Having been invited recently to an evening wedding, I started thinking about the perfect dress. It can be long or short, but if short obviously not too short, and if long the choice becomes more tricky, as we’re used to wearing maxis every day, particularly during the summer, so you want something special without being too much over the top and looking as if it’s trying to upstage the bride.
A few years back I went to a cousin’s wedding in New York and got it completely wrong and no I’m not going to tell you what I wore, but the expression ‘Brits don’t know how to dress’ long rang in my ears. So I vowed that this time I would get it perfectly right.
The choice of either long or short makes it very difficult of course, not to mention the fact that it’s not possible to find out what percentage will wear which, so I’ve tracked down some full length options that are sophisticated, in some cases sexy, not too overdressed nor underdressed and overall modern in terms of cut and colour.
Find your perfect dress, go for the highest heels you can walk comfortably in and make sure your dress is the right length, your clutch is simple and beautiful. To keep it modern stay away from satin, fishtail skirts, full skirts (unless the fabric is very fine) and beach friendly prints. Look for simple styling with embellishment. Stay with black or navy if you want to wear your dress year round but red, cobalt, grape and purple will work as well.
Most of us don’t have the opportunity to wear long very often, so it’s often a risky purchase, as you may not wear it more than once or at most twice a year. In any case you want something that flatters your figure (so be careful of slip dresses, bias cut and body-con if you have anything to hide). Find the perfect dress and whether for Glyndebourne, evening weddings or black-tie dinners you’ll always have something to pull out of the wardrobe, slip into and look a million dollars in.
