dinner dress

a dress, often long and having sleeves or a jacket, more elaborate than one designed for daytime wear but less formal than an evening gown.

Origin of dinner dress

First recorded in 1805–15

She had no thought for the short rose-brocade train of her dinner-dress, and let it trail over the dirty floor.

The Penalty |Gouverneur Morris
Her whole capacity rarely rose beyond the effort to distinguish a ball-dress from a dinner-dress.

The Clique of Gold |Emile Gaboriau
When she put on her dinner-dress and faced him, Mart Haney was humbled to earth.

Money Magic |Hamlin Garland
She glittered with diamonds—in a street-dress which might also have answered for a dinner-dress.

Life on the Stage |Clara Morris

One for morning, and one for promenade, and a dinner-dress, and yet another.

Averil |Rosa Nouchette Carey