time creative. Here, the choice of outfit is not limited by the imagination of the guests. Unusual dresses of different colors are allowed. Original handbags and jewelry for women, and hairstyles can be as imaginative as you like. For men, the outfit is no longer limited to dark shades and ties or bow ties can be bright, but not with colorful patterns.

Black Tie

Black Tie is still formal and formal, but a more common and simpler dress code. This is the style of weddings, festive receptions or theater premieres.

For men, it always means a tuxedo - a jacket with a satin collar and lapels, formal trousers made of the same fabric as the tuxedo, and, in fact, a black bow tie with right angles. The main rule regarding the bowtie is that it should be tied and not attached to the shirt like a badge. With shoes, everything is simple: you will have to choose from classic Derby or Oxford shoes, as long as they are not patent leather.

Women at such events are expected to wear the same long evening dresses or, depending on the degree of solemnity of the event, cocktail dresses no higher than the knee. Jewelry is still welcome here, but now you can get by with expensive jewelry. You can also leave a fur cape at home, as well as trendy dresses from the latest collections of Japanese designers. Everything should look as noble and elegant as possible, so the only shoe option is high-heeled shoes.

Basic elements of clothing for men in the cocktail style

There shouldn't be any problems when putting together an outfit for a cocktail party. This style echoes the classic one and choosing all the things is as easy as shelling pears. For a formal occasion, it is better to wear a black, well-pressed suit. After five o'clock in the evening you can use a gray suit, and in the late evening - a dark blue one.

Depending on how formal the event will be, choose the color of the shirt. Black and white colors are welcome. You can use a vest with it. If you are not using a tie under your shirt, you can leave the top button undone. It is strictly forbidden to take off your jacket at the event. The exception is if the shirt is long sleeved.

Shoes for such parties need to be matched to the trousers. Black, brown, well-polished derbies or oxfords in a classic style are allowed.

Don't neglect accessories. Cufflinks, a watch, a belt, and a tie will look very stylish in the overall composition.

Types of cocktail dress code for men

There are several options for fashionable looks for the evening:

Business party. It requires a strict formal look of clothing, like a classic black or dark suit and shoes. The shirt can be worn plain or with small stripes. Don't forget your tie and accessories.
Classic (Smart). This option is suitable for meetings after 9 pm. Here you need to combine a comfortable and simple type of clothing with elegant elements. You can go wild with accessories in it, but it’s better to avoid a tie.
Secular (Attire). Only classics are appropriate here. A shirt, trousers and jacket, tie and patent leather or leather shoes are indispensable attributes of the evening.

Cocktail for men is a fairly simple and ordinary look. There is no need to invent or compose something. Primary colors – white, black, gray, dark blue. It's conservative, reserved and masculine.

Cocktail

An event with a Cocktail dress code does not imply such strictness as White Tie and Black Tie, but it is also full of nuances that should not be neglected.

Instead of a tuxedo, men can wear a classic dark suit, and replace the monochrome bow tie with a brighter one or abandon it altogether, perhaps in favor of a tie. It is also no longer necessary to tie yourself with a silk belt, the main thing is not to forget to keep the bottom button of the jacket undone, expose the starched snow-white cuffs from the sleeves no more than two centimeters and wear socks that, if you crossed your legs over your legs or onto a table, would not show even a millimeter naked body It seems that there is no need to mention that socks should be a couple of shades darker than trousers, and that the tie should touch the button on the trousers: these rules apply to any dress code at any event.

A cocktail dress is the most suitable option for women. Focusing on the nature of the event, you can even wear a dress with a length much higher than the knee, but with a strict top to compensate for this freedom. The shoes are again high heels.

Cocktail dress code

Cocktail events usually start between 4-5 pm and 8 pm. These events are much more casual than daytime business lunches, but not as formal as evening receptions and celebrations. The most common formats of such events are cocktails, presentations, exhibitions, openings, etc. Often, event organizers send out invitations that indicate a particular dress code - a requirement for appearance. Let's figure out what you need to look like if the invitation indicates the Cocktail dress code

What do we have to do?

