Not to be confused with Western dress codes § Full dress, half dress, and undress.
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Western dress codes and corresponding attires
Formal (full dress)
White tie
Morning dress
Full dress uniform
Frock coat
Evening gown
Ball gown
Semi-formal (half dress)
Black tie
Black lounge suit
Mess dress uniform
Evening gown
Cocktail dress
Informal (undress, "dress clothes")
Suit
Service dress uniform
Cocktail dress
Pantsuit
Casual (anything not above)
Business casual
Casual Friday
Combat uniform
Smart casual
Workwear
Streetwear
Sportswear known as Sportswear (fashion) and Athleisure
Undress
Supplementary alternatives
Ceremonial dress
law courts
royal courts
diplomatic
academic, etc.
Religious clothing
cassock, habit, etc.
Folk costume
Distinctions
Orders
medals, etc.
Legend:
= Day (before 6 p.m.) = Evening (after 6 p.m.) = Bow tie colour = Ladies = Gentlemen
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An undress code is a social norm which sets an upper limit on the amount of clothing that can or should be worn. [citation needed]
Promoters of the entertainment industry, including sport, attempt to "sex-up" the entertainment by under-dressing the entertainers or sportspeople. For example, in 1999, the beach volleyball regulatory body, the International Volleyball Federation, set a limit on the amount of clothing allowed for the athletes to wear during competition. The women's uniform comprises a bikini with a width limit on the bottoms of 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) on the sides,[1] which has led to some controversy,[2] and in 2012 these limits were relaxed.[3] In July 2021, a beach handball team was fined because its women members wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms in a match, which requires no more than 10cm of their behind to be covered. [4][5] Similarly, organisers of some swimsuit competitions set a low maximum threshold for swimwear for contestants.
Some restaurants, sometimes called breastaurants, require female waiting staff to be skimpily-dressed.
The social norm in some countries is to wear considerably less or briefer clothing than in others.[6] Fashions since the mid-20th century has been towards briefer, more form-fitting styles, as well as thinner and sheer materials. In some cultures, including some in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia/Oceania, traditional dress consists of less clothing than those of the West. Some religious traditions or rituals require the members to be nude, as was the case with the ancient Indian gymnosophists or the Christian sect of the Adamites (the custom is still practised by ascetics of certain Indian religions, as in Jainism). (See also Christian naturism.)
Laws in many countries require a person to undress in some circumstances when requested by a customs or police officer in a strip search.
^"Bikini blues – Beach volleyball makes the swimsuit standard". CNN.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2007.
^"Beach Volleyball dress shed controversy". 1999. Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
^"London 2012 Olympics: female beach volleyball players permitted to wear less revealing uniforms". Telegraph. 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
^Rathborn, Jack (22 July 2021). "Norwegian women's beach handball team fined for not wearing bikini bottoms". www.independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 12 March 2024. The governing body's rules state: "Women should wear a bikini where the top should be a tight-fitting sports bra with deep openings at the arms. The bottom must not be more than ten centimeters on the sides."
^ Handball team fined for bikini bottom refusal
^The undress code that’s the height of teen fashion Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine From The Times August 26, 2006.
An undresscode is a social norm which sets an upper limit on the amount of clothing that can or should be worn. [citation needed] Promoters of the entertainment...
formal wear (full dress), semi-formal wear (half dress), and informal wear (undress). Anything below this level is referred to as casual wear, although sometimes...
Informal wear or undress, also called business wear, corporate/office wear, tenue de ville or dress clothes, is a Western dress code for clothing defined...
A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions...
usually more colourful and elaborate than the ordinary duty (known as undress), or the active service dress uniform. While full dress uniform is predominantly...
Martha share a room was originally written to have the Doctor casually undress down to his underwear; and still obliviously invite Martha to share the...
conductors"), and may wear the undress tailcoat (without epaulettes), with either mess dress or mess undress. The undress tailcoat is so named to distinguish...
century, Europeans were concerned with attributing meaning to states of undress, which they did not see as a natural state for humans. Being properly dressed...
public indecency. The legal and community standards of what states of undress constitute indecent exposure vary considerably and depend on the context...
Casual wear (or casual attire or clothing) is a Western dress code that is relaxed, occasional, spontaneous and suited for everyday use. Casual wear became...
striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
increases. In severe hypothermia, there may be hallucinations and paradoxical undressing, in which a person removes their clothing, as well as an increased risk...
instead; there are fewer applications for the undress gown in normal university life. However, the undress gown still plays a part in the older universities...
obscenity, which includes certain depictions of people in various states of undress, and child pornography, which may include similar photographs of children...
Smart casual is an ambiguously defined Western dress code that is generally considered casual wear but with smart (in the sense of "well dressed") components...
Playa Blanca (Tongoy) and Pichilemu, where it is possible to completely undress with total normality. The practice of female toplessness is allowed in...
sleeves. This shall be the same shape as the Cambridge Doctor of Laws undress gown except that the sleeves shall be hollowed out at the bottom in a double...
Business casual is an ambiguously defined Western dress code that is generally considered casual wear but with smart (in the sense of "well dressed") components...
work in the crematoria. The crematoria contained the Entkleidungskammer (undressing rooms), gas chambers and furnaces. In the summer of 1944 the camp had...
Playa Blanca (Tongoy) and Pichilemu, where it is possible to completely undress with total normality. The practice of female toplessness is allowed in...
Formal wear or full dress is the Western dress code category applicable for the most formal occasions, such as weddings, christenings, confirmations, funerals...
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