All-white (or nearly so) is typically considered to mean that you’re trying to upstage the bride.
All-black used to be worn to appear as if you’re in mourning that the wedding is still on. These days (in the US at least), at a formal evening wedding event it wouldn’t be out of place as long as it looked dressy and lovely.
Afraid I’m of no help for dress suggestions though, irishgirl; we’re nothing alike in height, bust, skin/hair/eye color and I’m afraid I’d royally screw it up!
It’s a very old etiquette throwback (and I’ll probably be the only one sticking to it).
The bride should be the only woman in white, and it is a wedding not a funeral, so black isn’t appropriate.
Just write it off as a funny quirk of mine, a superstition if you will.
It’s not a serious “rule” it is just that I would feel happier wearing colour to a wedding.
Is there a shade of dark purple or burgundy that looks good with your skin tone? That’s usually my fall-back choice when I don’t want to go with the oft-overdone Little Black Dress. (This is coming from a porcelain-skinned redhead with blue eyes, so take that with a grain of salt.)
I’m nowhere near the same size/colouring as you but I bought my last outfit for a posh wedding from Marks & Spencer. They have some very classy stuff in their Autograph and Portfolio ranges, but I’m not sure how they would suit you for size.
The most recent outfit I bought is for a wedding in August but probably not quite as classy as yours so I chose something from their Per Una range. Nice frock and a fantastic excuse to buy new shoes. And a hat.
(cluelessness) How warm is it in the north of Scotland at that time? I have the same coloring (nowhere near the same size) and wear pale yellow sundress-type dresses with colorful shawls, or coral sleeveless dresses with white/pastel short sweaters (some call them shrugs).
You don’t say how old you are and I mean this in a non snark way, but that would factor in my suggestion. I’m assuming 20s or 30s, since you’ve recently had a baby, but yeah-- what I’d suggest for a 25 year old is different than a 35 year old, a 45 year old and so on.
Jungle Formula. Seriously, do not forget this if you intend to set foot outside.
The last August wedding I attended was on a still, cloudy day, and swarms of midges followed us wherever we went, even inside the church. Standing at the altar in my bridesmaid’s dress for what seemed like an eternity trying not to scratch, and being told afterwards that my back looked like a map of Indonesia - no fun. Ditto standing around outside greeting guests and posing for photos.
Avon Skin So Soft works well, too, but it smells like a French brothel.
The ceremony is in Aberdeen university and the reception is at a nice hotel.
Aberdeen in August will probably be about 16C- so some sort of shawl/jacket will be needed.
I think it’ll need to be a cocktail dress rather than a sundress.
Coral is good colour option for me- I’m too sallow to pull off any shade of yellow without looking jaundiced.
It is quite hard to find a nice colourful dress that doesn’t look trashy (e.g fuschia satin is not a classy look if you have bountiful cleavage).
Instead of the little black dress, look for something in a lovely brown - the shade of creamy milk chocolate - one that accents and warms up your lovely olive skin. It should be somewhat fitted at the bust, with either a pencil or A-line skirt - which ever compliments your curves more. Keep it around knee length - making sure to accent your legs the best (some look good right at the knee, others look better around the mid-calf or above the knee)
The key is to find a fantastic coral/turquoise colored necklace that you love and a bracelet that compliments it, if not match it.
To avoid being overly matchy-matchy, keep the earrings simple - matching them to the color of the metal.
Get a fantastic pair of shoes that you love - strappy metallics or brown - or even a nicely patterened shoe.
By keeping the dress one color - and making the accents the corals/blues - you stay looking more formal, but festive. And the little brown dress is just as multi-functional as the little black dress without being so standard.
I just saw an episode of the Tyra Banks show… I was in the laundromat! I had no choice!
Anyway some ‘science’ guy was describing the best outfits to wear in various situation and wedding came up.
Apparently if you wear the same or a similar color to the bridesmaids, at the reception people will think you are more outgoing or approachable. And the best choice is a backless dress. You wear a shawl or wrap in the church and then ditch that for a backless dress which is very elegant and sexy.
Of course this advice was about how to get a guy at a wedding and you already have one so YMMV.
Sounds like what you want is a very solid-looking sundress with a jacket. Given your figure (which sounds very similar to my figure) I would keep it all the same color except possibly at the hem, or if you can get a different colored stripe on the lapel/button area (if there are buttons) of the jacket, for a vertical stripe.
Mine looked something like this one, but wasn’t white. Underneath, the top had thin straps so it could be worn as a sundress. The jacket had contrasting piping. This is the kind of thing where you can add various jewelry or accessories for dressier or more casual looks–long beads, a brooch, a scarf.
My cousin Jess married a ~high-society~ British guy. (His dad, who has since passed away, was a knight, and a retired ambassador to several countries.) The wedding was held in Mexico City, where Jess is from and ended up being a really unusual hodgepodge of cultures. People dancing the hora in kilts in Mexico. That sort of thing.
Anyway, several of the British women turned up in fantastic hats. When I complimented one of them on her beautiful hat, which was all…feathery…she seemed quite self-conscious about it. Apparently I was not the first person to do so and she was beginning to think that the hat thing was out of place. Apparently it is quite the done thing to wear hats to weddings in Britain.
Since you are already British, I expect you know this. I was just so taken with the idea of wearing a fantastic feathery hat that if I were invited to a society wedding in Scotland, I would absolutely not pass up this opportunity.
I’m thinking about a fascinator (a feathery/net headpiece thing).
It is indeed usual to wear a hat or fascinator to formal weddings in the UK or Ireland.
I’m not a hat person, but it is nice to dress up on occasions.
I’ve gone for this.
On me (as opposed to the 6’ model in the photo) it is just above knee length, and as I have a more hourglass figure it flares a bit more at the hips. It is a pinky coral- watermelon maybe.
I’m torn about accessories.
I figure there are 4 ways to go- black/metallic/coral/turquoise.
Thoughts?
