Rules of appropriateness did not change drastically for evening wear in the nineteenth century. In general, the more formal the occasion, the more a woman's chest and arms were uncovered. Although a hierarchy existed in terms of social events, the evening or "full" dress was characterized with the presence of shorter sleeves and deeper necklines.

By the second half of the nineteenth century, a large amount of fabric was consumed to create billowing and/or draped skirts and, to maximize on their investment in costly textiles, skirts were often accompanied with several bodices that would be appropriate for different times of day and evening. These robes à transformation would feature varying lengths of sleeve, depths of décolletage, and levels of ornamentation, the most scant and elaborate being the opera bodice.

Accompanied with equally elaborate capes, coats and wraps, evening styles were usually accessorized with long gloves, cloth or kid slippers and a lady's best jewelry. In the second part of the nineteenth century trains were also obligatory in full dress. In all evening styles the fan, whose construction and language were refined in the eighteenth century, was an important mean of subtle amorous communication.

Within evening events, the fancy dress ball was a popular form of entertainment. Although New York's Vanderbilt and Bradley-Martin costume balls were the epitome of grandeur and conspicuous consumption, fancy dress balls were events enjoyed in the upper middle classes as well. Where the wealthy would commission Paris couturiers to create their masquerade costumes, other suppliers included home sewers, professional dressmakers, ready-made costume shops, costume rental companies and mail order houses.