Wedding guest . . . dress opinions and do I really need something on my head?

[KatiMaus]

Hi guys, I'm going to an autumn wedding this year and wondered what the general etiquette is around wearing hats / fascinators etc.

I'd rather not, to be honest - I don't have a face for hats. The venue is a typical country house-style thing, but I have no relationship with anyone going (apart from MIL and FIL, whom I don't trust to guide me on this sort of thing), so I don't know what the expectation will be.

Also, what do you think of this dress? Does it look too much like something you'd wear to the office? I'll dress it up with some nice shoes, but I'm not generally drawn to feminine clothes (more a t-shirt and jeans type!).

https://www.reiss.com/style/su660288/f67627#f67627

The dress is lovely. I would say if you feel uncomfortable wearing a hat then don’t. Plenty of guests do wear hats to weddings but plenty don’t.

Great dress. Will need the right undergarments though.

Fab dress.

Hat not needed and fascinators are apparently out of date (and always ridiculous IMO)

I don’t think it is ‘corporate’ in the context of an autumn wedding when floaty and flowery are less relevant

My rule of thumb is unless I am part of the actually wedding party - ie MoB/MoG/sister or grandparent of either - then I'm just a guest and no head wear worn

Perfectly fine dress. Doesn’t need headgear. A restrained string of pearls might be nice. (Not a ‘statement necklace’!)

Can’t imagine wearing it to work. (The judge might have raised an eyebrow …)

Beautiful dress and you don’t need a hat. Accesorise simply though as the dress is quite busy.

You definitely don't need a hat or fascinator if you don't want to, noone really wears them anymore.
I personally don't like the dress... Reiss have much nicer things or Mint Velvet!

Same with me.

Don’t wear a fascinator. It’s very dated now. I’m not keen on the dress. It’s doesn’t say wedding to me.

I’d say that’s a gorgeous dress for an autumn wedding! Definitely no need for a hat or fascinator, I never wear hats to weddings as they don’t suit me at all.

I love that dress and tbh always aim for something I can later wear to work as a wedding guest - bonkers to make your most expensive purchase of the year something you'll never wear again.

At all the weddings I've been to in the last 20 years, only the MOB and MOG plus one or two attension seeking guests have worn hats.

Firstly what is the dress code? If black tie then no hat required and the dress is not suitable. If no dress code, don’t bother with a hat and the dress looks lovely.

With reference to headwear, I have a close relative in the UK, in a posh country set. She’s early 30’s so is at a wedding just about every weekend and I see all the photos on her social media. Just about all of the very lovely and smartly dressed young ladies are wearing something on their heads.

Maybe just a country thing?

I think the dress is lovely. I haven’t worn a hat etc at a wedding for over 20 years (and I was one of only a couple in hats even then!).

I don’t think a hat would suit that dress anyway tbh

Love that dress. Very wearable to a wedding, I’d wear that to work too, others wouldn’t. Don’t bother with a hat if it’s not your thing. Great shoes, great jewellery - awesome.

The dress is fine. Nobody but the mother of the bride/groom wears a hat/fascinator to a wedding anymore. It's 'old hat' pun intended.

I think you will look very chic.

If you did find out on the grapevine that it was a headwear occasion, a navy fabric headband could work.

I think the dress is fine go autumn wedding. If you really don’t want a hat then don’t wear one - the only wedding I’ve been to recently was in Canada and I asked my cousin (the bride) whether I needed one and had to explain that women tended to wear them to weddings in the UK!
If you’re not going to wear a hat could you do something with you hair that’s a bit eye-catching and formal? Might kind of make the hat-wearers see why you’re not wearing one.

Where we are hats would be worn a lot but have noticed that the last few weddings definitely less are being worn. I actually love hats but the last 3 weddings I wore a hairband. In fact at one last year I saw only one hat and none worn by the MOB or MOG. The one lady who had worn a hat had I noticed actually removed it during the service.

I have the same headwear dilemma for an upcoming wedding. I’ve tried on lots and they all look ridiculous on me so I’ve decided against. Some women look fabulous in them but why spend lots on something you’ll probably only wear once and feel awkward in?

I recently attended such a wedding, I didnt want to wear anything on my head either and of the nearly 100 people there only the mothers wore hats and 2 guests wore fascinators which they removed pretty early on.

I must say I had a few moments when I wished I'd worn one, it really elevated their outfits and whilst I was unmistakably dressed for a wedding I felt it would have been nice for a change.

Anyway, if you don't want to there is definitely no need to.

TBH I do think that's dependent on where you live in the country

Where I live weddings are dress to the nines and we have fascinter shops/designers

Hell I remember my own wedding in "97 , ( London Suburbs ) being told I needed a head piece, I wore a comb - and even then I carried it most of the day :) Cost more then my dress. Still have it, keep trying to palm it off lol

I threaded some little jewels through my hair at my DD's weddings.

I intend to wear a decorative hairband to an upcoming wedding and it will match my jewellery. I love that dress and I know the quality will make it even more stunning . Doesn't need any headgear if you don't fancy one .