My friend is ruining my Wimbledon experience!!!

[LadyGarcia]

So I managed to get tickets for Wimbledon, during the finals weekend and am going with my university friend and it's something we've been planning for a long time - to go Wimbledon.

Now I'm quite simple and I'm happy put on some makeup and a dress, head out and enjoy my day and the experience.

However since the tickets have been booked, my friend has done nothing but hammer my phone day and night about how she will be dressing up on the day from ordering Hermes Sandals to a Dior Bag to even looking for a GOLD sunglasses chain etc...

I really regret asking her now, I just want to go and enjoy my day - I love Wimbledon and it's my happy place (as in the tournament itself) so be actually be in the grounds is just a dream come true but now I feel almost like I need to dress up just as much as her and look good on the day, I don't want to burn my money and on designer sandals and a designer bag (not that I will) but I can't help care now about how ugly I'll look next to her!

AIBU?

Really weird that her choice in clothes and brands would ruin your day.

Obviously it's the endlessly going on about it that is the problem! If OP bought and controls the tickets, I'd suggest be giving one warning to stop going on about it and then withdrawing the invitation. If not it's more tricky.

OP is she self absorbed and annoying normally or is this a one off?

But they can certainly make you feel pretty.

This!!

Have been to Wimbledon many times, including finals. The only people I saw dressed up to that extent were in the royal box/aetc members and guests. Everyone else wore every day clothing of various styles and levels of smartness but mostly comfortable and appropriate for a day of sitting outside in the British summer watching sport.

one year I went in t-shirt and shorts and ended up sitting next to a Hollywood actress who was similarly attired. Not everyone goes for the glamour.

I'm happy put on some makeup and a dress

you will be absolutely fine, just make sure you feel good and you are ready for the weather that day.

Overkill in "designer" items just make people look chavy, it really is not a good look. There's too many cheap fakes flying around anyway!

Now, it would be quite bitchy to do that to a friend, wouldn't it? And for what purpose? To make her feel bad about wanting to dress up?

Sometimes I don't understand MN. If somebody put up a post saying are women nasty to women who wear designer clothes or who dress to the nines for events everybody would say "not me. I love women who dress up" and yet this thread shows that for no reason whatsoever some of us are willing to demonise someone just because they want to look nice.

I dress up for everything. Always have. A lot of women from working class backgrounds do. When I have a down day then I really dress up because it helps to cheer me up. When I was young and was able to claim dole money during breaks from uni (a very long time ago) I so hated signing on that I used to dress up. The only downside was that I am from a very poor area and I once overheard some bloke responding to someone else who remarked on my clothes, that he thought I must be an escort. Bloody cheek! (I wasn't scantily clad, by the way. That was never my style).

Just reply 'gawd no'. People don't dress up to go to Wimbledon unless in the royal box.

We live fairly near and have been several times. People honestly don’t dress up like that for Wimbledon. You friend is likely to look daft and out of place. So FGS don’t feel you have to do the same!

I'm afraid this doesn't sound very good, OP. You're not allowing your friend to enjoy Wimbledon in the way that she wants to. So, in many ways, you are ruining her experience. It's so hard to get tickets for Wimbledon and she wants to glam up for it. Why not? If you feel insecure around her you can dress up too, but you don't need to buy new gear to do so. You can wear something nice from your current wardrobe. Or not.

I don't understand why her excitement is undermining your experience. Can you say a bit more? I also don't understand why, in order to make you feel better quite a few on here are reassuring you that your friend is going to look overdone and like a "chav". Well, I hope she looks absolutely fantastic and that she has a brilliant day. And I hope that you are able to go with her enthusiasm and have a good time too,

Come on, OP. Just wear what you're comfortable in, and let her do whatever makes her happy. She's not doing you any harm. Gold sandals etc wouldn't be my thing, but each to their own.

Why is Kate Middleton the only one allowed to dress up for Wimbledon? Does it work on the same principle as a wedding where you're not allowed to upstage the bride?

She’s not ruining your experience, you are ruining your experience. Dress however you want to. She’s your friend, you should be supporting her wearing whatever makes her feel happy and excited as long as it’s not completely impractical. Don’t be the buzzkill competitive friend.

Unless you are in hospitality, definitely dress for comfort and the weather especially with the shoes, you end up doing quite a lot of walking.

Your friend is expecting Wimbledon to be much posher than it actually is!

Tell her it's tennis, not Ladies' Day at Ascot.

She will look overdressed.

A LOT of people at Wimbledon dress in jeans and trainers (and the weather is very unpredictable.)

I don't want to burn my money and on designer sandals and a designer bag (not that I will) but I can't help care now about how ugly I'll look next to her!

She is likely to make herself a bit of a laughing stock by being overdressed.

Does she not realise that Wimbledon is not about dressing up?

Going to men's final ( sorry -smug bitch here).
Wearing shorts, fitflops, and baseball cap. As do 90% people lucky in the ballot. Enjoy your day

How are you friends then ? Why did you invite her? Do you like her company ? If you are friends surely you know that she is like this ? She is excited to go and loves dressing up - did you not know this all ready ? Have you never gone on a night out with her ? I am like this i love dressing up, even more love it now as work from home mostly so consists of Jeans and a hoody. But when i go into the office i make the effort and plan my outfit. If i was going to Wimbledon with my close friends we will have conversations, send whats app pictures of what we will be wearing. I really wouldn't like who i thought was a good friend of mine to be saying what you are saying here
Ps if they are the Hermes sandals i am thinking off, they are flat tan pair go with everything, would love them and there are loads of copies on the high street too of them. Hermes ones are suppose to be very comfy

Wear what you want and let her wear what she wants. Stop worrying about it.

She’s excited. If she wants to hammer her salary on Hermes and Dior, that’s fine, surely? French couture do not make you ‘pretty’.

You’re going for the tennis. Be excited about that. You’re very lucky! I’d love to go.

I wouldn’t stress about it too much. We once went to a very very posh nightclub in Marbella before it turned into a bit of a strange place. And my friend literally was the bell of the ball. The men couldn’t take their eyes off her. The women were just in, aure …. What was she wearing a £999 top shop vest dress similar to 1 Whitney Houston had but with a body to die for underneath it.

Wear what you want and let her wear what she wants!

When I'm excited about an upcoming event I love to discuss outfits and create little pinterest boards and curate a look - not on a designer budget, it's usually stuff I already own or get second hand off vinted or depop - it sounds like she's just excited. I know it doesn't actually matter what I'm wearing to anyone else. If it's the price of the stuff she's banging on about just say "I can't afford that, this is what I'm going to wear, I want to be comfie" or whatever. It doesn't mean I'm not excited about the event - like last week I went to see a band I love - I listen to their music all the time, I was thrilled to see them live, but the stuff I could control in the run up was the clothes I wear, which daps or boots, would it be too hot for this dress or too wet for this hat. The main thing about the event was the music, the experience but it mattered to me that I was wearing something fun and comfie.

Why don't you just reply with tennis questions like "how do you think so-and-so will do on court?" or something like that. Kill it with kindness, kill the outfit chat with tennis.

Send a text back saying " Me, i shall just be enjoying the tennis and the whole experience of being at Wimbledon" and leave it at that.

We had super fancy centre court semi final hospitality tickets last year. Around us we had people wearing jeans, Ralph Lauren, gucci loafers and primark. It's all very subtle branding, obvious fancy is very much against the grain . Literally anything smart casual goes and labels are not essential or even necessary. She will look over dressed in head to toe designer.

Have an amazing time and enjoy it. I don't even like tennis and it was amazing, such a fantastic day.