The question of wedding-guest dress codes has been known to incite intense Twitter wars. Celebrities—as well as the general public—often get caught in the crossfire of these conversations. Actress Sydney Sweeney was just one recent, high-profile example when she turned heads at a Texas wedding over the weekend. She took this wonderful portrait with the bride, Leslie Glen Powell’s sister’s celebration. Photo credit doglikehorse The featured image showed Sweeney at an event wearing a dress some users thought was too white for the Met Gala. This triggered a storm of controversy in the blogosphere.
That beautiful photograph of Sweeney and her fiance/ brother in law, Sweeney’s sister— Leslie, the bride in gleeful and radiant expression— sparked firestorm. Social media users took to the platform to express their outrage, claiming that the color of the dress was unacceptable for a wedding environment. But others quickly came to Sweeney’s defense, arguing that the bride wouldn’t have liked your color choice anyway. This whole dustup has opened up a huge dialogue about wedding-guest dress codes, or rather, the lack thereof. These rules aren’t just for famous influencers—their consequences touch us all.
Even innocuous creators on TikTok have unintentionally gotten dragged into the discourse on what’s an appropriate wedding-guest dress. These disputes are usually a stand-in, representative of larger social demands and cultural expectations around important life events. It seems that everyone thinks that wedding-guest rules are set in stone, with rules outlining color, length, style – every detail possible!
Emma Specter, a noted fashion writer, has a hard and fast rule regarding wedding-guest dresses: “comfortable shoes.” Her short and pointed style guide focuses on wearability rather than rigid adherence to formality that comes with a suit and tie. Specter’s way of working appeals to those who value the comfort of doing their own thing while wanting to care about socially acceptable, too.
Sydney Sweeney’s dress created such an intense discussion among the Vogue staff in the Vogue Slack channel. Contributors debated vehemently and vigorously in the comments on what was considered acceptable wedding attire. This short discussion illustrates that the issue is bigger than individual choice. It’s symptomatic of deeper societal perceptions about fashion and formality, particularly in celebratory environments.