To wear a black dress as a wedding guest?

[ChristinaDior]

Just the title really.

I have a lovely black satin midi dress with a cowl neck that I haven’t worn. It’s been sitting in my wardrobe for 3 years untouched.

A friend is getting married this October, perfect opportunity to wear it right? Or is black a no no?

No.

No it really isn't
Save the dress for another occasion or change into it for the evening reception if you must

I’d wear it (sounds lovely) but I’d wear with bright heels and a bright lipstick to match.

I personally think most wedding etiquette is ridiculous and I don’t know the kind of people who would care about things like this so I would and screw anyone small minded enough to read anything into it. But if you have very conservative friends they may feel differently.

💯 yes! So sophisticated.
I love the look of wedding's where the bridesmaids wear black.

Save it. Otherwise you’ll create a debate and a distraction amongst other guests and may even have to justify your outfit in conversation. It’s the bride and groom’s day.

I wore a black pinafore to my best friend's wedding, with a white shirt, red hat and red shoes. OK i was 8 months pregnant but I looked great! Nothing wrong with black at a wedding, properly accessorised.

I wore black to my daughter’s wedding some years ago; Vivienne Westwood skirt suit, teal silk shell top, black pillbox hat, block heel platforms. The best man, who I hadn’t met before, looked across the Registry Office and said “Wow! It’s Mrs Simpson!” I thought it best to accept it as a compliment.

But the bride is going to stand out as she will be in white. She is absolutely gorgeous anyway.

I reckon most of the male guests will be in black suits so it’s not as if I’m going to stand out in black in a sea of colour ….

But thank you everyone for the comments. A bit 50-50, so I will check with the bride wether it’s O.K for me to wear black. (Along with my partner who will be wearing a black suit).

I always wear largely black and my favourite dress for weddings is black. I definitely look like I’m going to a wedding, you couldn’t wear this dress to work, and if I wore it to a Christmas party it’d look odd. I think if you accessorise a black dress so it’s suitably ‘weddingy’ ie. coloured or nude shoes and bag, coloured or monochrome patterned wrap etc it’ll look elegant. I don’t think black to a wedding is problematic or under-dressed at all, it’s all how it’s styled.

I have several times, I’ve chosen colourful accessories and lipstick to add a splash of colour.
I’ve not been the only one wearing black either and, as you pointed out, it’s acceptable for me to wear dark suits.

Check with the bride. I’m in my 40s and I’d be offended if someone wore black to my hypothetical second wedding (no plans to leave DH any time soon and hopefully he feels the same).

My mother in her 70s thinks it’s shatteringly rude (or at least she did when Raquel Welch wore black to her son’s traditional British church wedding and we discussed it).

However, as PPs say, at some modern weddings it would be fine.

I would always check with the couple getting married, if I'm invited to their wedding I'll be close enough to be able to ring them for advice on it!

Just check with the bride, that's what I did and she said I could wear whatever I liked. So I wore a lovely black dress and I dressed it up with fuchsia accessories.

I'm getting married in the summer and one of my guests asked if she could wear black and I don't have an issue with it. I don't really understand why it's seen as a no-no if I'm honest. I think black is classic and sophisticated.

I have done it numerous times. No black at a wedding is so old fashioned.

I wore a black dress with electric blue stole for my brothers wedding and when 8 months pregnant a black dress with a pale pink jacket and cerise silk scarf. Not a discussion point at either as far as I’m aware (except a few polite comments that I looked nice).

Go for it!

Can't imagine anyone would be bothered by it - if it's October, wear it with a coloured wrap or a lighter jacket if you're concerned you might feel out of place.

No don't wear black to a wedding!!
Find something else and keep the black for evening wear.

It comes from the days when people wore mourning and it was inappropriate for someone in mourning to attend a wedding. Women didn’t usually wear black unless they had recently had a relative die.

It is old fashioned but some people (usually older) still don’t like it. I figure in another 20 years or so, nobody at all will care. At the moment, I think it’s generally 50-50, heavily slanted towards younger people not caring and older people minding with some in the older group not caring either.

I would mind - it’s one of those things you pick up in childhood and don’t even realise makes no sense until you think about it.

I always wear a black dress when invited to a wedding, I don’t do colours at all.
I have never been the only one in a black dress at a wedding either. There is always usually a few. The last wedding I went to I was sitting at a table of 8 for the after meal and 3 out of the 5 women had black dresses on.

Someone wore black to my wedding. Personally I wasn’t fussed at all, but it was well known that her husband had left her the week before. So people were wondering whether it was deliberate!

People wear black for reasons other than mourning.

I couldn’t tell you what any of the guests at my wedding wore and it was less than 2 years ago! Do people really care as long as they’re not too scruffy?

I’m with either ask the bride beforehand or accessorise with plenty of other colours - for starters, in October you will probably need some sort of jacket; maybe heels in a bright colour, statement bag, hat (obvs) and the general impression will not be too much black.