Style Guide: What To Wear to a Wedding
Going to a wedding is always fun, but it can be stressful trying to pick out the right attire to wear – especially if you’re not sure what the difference between white tie, black tie, cocktail, or a semi-formal dress code is. And while you probably have a wide variety of clothing that can work for events that span across multiple dress codes, what you wear on someone else’s big day can make or break you as a wedding guest – you don’t want to show up overdressed to a beach wedding, for example, or underdressed to a black tie wedding.
Thankfully, we’ve put together a handy style guide that breaks down what you can, could, and should never wear to weddings of all different dress codes, which you can check out below.
What To Wear to a White Tie Wedding
A wedding with a white tie dress code is the most formal of the bunch, so be prepared to be dressed to the nines, and unless you conveniently have a black coat with a tail and matching trousers hanging in your closet, and of course, as the name suggests, a white tie. And while a white tie dress code is pretty uncommon for modern day weddings, the ultra-formal attire was once the standard of wedding wear, as Beaumont Etiquette wedding specialist Anne Chertoff told Brides.
“White tie attire evolved in the 19th century and began to wane after World War I,” she shared with the outlet, adding that men were looking for alternative dress codes with less formality as the 1900s raged on. “Men on both sides of the Atlantic were looking for something a little less formal and they chose to wear black tie: a black jacket without tails, white dress shirt, and black bow tie.”
If for some reason you do find yourself invited to a wedding with a white tie dress code, as mentioned above, you’ll need a black coat with a tail, matching trousers, and a bow tie, vest, and wing-collar shirt all in crisp white color. You’ll also need patent leather shoes, cufflinks, studs, and let’s be honest, a Tide To-Go pen probably wouldn’t hurt to have on hand in case of any spills.