Sleeves can be either short or long. As for the neckline, it is not prohibited in the evening, but you should still know when to stop, it should be too deep and revealing
Moderate flounces, frills, and fringes are allowed as additional decoration.
The fabrics from which cocktail dresses can be made are quite sophisticated and varied. Embroidery with bugles or sequins may appear. Lace and guipure are also suitable for decoration, but they cannot be the main material! The same applies to transparent fabrics - organza, chiffon - they are only partly acceptable
A black cocktail dress with a small number of exquisitely selected expensive accessories will suit the look best.
Also, such complex color combinations as lilac with green, blue with lemon, mustard with brown will look very interesting.
A variety of jewelry is acceptable in the form of several strings of beads, large pendants, large necklaces and earrings - but you do not need to wear everything at once
The best option for a bag is a clutch or a small decorative handbag. Shoes - sandals, shoes, and ankle boots are acceptable - it all depends on the season.
The head should be neat. You can use a variety of decorative hair clips and hair decorations.

What NOT to do?

Don't think that a cocktail dress can be short! A cocktail is not like going to a disco. Length should be around knees
High slits are also not recommended, except for walking vents
The maxi length is not used, it will interfere with free movement, especially if the skirt is full or flared
There is no need for overly extravagant cut elements, such as puffed sleeves or huge collars.
In winter, it is not allowed to wear a cocktail dress with thin straps or without them at all.
You should avoid deep necklines and revealing cutouts on the back.
A completely transparent dress with underwear visible underneath is inappropriate
You don't need to be particularly diligent with makeup. It is enough to strengthen it by a tone or two, or change the light color of lipstick to burgundy. No other “special effects” are needed"
Since a cocktail is an event held on the border between day and evening, it is better to use the brightest and most striking colors only as decoration, not as the main color
Items such as corsets and bodices are also best avoided
A cocktail dress in bright red or orange or turquoise is too much. A stark white dress is also inappropriate; such an outfit will evoke associations with a wedding or beachwear
You are strictly forbidden to dress in a white blouse and a black or blue skirt - you will be mistaken for a waitress.
It is also worth noting that there is no need to wear jewelry in “sets”; these are things of bygone days.
Hair and makeup – there should be no high and pompous hairstyles under any circumstances.

Interesting Facts

Cocktail events, as a rule, take place in a free communicative form. Most often they are organized according to the buffet principle. Everything is conducive for everyone to move around and communicate calmly with each other. The presence of light alcohol in itself implies a freer form of communication, and as a result, a freer form of clothing.
The cocktail event usually starts between 16-17 hours and 20
These events are much more casual than daytime business lunches, but not as formal as evening receptions and celebrations.
The most common formats of such events are cocktails, presentations, exhibitions, openings, etc.

Smart and Business Casual

Quite often, in invitations to corporate events or business meetings, you can see the note “Dress code: Smart Casual or Business Casual.” In this case, the rules of how to look are somewhat blurred and depend on the time of day.

The only thing more complicated than the dress code for business meetings is, perhaps, the choice between Oxfords and Derbys for a tuxedo. However, the liberalization of recent decades has also affected the fashion for business suits. Today there is nothing wrong with a man appearing at a meeting in a jacket with soft or even natural shoulders and loose, rolled-up trousers. Classic shoes remain mandatory (deviations are allowed only in color and degree of varnish). A twinset - a turtleneck and a cardigan - is also quite appropriate when paired with the same seemingly too big, but slightly tapered trousers.

The most dangerous option is a tuxedo or a very high-quality jacket with jeans or even shorts: you can allow it if there is no doubt about your own taste and the adequacy of your partners. The most boring, but also the most win-win is a classic, moderately strict business suit of a dark color, plain or with almost imperceptible stripes. If you really want to, you can emphasize the formality with a tie, and not necessarily a narrow one, but it’s better to save the bow tie for entertainment events. If the meeting is scheduled for the morning or afternoon, a light two-piece suit will be successful. Again, the ability to experiment with color depends on the nature of the event and the sense of humor of your colleagues.

For women, there are several options to add variety to your outfit: unusual colors and unusual shoes. Clothes should not be pretentious: a classic, elegant style is preferable for business meetings, but in the absence of bright details it is easy to seem boring.

During negotiations with foreign partners or important business meetings, a Btr (Business Traditional) dress code may be established. This means that you are left with virtually no choice: men must wear a classic monochromatic or combined suit, women - a fitted trouser suit or a sheath dress with a jacket. However, with its severity, Btr still leaves room for imagination, unlike Bb (Business Best). Everything here is extremely simple: a man puts on a dark blue suit, a snow-white shirt, a tie of any shade of red, classic non-lacquered shoes and does not forget about cufflinks; women are better off abandoning separate skirts and jackets and wearing a gray, beige or dark blue suit with stockings and shoes with 3-5 cm heels.

