Another is this appropriate for a wedding..

[Thisisnotmyname2022]

Going to a wedding soon, I’ve just bought this dress, however we have now received official invites. It states: dress code, formal. No white dresses.

Now I would never wear white to someone else’s wedding, but formal? Can someone advise? Is my dress suitable or not?

You would look bonkers wearing a long sleeved chiffon dress at the beach.

@NatashaDancing

Exactly! Have never seen anything like this sported on any beach I’ve ever been on, definitely seen similar at weddings and parties though.

If you're going to email her anyway to ask what she means by formal, can't you just show her the picture and say "Is this okay?"

I know you’re not wearing it, OP, but I’m with the ‘beach cover-up’ brigade. Any iteration of ‘formal’ would exclude something that reminds so many people of something they’d throw on over a bikini. (admittedly. in my case, my swims are more likely to involve a wetsuit and extremely cold water, but you get my point…)

I think it's suitable for a wedding, it's light blue. The only thing is it might be a bit short but it could be a tall model, it might be fine on you. By 'formal' the bride probably just means she doesn't want people coming in jeans or their normal clothes.

Do you normally wear long sleeved chiffon dresses over beach wear?

I was thinking this too. It might be "beachwear" in some stylised fashion shoot or a Hollywood film set with the rich and famous but not on any beach I've ever been on. 😆

I burn easily, so would always wear long-sleeved cover-ups, though they’d be longer in the skirt for the same reason.

Made of chiffon?

I’d worry about it looking white in the wedding photos, even if it’s actually blue.

However, if you are not very tall and it comes near the knee then I think that style would be fine for a wedding.

I think if they’ve had to specify ‘no white dresses’ then they have a low expectation of the guests, and might have said ‘formal’ to avoid people turning up in jeans or something. But I would try to get more info if I were you.

Not sure what mine are made of, it’s been so long since I wore them. It’s possible, as I often just use old, loosely-fitting dresses.

Oh, my bad. I just went on the photo. It’s still too casual for a formal dress code.

You can google ‘Formal dress code’, it means evening wear. One step down from Black Tie and One step up from Cocktail.

I don't think it does. Not for a wedding in UK.

I would never assume this. I think you should ask the bride OP.

We got married in London 6 years ago and had a formal dress code, quite a lot of people were wearing tuxes or long dresses.

So I think OP should check with the bride.

From your description of the bride, I wonder if they are using ‘formal’ to mean not casual, I.e no jeans or trackies. These terms are often relative!

From what you've described OP it may be ok as long as you can make it as smart as possible.

Can you have your hair scraped back in a neat bun with conservative makeup and not too high heels?

I think it's a beautiful dress that you can go on to get a lot of wear out of, but you just could fine tune it for this event.

Does the bride actually know what formal means?
Or is she using it as a short hand for no jeans. I might talk to her before returning the dress.

Polyester beach dress. And it’s white.

Oh FFS! Does no-one read threads properly anymore? It's NOT white, it's blue 😖

OP, I think it's a little short but you say it's not too short on you so I think it's lovely dress. Wait for the bride's definition of formal, as the wedding sounds anything but! To me formal would mean full length.

If it's not short on you I think it could easily be dressed up with the right accessories.

I wouldn't check with the bride, she has more important things to worry about. When I was getting married I found the 'is this outfit OK' messages a bit irritating, and on the day I barely noticed/ cared what anyone else was wearing.

As long as it's a couple inches longer on you than in that photo and you get a more dressy style handbag/ hairclip/ hat/ shoes, I think you'll be fine.

Bride has replied, no jeans and no tutus… somewhere in the middle.

I think your dress is fine then.

I think it’s fine, especially given what the bride has said. In fact it’s very pretty!

In that case, your dress is perfect. Are you happy with it? No need to return it now, unless you want to.

Also, I'm wondering how many will turn up in floor length gowns, if they read formal in the same way as many here do. 😁