dress code

American

noun

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.

dress code British

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Robert Mueller, who ran the FBI from 2001 to 2013, was known to adhere to Hoover’s G-man dress code of white shirts and dark suits, admonishing agents who wore something more colorful.

From The Wall Street Journal

It might also help to ask your colleagues if there is an unwritten dress code.

From MarketWatch

He also survived the 2022-2023 "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement sparked by the death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.

From Barron's

She dubs the all-women’s institution a “kiln of respectability” and doesn’t mind the strict curfews and dress code because she revels in being part of the powerful “Spelman sisterhood.”

From The Wall Street Journal

It's one of Northern Ireland's most exclusive night clubs - but it's not because of a dress code.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023