Long evening dresses are otherwise known as ball gowns and are long, often loose, flowing dresses. It is a type of dress, ranging in length from ballerina to full-length and are made of a luxury fabrics such as velvet, satin, or silk.  It doesn't have to be a long full-length dress these days as shorter cocktail dresses are perfectly acceptable and during the summer preferable.

Essential to the wardrobe, a well known fashion rule and a definite a must-have that is a 'little black dress' or LBD such as this one (popularized in the 1920s by the fashion designer Coco Chanel) which can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion.

Evening dresses are far more detailed than daytime dresses and are often embellished with pleats, ruches, belts or diamantes.  A fresh and fashionable alternative to the LBD is the playsuit.