For ladies, black-tie preferred still means a full-length dress, though there's a bit of flexibility–a nice cocktail dress will do in a cinch. A suit in this case needs to be particularly formal, though–this means a dress shirt (maybe one with French cuffs), a tie, and perhaps a vest if you want to go with a three-piece look. You can generally expect most suit-wearing guests to be wearing them, though if you need to, you can go with a suit. Black-Tie Preferred Dress Codeįor a black-tie preferred dress code, guys are going to want to stick with a tux if it's possible. No standard suits allowed, even the fanciest of them.

This means the full look–a proper dinner jacket, tuxedo pants, appropriate shoes, and the necessary accessories.

For guys, the black-tie dress code means it's time for a tuxedo.