MUSLIM WEEDING OUTFIT DILEMMA

[noonar]

hi, my dad is getting married next week in marrakech. i have bought a linen, embroidered dress from monsoon, which has s kind of english rose/fifties feel. am now worried that the moroccan guests wont 'get' this look, what with their penchant for all things glittery and gold...what do you think?

i'd be esp glad of advice from anyone with experience of coping with culture clashes in this kind of situation.

(ps sorry if you've read this on my other thread. decided it didnt really belong there, so posted again.)

OMG, am a complete fuckwit, i meant of course WEDDING outfit. god. am gonna get no sensible replies now.

its called valetta, from monsoon. i cant do links

Never mind, it gave me a laugh

PMSL

Brought to mind the one on Gardeners World that wears short skirts and 40 denier tights

Have no idea of culture clash thing - sounds gorgeous though

\link{http://www.monsoon.co.uk/invt/95187410\this???}

so long as your legs and arms are covered you should be fine, your english rose outfit will be exotic. Hope you have a lovely time.

this??

Hiya

I'm Muslim myself...have had a look at dress and think it all depends on the family over there - are they quite open minded and wear western clothes themselves or are they covered up? I would let that dictate the style of the outfit myself.

One thing that I wear is the 3/4 length dress type tops that you can wear over trousers or jeans with three quarter lenth sleeves - its a really respectable look but is funky at same time and I always put a vest type top underneath for cleav coverage! They also hide my post c section tummy!!

What you could do tho is get a pashmina type scarf that matches the dress and drape over shoulder/arms. That way you have dressed it down but still look elegant/stylish and can take it off if you think people won't mind your arms showing.....

Hope thats helped a bit?

thanks to all, you know i hadnt really consiered covering up my arms it comes to half way between knee and ankle. i do have a little pink bolero cardi to match, but wasnt going to wear it as it clashes with my shoes, which are more red than pink.

this is tricky, maybe i should just buy new shoes.

nicki, that wass v helpful, but do you think they'll think i havent bothered dressing up, as its not glitzy?

i also have a pink chiffon beaded top and pink linen trousers from monsoon. had ruled them out tho, cos wasnt sure if trousers would be acceptable.

am still chuckling at my earlier blunder tee hee hee

ps wurly, thanks so much for the link

pmsl

can you go back and edit your thread title?

It depends on the family you see -what are they like? Very showy/glitzy or??

It can be tricky - for example, my husband is Mid Eastern and has one side of the family that are very westernised, lots of make up, cleave etc and they check out what you are wearing (its the same in all cultures isn't it!!) and the other half are religious, cover up and also check out what you are covering up so its a balancing act.....when I was in the Mid East, for casual it was a lot of baggy linens, shirts etc and when I dressed up - the three quarter length, black trousers etc...you could always buy a really pretty hair piece and put that in hair - that would add to the 'I've made an effort look'....oooh - one thing I've just thought of - will the men and women be separated? If so, ignore all what I've said and just wear the dress cos if its all women, you don't need to worry!!

nicki, i havent actually seen them for years, so dont reallt know. have never met the bride to be. dad is v western and lived in europe since 1971. grandparents v tradtional. think i'd better check with dad. thanks alot xx

god nicki, i hope its not separated. it'd be me and dds aged 2 and 4 with only my school girl french to fall back on. that'd be fun!

my advice would be to go more glitzy. the dress is lovely but a little subdued. Definitely cover arms/shoulders and something mid calf at shortest. Wear all your fanciest jewellery (all of it, all at the same time. honestly) even if the family are v westernised i really doubt they will get the understatedness of this

smitten thanks for your honesty. i also have a silk gown from monsoon, that i wore to a recent black tie function. its gorgeous, but too much cleavage i think. how do you do modest and glitzy/ feminine? also, its hot over there and monsoon is the only shop with summery stuff in stock!

Let me know what you find out!

They do like their jewels though - the more blingage a woman is wearing, the better the status etc. Hubby's family cannot understand my passion for understated and silver stuff!!! Even the covered women when they go out have some serious rocks on their fingers!!

Agree with smittenkitten, I'm not sure if black would be worn to a traditional wedding. The pink outfit sounds good. (was also amused by the thread title, even read it out to dh).

when i went to a turkish wedding in germany i wore a strappy black top with a bolero for modesty and a long black and red skirt which worked well.

do you have a camisole or something you could wear under the dress for cleavage reduction purposes? or a brooch to pin over cleavage?

PS

Why not go to an Indian shop and go for a shalwar kameez type look - if done the right way with right fabric, could look very glitzy/covered and different.....

the turkish wedding was "dry" (as in no booze) as well. I thought my SIL was going to jump out of the plane when she heard that!