Western dress codes in the context of "Top-hat"

A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching pencil skirt instead of trousers. It is currently considered semi-formal wear or business wear in contemporary Western dress codes; however, when the suit was originally developed it was considered an informal or more casual option compared to the prevailing clothing standards of aristocrats and businessmen. The lounge suit originated in 19th-century Britain as sportswear and British country clothing, which is why it was seen as more casual than citywear at that time, with the roots of the suit coming from early modern Western Europe formal court or military clothes. After replacing the black frock coat in the early 20th century as regular daywear, a sober one-coloured suit became known as a lounge suit.

Suits are offered in different designs and constructions. Cut and cloth, whether two- or three-piece, single- or double-breasted, vary, in addition to various accessories. A two-piece suit has a jacket and trousers; a three-piece suit adds a waistcoat. Hats were almost always worn outdoors (and sometimes indoors) with all men's clothes until the counterculture of the 1960s in Western culture. Informal suits have been traditionally worn with a fedora, a trilby, or a flat cap. Other accessories include handkerchief, suspenders or belt, watch, and jewelry.

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 and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies and cultures are likely to have different dress codes, Western dress codes being a prominent example.

Dress codes are symbolic indications of different social ideas, including social class, cultural identity, attitude towards comfort, tradition, and political or religious affiliations. Dress code also allows individuals to read others' behavior as good, or bad by the way they express themselves with their choice of apparel.

A top hat (also called a high hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or sometimes grey, the top hat emerged in Western fashion by the end of the 18th century. Although such hats fell out of fashion through the 20th century, being almost entirely phased out by the time of the counterculture of the 1960s, it remains a formal fashion accessory. A collapsible variant of a top hat, developed in the 19th century, is known as an opera hat.

Perhaps inspired by the early modern era capotain, higher-crowned dark felt hats with wide brims emerged as a country leisurewear fashion along with the Age of Revolution around the 1770s. Around the 1780s, the justaucorps was replaced by the previously casual frocks and dress coats. With the introduction of the top hat in the early 1790s, the tricorne and bicorne hats began falling out of fashion. By the start of the 19th century, the directoire style dress coat with top hat was widely introduced as city wear for the upper and middle classes in all urban areas of the Western world. The justaucorps was replaced in all but the most formal court affairs. Around the turn of the 19th century, although for a few decades beaver hats were popular, black silk became the standard, sometimes varied by grey ones. While the dress coats were replaced by the frock coat from the 1840s as conventional formal daywear, top hats continued to be worn with frock coats as well as with what became known as formal evening wear white tie. Towards the end of the 19th century, whereas the white tie with black dress coat remained fixed, frock coats were gradually replaced by morning dress, along with top hats.

A combat uniform, also called a field uniform, battledress, or military fatigues, is a casual uniform used by military, police, fire, and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and duty, as opposed to dress uniforms for formal functions and parades. It generally consists of a jacket, trousers, and shirt or T-shirt, all cut to be looser and more comfortable than more formal uniforms. Combat uniform designs vary by regiment or service branch (e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc.). Uniform fabrics often come in camouflage, disruptive patterns, or otherwise olive drab, brown, or khaki monochrome, to approximate the background and make the soldier less conspicuous in the field. In Western dress codes, field uniforms are considered equivalent to civilian casual wear, less formal than service dress uniforms, which are generally for office or staff use, as well as mess dress uniforms and full dress uniforms.

Combat uniforms have existed to some degree in most organized militaries throughout history, with the intent of providing both protection and easy identification. The British Indian Army's Corps of Guides were the first to use drab combat uniforms starting in 1848, when they wore light-brown clothing called "khaki" by Indian troops. The Second Boer War and World War I ended the pre-modern practice of issuing brightly-colored combat uniforms in favor of green, brown, khaki, and grey uniforms that better suited the varied environments of modern warfare. The first proper military camouflage pattern was Italy's telo mimetico, originally designed for half-shelters in 1929. Germany's Wehrmacht began issuing camouflage uniforms to paratroopers during World War II, and by the end of the war, both the Allies and Axis made use of camouflage uniforms for select units, usually special forces. The Cold War and post–Cold War era saw the gradual shift from monochromatic olive and khaki combat uniforms to those using camouflage patterns.

Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, including private ones such as marriages and funerals. Full dress uniforms typically include full-size orders and medals insignia. Styles tend to originate from 19th-century uniforms, although the 20th century saw the adoption of mess dress-styled full-dress uniforms. Designs may depend on regiment or service branch (e.g. army, navy, air force, marines). In Western dress codes, full dress uniform is a permitted supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian white tie for evening wear or morning dress for day wear – sometimes collectively called full dress – although military uniforms are the same for day and evening wear. As such, full dress uniform is the most formal uniform, followed by the mess dress uniform.

Although full dress uniforms are often brightly coloured and ornamented with gold epaulettes, braids, lanyards, lampasses, etc., many originated in the 18th and early 19th centuries as normal styles of military dress that, with the adoption of more practical uniforms, were eventually relegated to ceremonial functions. Before World War I, most armed forces of the world retained uniforms of this type that were usually more colourful and elaborate than the ordinary duty (known as undress), or the active service dress uniform.

Folk costume, also known as traditional dress, traditional attire, folk attire, or regalia is clothing of an ethnic group, nation or region, and expresses cultural, religious or national identity. It includes both everyday and formal wear, those which do not cater to Western dress codes.

An ethnic group's clothing may be called ethnic clothing or ethnic dress. So are there national costumes, and regional costumes.