Another 'is this appropriate to wear for a wedding?' thread

[Pigface1]

I love this dress and am thinking of wearing it to a wedding next month with a black hat. However I'm hesitating for two reasons - (a) it's full length (but I hate my calves so would like to cover them if possible) and (b) it's predominantly black - and the bits of it that aren't black are white!

What do you think?

It's gorgeous. Definitely needs a wide brimmed hat to balance it, not a fascinator which went out of style about 15 years ago when my MIL started wearing them

Just found a stunning organza one, would definitely require confidence to carry it off.

Ahh what a gorgeous dress! (Much better than the white/maroon/short/long/lace/possibly made up dress)

broom

I might have worn a nice red belt with it, and a feathery red fascinator, and red shoes, and expensive red lipstick....Just to break it up a bit. Lovely dress though.

Yes. Looks classic design so you won't be embarrassed when photos appear years in the future.

The dress is lovely but dress code etiquette is that a hat isn't worn with a full length dress normally.

You could choose a brightly coloured hat and other accessories to brighten up the black and white?
It's a gorgeous dress, you'll look gorgeous either way.

It needs something like this or this :)

So lovely - deffo ok for wedding!

Full length is absolutely fine for a wedding and I'm with you on the calves front, and being 6ft almost always wear maxi dresses for a formal occasion as I can wear flats without feeling frumpy. Your dress is gorgeous!

...

Not never a fascinator.

Fenella that's not etiquette, it's someone's style opinion.

Viserion the original advice is in Debretts etc, it is an oft voiced point of etiquette not just the opinion. Of that one writer, I just posted the article as it explained the thinking behind not wearing a hat.

It's gorgeous, and I don't see the problem with full length dresses (I didn't know this was a thing for weddings at all??! I don't think it is).

Hat or fascinator is your choice!

It is lovely.

Please don't wear a fascinator, they are not stylish and they look dated.

That article is specifically about black tie and weddings. And is a quote from a style editor at Brides magazine. I have just looked through all the different dress codes on Debrett's, there is nothing about hats and dress length. Happy to be corrected if you can link to it in Debrett's as it is not something I have ever come across.

It's in the Debretts Wedding Handbook. I used to be an event manager, so I'm sure I have a copy somewhere that I can try to fish out for you when we get back from holiday if you are in such a state of disbelief.

I can remember the reasoning behind it off the top of my head though - it's quite interesting actually - the size of the hat is traditionally considered to be matched to the time of day, i.e. The more likelihood of bright daylight, the bigger the hat brim and therefore hat brims should decrease in size as the start time of the event goes later in the day. Long gowns are traditionally considered evening attire for which you wouldn't wear a hat.

My telly isn't working tonight so I looked for some hats.

Not sure about red

From the latest version of Debrett's.

Does anyone in the real world give a shit about Debretts? Maybe some society weddings it would be a faux pas to wear a big hat with a long but if most people have no clue then who cares?

Gorgeous dress. I like the red hat, middle top or the laser white one.

It's not that I think maxi dresses are inappropriate for weddings (although I'm not a huge fan) but that I think that dress in inappropriately - it looks like an evening dress.