White Tie.
The most formal dress code there is: floor-length gowns and tailcoats, always after dark.
Also written as full evening dress, tails, cravate blanche.
Where it fits
White tie sits at the top of the scale and it is rare. You will see it at a state dinner, at a royal wedding, and at a handful of evening weddings a year, almost always in a ballroom or a great house.
If the invitation says white tie, read it literally. This is the one code where a very good dark suit is not a near miss. It is the wrong garment.
What to wear
Floor-length formal gowns are a must, paired with elegant jewelry and evening gloves if you're feeling extra. This is the most formal dress code out there, so lean into full glamour.
White Tie board on PinterestBlack tailcoat, matching trousers, a white bow tie, and a white waistcoat are the traditional uniform here. Think old-Hollywood formality, this isn't the place for a regular tux.
White Tie board on PinterestWhat to skip
A dinner jacket, a black bow tie, or a tuxedo standing in for tails. A cocktail dress, however expensive. Anything that ends above the ankle. If you do not own a tailcoat, rent one; formalwear shops keep white tie for exactly this reason.
What it looks like
How to say it
On a printed invitation the dress code is just the term, set in the lower corner. The explanation belongs on your wedding site, where there is room to mention the grass and the evening chill.
White tie
The evening is white tie. For men that means a black tailcoat, a white waistcoat and a white bow tie. For women, a floor-length gown. If you need to rent, call ahead; formalwear shops keep white tie but often in smaller numbers than black tie.
Want it in your own words? The dress-code tool writes both lines for a warm or formal tone and for a garden, beach, or estate setting.
White Tie: questions people ask
What is the difference between white tie and black tie?
The jacket. White tie means a tailcoat cut away at the front with tails to the back of the knee, worn with a white waistcoat and a white bow tie. Black tie means a tuxedo with a black bow tie. For women, white tie asks for a floor-length gown, where black tie allows a very formal midi.
Can a man wear a tuxedo to a white-tie wedding?
It reads as underdressed, and at a white-tie wedding that is visible from across the room. Rent the tailcoat instead. Most shops that stock black tie can get you one, and it is worth asking before you assume it is out of reach.
Do women have to wear gloves to a white-tie wedding?
Not any more. Opera gloves are traditional and still look right, but nobody will mark you down for skipping them. The floor-length gown is the part that is not optional.
How common are white-tie weddings?
Rare enough that most people never attend one. The weddings that set it are nearly all evening receptions in a ballroom or a historic house. If you are unsure whether the couple meant it literally, ask. They will not mind, and they would rather you asked than guessed.
A notch either way
Put white tie on
your wedding site.
It arrives with these photos and this wording, attached to the events it belongs to, and every word of it stays editable.