WEARING white as a wedding guest used to be a cardinal sin and the ultimate insult to the bride.
But nowadays there’s a far worse style crime.
Gone are tailored trouser suits, chic two-pieces and glamorous, ankle-skimming gowns.
Instead, you’re more likely to spot looks you would find on the strip in Benidorm.
Think bum-skimming Lycra mini-dresses, skimpy bra tops, or dresses with sky-high thigh slits and boob-baring cut-outs.
One of the things I love about a wedding — aside from dancing to Come On Eileen and drinking a headache-inducing amount of champers, — is getting dressed up.
I’m talking sophisticated dresses, stylish hats and fascinators and killer heels for the girls, and sharp suits for the blokes.
The novelty of getting spruced up to the nines makes the special day all that more exciting and memorable.
Passing judgement on others’ outfits while you wait for the bride to make her entrance (which, admit it, we all do) is a big part of it, too.
I’m out of the “going to a wedding every other weekend” age bracket now — and what a relief, because the looks that seem to be trending wouldn’t be out of place in the queue for an Oceana nightclub.
Across social media, scantily-clad twenty-somethings share their wedding outfits with pride — while I gawp, with prejudice.
A quick Google search for “wedding guest outfits” produces dozens of brands’ standalone pages dedicated solely to this category.
But as you scroll through the likes of Club L, Oh Polly and River Island, you’ll find that the dresses and gowns — yes, Gen Z wear full-on gowns now — are better suited to the Love Island finale than a wedding in your local country house hotel.
And, like most trends, we have celebrities to blame.
When Dani Dyer wed footballer Jarrod Bowen last week, guest and fellow Love Islander Georgia Steel was slated for wearing what looked like a revealing white dress to her pal’s big day.
After Georgia posted a snap on TikTok of the lace-trimmed Miss Circle number she wore, the trolls came out in force, bashing her for picking what was in fact a “soft beige” dress.
“Wearing white to a wedding?” questioned one, while another waded in with: “Way too bridal for a wedding.”
And Georgia isn’t alone. Two months ago, White Lotus actress Sydney Sweeney came under fire for the “inappropriate” dress she wore to her Anyone But You co-star Glenn Powell’s sister’s wedding.
Across social media, scantily-clad twenty-somethings share their wedding outfits with pride — while I gawp, with prejudice
Clemmie
She chose a cleavage-baring corset-style dress from V Chapman in a very pale blue.
Fans thought the colour was an issue.
Comments included: “That is not an appropriate shade of blue for a wedding” and “The number one [rule] of a wedding is don’t wear anything close to white.”
Personally, I take no issue with guests wearing white at a wedding. As long as they aren’t also wearing a long veil (cropped veils on fascinators are allowed), who cares?
Especially during summer, when every other dress on the high street is some shade of white.
No one at the wedding is going to mistake someone else as the bride. It’s the bride’s name on the invite and her kissing the groom — so no need for the unnecessary uproar.
However, what I would take issue with is the plunging neckline and lingerie-style basque of Sydney’s outfit and, in Georgia’s case, the fact her lacy dress is practically see-through.
Don’t get me wrong, Sydney is a knock-out, and if I looked like that, I’d be wearing sexy numbers, too — just not to a wedding.
As one person commented online: “Kinda tacky to wear to a wedding. C’mon Syds, you can do better.” And she can.
The woman is an ambassador for designer brand Miu Miu, for crying out loud. Raid something from their archives that’s less underwear-like and more sophisticated. But it’s not just Sydney. Kendall Jenner wore a heavily cut-out black gown to her pal’s wedding, which sent the internet into meltdown due to its slashed fabric that barely covered her nipples.
And her sister, Kylie, has also faced outfit-shaming from keyboard warriors.
Don’t get me wrong, Sydney is a knock-out, and if I looked like that, I’d be wearing sexy numbers, too — just not to a wedding
Clemmie
At Hailey and Justin Bieber’s wedding, fans accused her of trying to steal the bride’s limelight by wearing a gold, floor-sweeping gown with peek-a-boo cleavage and a hip-high slit.
On X, one critic wrote: “If someone tries to pull a Kylie Jenner move like this at my wedding . . . they will kindly be escorted out with a red wine stain down the front of their dress.”
Ouch!
But then Hailey wore a backless white dress to a friend’s big day in 2023, which broke all the so-called wedding rules for looking just like a bridal gown.
When it comes to these codes, they’re subjective and are dependent on the wedding location.
If you’re lucky enough to be a guest at a ceremony abroad in a hot country, sitting in a long-sleeve, high-neck, polyester dress at noon is going to give you heatstroke.
And wearing a tailored pencil midi dress to sit on a bale of hay in a field will make you stick out like a sore thumb. I get it. I’ve been there myself and it’s a minefield. But if in doubt, aim for a more demure style.
Don’t copy the under-boob and pelvis-flashing looks of young celebs — think more of the women who have nailed the guest brief.
Keep it classy
Cast your mind back to happier times when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got married.
Amal Clooney, in a yellow, capped-sleeve midi-dress by Stella McCartney, was crowned best-dressed guest in attendance. Bold, but without being in danger of over-shadowing the bride, it was perfect.
Another flawless guest at a royal wedding was Demi Moore.
She battled gale-force winds in a burgundy dress and matching veiled hat — again, by Stella McCartney — when Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank in 2018. And she looked incredible.
Cindy Crawford’s daughter, actress Kaia Gerber, also got it right when she wore a classy, long-sleeved dress from Reformation to a friend’s 2018 wedding in Miami, Florida.
At the time, the navy, slit-leg frock retailed for £180, proving that even supermodels with designer brands at their fingertips can look amazing in high street buys.
A big emerging trend on the high street this wedding season seems to be minimal frocks with slinky scarves, which are intended to be worn draped down your back, not wrapped around you like a winter woollen.
They create a sense of elegance without having to have your boobs and bum out.
So if you are heading to someone’s nuptials this summer, keep it classy, girls.
Underwear as outerwear and flesh-flashing cut-outs are for the weekend, not for a wedding.
