dress code

American  

noun

1. a set of rules specifying the garb or type of clothing to be worn by a group or by people under specific circumstances.

   a military dress code; The restaurant's dress code requires men to wear jackets and ties at dinner.

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dress code British  

noun

1. a set of rules or guidelines regarding the manner of dress acceptable in an office, restaurant, etc

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Example Sentences

Islanders had to follow a dress code, and risqué challenges were off the table, said ITV America Chief Executive David George.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026

“If there’s a dress code, I respect the dress code,” Harris said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

This year’s abstract dress code, “Fashion Is Art,” encourages guests to treat the body as a canvas and “to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026

The gala dress code is “Fashion Is Art,” with guests asked to explore their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate depictions of the dressed body throughout art history.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

The dress code at my school forbade cosmetics.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides