Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Guy Style Advice-What to Wear To A Wedding

Is copying and pasting an entire article into your blog a huge fashion faux pas? I did not write this article. Some smart guy named Daniel Billett did. I will be saving it for future reference.

Summer Wedding
Certainly avoid black and other dark colors. You will also want to avoid wool and other heavy fabrics typically worn in fall and winter. Choose a lighter colored suit in cotton, linen or seersucker. Many designers continue to come out with suits in fabrics other than wool. Also, a cotton or linen suit with a bit of stretch added with help retain its shape and give it a slightly more polished look. If it is an evening wedding, black would be acceptable, but go for cotton as I have mentioned.

Winter Wedding
Obviously dark colors are appropriate as well as wool. Suits and blazers with nice trousers, or perhaps a cashmere v-neck sweater with a shirt and tie underneath would all be nice choices. A dress shirt, tie and dress pants are acceptable on their own if that’s all you have, but dress them up with a sweater or blazer if you can.

Evening Wedding
A dark suit is always appropriate and a tuxedo is the only thing to wear if you know it is a formal affair, but remember tuxedos are not to be worn before 5:00pm. If you know it will casual or semi-formal, you can always wear a blazer and slacks with a tie, but try not to look like you’ve just come from the office. Opt for a tie, shirt or both that look more stylish than your usual office attire.

To Be Avoided at All Costs (and I have had the misfortune of witnessing all of the following first hand)

  • Too casual of a pant such as cargo pants or worse, jeans
  • Birkenstocks
  • Out-dressing the wedding party
  • Un-ironed clothes and unpolished shoes
  • Wild colors and prints
Disclaimer
The above rules don't exactly apply if you have been invited to a beach, Vegas, or some other out-of-the-ordinary wedding. In those cases, unless otherwise directed by the wedding party, anything goes. Yikes!
Birkenstocks, chacos, tevas, flip flops. They should all be outlawed. I hope my guests have the sense to stay away from them. I hope I can keep one of our groomsmen from wearing his. It is an October wedding after all.

What is the biggest wedding fashion faux pas you have ever seen? Are you any worried about what some of your guests might wear?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the part of Pennsylvania where I grew up, it was not uncommon to see men in jeans and cowboy hats at a wedding.

Cate Subrosa said...

I remember my sister had a big freakout when she heard my brother was wearing a cream suit to her wedding. Turned out it was quite dark and he looked very dapper.

Slightly off-topic, but I am always amazed to see pictures of women wearing white or ivory at weddings. As far as I'm concerned, this is a big faux pas, even if the dress is short. What do you think?

Kelli Nicole said...

Lol, I know someone who wants EVERYONE at the wedding to wear flip flops :).

Ellen Mint said...

I'm kinda excited to see what my guests will wear, as we're having a costume reception.

It'd be hilarious if someone showed up as a "wedding guest" complete with overalls a cowboy hat and a paper corsage.

Anonymous said...

bright floral hawaiian shirts. our guests can't quite understand that even though we are getting married in florida, it isn't on the beach, and therefore tiki party attire is not to be an option. (totally just vented, sorry!:)

ley said...

Meh, I'm not too worried what the guests will wear. I'm not "bridezilla" enough to imply a dress code. I figure *they're* the ones that will look like jackasses in the wedding pictures if they can't figure out how to appropriately dress themselves for a formal event, not *me*. lol.

That said, I guess this guy would tsk,tsk to know that we are breaking his "summer wedding" rules, as my fiance is wearing a navy suit to both his sister's noon wedding and our own 2 o'clock ceremony! With him being 6'11" though, having numerous suits custom-made (because that's the only way we can buy them) for each wedding season is pretty expensive for a student. I guess my fiance will just be one of the "faux pas." :)

Jenna said...

erin-rules were meant to be broken.

guilty-I think that it's kind of a silly outdated rule that the bride created. I was considering an all white wedding for awhile and if so I wanted all of the guests to wear white as well!

kelli-I assume for a wedding on the beach?

blab-Wow, a costume wedding. So brave. And such a party.

kal-I am glad I am not doing a destination wedding for that very reason. I would hate to be fighting against bad tourist outfits.

ley-6'11" crazy! Screw the rules and go what works best for you. I think I am going to suggest some kind of a dress code sot hat guests have an idea of what I am thinking.