Costume parties

Costume parties in Moscow are not that uncommon. Most often they coincide with club anniversaries, the arrival of unknown but still very cool bands and the release of nostalgic films about bygone days. Moreover, the invitation may only give a vague hint of how you should look, and you will have to come up with an outfit yourself. Sometimes the organizers help you get into the right frame of mind with the help of moodboards, as Solyanka did last year, which celebrated its fourth birthday with a three-day circus party. If you are deathly afraid of clowns or are not ready to return home at night with a kilogram of makeup on your face, you can comply with the dress code with the help of several characteristic details (one may turn out to be unconvincing, especially if there is face control at the entrance). The biggest risk at such events is to use the most common interpretation of the proposed image and end up being one of hundreds of people wearing identical orange wigs.

Universal rules

If the invitation does not say anything about the companion, that is, it does not say how many people it applies to, then it is better to come to the business event alone.

A general rule for all guests and events: in autumn and winter, clothes and shoes should be darker than in spring and summer.

For morning and afternoon events, leather or suede women's handbags are more appropriate, for evening events - made of brocade, silk or embroidered with beads.

When choosing an outfit, always give preference to natural fabrics and avoid synthetics.

Andrey Fomin
Organizer of the Bal des Fleurs and other social events
I organize a huge number of events, but the most striking and significant is the Bal des Fleurs. In the invitations we write “Riviera style” - this is the dress code of the Cote d'Azur: light trousers, bright jackets. And what are called balls in Moscow are not real balls. I consider the notorious Black Tie to be the most blasphemous dress code for a Russian person, because no matter how hard my colleagues try to impose this dress code in Moscow, it is not organic there. I personally saw a real Black Tie only in Great Britain at Mikhail Gorbachev’s ball. The dress code can be anything, but, as Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov said about our people in tailcoats, they look like a runaway orchestra. A Russian person is not accustomed to a tie or bow tie, he is uncomfortable in it, it suffocates him.
Whatever the dress code, a person does not have to look perfect: there must be something wrong. Let’s say, I saw Hugh Grant walking around in a perfect tailcoat, incredibly combed, but the bow tie hanging around his neck was untied. Rich people have a very simple option - go to Tretyakovsky Proezd and buy themselves a tailcoat, but they will most likely look more like a waiter or head waiter. The most universal dress code for most Moscow events for men is expensive jeans, Converse sneakers (Nike sneakers have become popular now, but they are more difficult) and always a jacket. I recently went to the Strelka ball and the people there looked absolutely gorgeous. I really liked the girls’ approach to choosing an outfit and was amazed at how organically many of them look vintage.
Gabriel Egiazarov
Event director
The events that I direct most often solve corporate, marketing or PR problems. Naturally, most of them have a dress code. The vowel and the unspoken. Especially when these are events with the participation of the government or just an official event with high leadership. At corporate meetings, a dress code is also often set, but only if there is some kind of conceptual idea.
If we are talking about official events at a high level, then invitations do not often contain a requirement: everything is clear. But when they want to emphasize that you can dress casually, they write “cocktail wear” or “smart casual.” For corporate events, the dress code is also indicated depending on the concept of the holiday: “Today is an evening of fairy tales, choose a fairy-tale look for yourself” or “A bright element of cyclamen color is welcome.” At corporate events, these items of clothing can simply be handed out to guests or rented and everyone can be dressed in advance.
At the events I work with, the audience is most often predictable, so there are no surprises in terms of appearance. Of course, there are those who might be wearing jeans or military fatigues at an official event with top officials. But more often than not, media representatives differ. Journalists are extremely dismissive of the dress code.
If the invitation does not say anything about the dress code, but we are talking about a reception, presentation or gala dinner, wear a suit, preferably not black - you can’t go wrong. I think girls don’t need any special advice: there will always be an evening dress.
If you are going to a corporate event with a certain theme, then do not be lazy and come up with some original element in clothing (but not the one that immediately comes to mind in connection with the proposed concept). If you come unprepared to a place where “everyone is in the know,” you yourself will regret that you didn’t take care of it in advance.