Wedding season is upon us!!! And we all know what that means...no, not wallowing in self-pity over being a #singlepringle (it's pretty awesome okay?!), but pretty dresses galore! Now as per tradition, I would recommend staying clear of white and cream dresses (or gold; wink wink to any shadowhunter fans out there) or whatever other colours your bride might be wearing according to her culture. Personally, I tend to love lace and very feminine dresses (after I muster up the courage to get my pasty legs out that is...what, I embrace my inner Olaf!), but dresses don't have to be your thing, add any type of fascinator and I'm sure people will know you're heading for a wedding, or a horse race...potAto, potatO.
THE PINK DRESS
First up, the pink dress. I found this one for super cheap in a new store discovery for me, Trafic. Although this store contained all kinds of stuff from gardening equipment to kids' toys and books, it also had a small selection of clothing (it's own brand; TQF Collection) with some lovely pieces, for example this dress.
Now, while it might require a sneaky use of spanx and a stick-on bra (thank you M&S!), the backless-ness really makes it! H&M have a gorgeous selection of lace dresses with a similar vibe including a backless/keyhole one here or just laced here and here and Dorothy Perkins have a nice one here.
My shoes are from M&S (what else?) and although limited edition they bring out a very similar pair every year, since after all, nude heels are a classic! But Dorothy Perkins have a few nude pairs of heels in varying cuts/shape here, here and here. As for accessories, my clutch (similar satin one here and here or not satin here) is from Accessorize years ago (we're talking almost a decade now), but I highly recommend checking them out especially their occasion selection since when it comes to clutches, fascinators and jewellery (oh my!), Accessorize is king...or should I say queen?!
As for makeup I kept it pretty simple; I put the Heart eyeshadow from my Stila Soul Palette (blog post here) on my mobile lid and crease, then I added a pop of the KIKO Long Lasting Stick in 42 (a lavender shade) on my upper lashline (concentrating it more on the centre of the eye, I did not create a wing eyeliner with it), finishing off with my usual mascara the Lancôme Hypnôse Mascara in Brown. For cheeks, I added a touch of my Clinique Cheek Pop in Berry Pop and for lips I put on a new addition to my lipstick collection, the Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor in Addiction.
For hair, I was going to do something with the pink fascinator I found for my mum last year, but I completely forgot...can you tell I'm not used to styling my hair? Instead, using my curled hair purposely done for this "photoshoot", I just added a braid using the front section of my hair (the part that usually frames the face i.e. the fringe) and pinned it just behind my ear (the hairstyle basis for all three looks)
THE BLUE DRESS
This blue dress was from the M&S's Twiggy Collection last year, I particularly love it because added to its super flattering cut is a spandex style lining which keeps everything in place. Plus, it kept me quite warm, which is great when attending a spring/summer wedding in the UK, as thermometers only rarely reach 25°C (but I'm a lizard and hence perpetually cold, not a dress I would recommend if you run hot or are currently experiencing a heat wave higher than 25°C).
Sadly I haven't spotted anything comparable from M&S this year, but I found very similar dresses again from H&M here and here (they are nailing the lace dress trend!). If you have a slightly bigger budget though then I would, of course, highly recommend the Chi Chi brand for lace dresses, they never fail all year round!
For hair I just added a crystal headband from Accessorize to my previous hairstyle (similar here or at Claire’s here). My makeup is exactly the same as described above except for the lips which I switched up to a more mauve-toned colour to match the blue in the dress, i.e. my trusted Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 13 Marvelous Mauve.
The gorgeous shoes are from New Look but Dorothy Perkins have a similar pair out this year here. But Asos have a cute blue pair of minimalistic sandals/heels here which would give the look a modern twist and hit the very popular minimalistic sandal trend dead on. My clutch was from Collection by John Lewis but I found an equally nice one here. My blue watch which you might recognise from My Watch Collection post is from M&S, Olivia Burton do have a near identical one but not as budget friendly here.
THE FLORAL DRESS
For the longest time I was looking for a cream coloured dress with red florals on it (it also had to be long enough that I wasn't showing off my underwear either) and I finally came across the perfect one from New Look last year. Asos have one with a more elegant cut and bigger florals here and H&M have two dresses with the same rose floral but different shapes without sleeves here and with long sleeves here). The style of this dress is just casual enough that accessorising it differently would make it an everyday dress no problem (I'm thinking flats and a cross-body bag). But the red blotches created by the florals means that you won't appear rude to the bride, even though you're technically wearing cream...shhhh.
Both the bag and the shoes were featured in my Valentine's Day Outfits post. The shoes from M&S (similar here) are more of the pinky colour you see in the photos above than the red I photoshopped them to be for the "casual outfit" in that post (to be fair, I did say they were more raspberry toned IRL, although they photograph as really more of a fuchsia). The clutch was from eBay and although not a perfect match to the more fuchsia red of the florals and the shoes, it will do! As I've said before I'm not a big bag collector so this is the only red one I had, but Asos have a few other red clutches including this cute tassel one here.
For my final hairstyle I removed the headband, kept the side fringe braid, braided the other side (starting behind my ear this time) braided in the French style (i.e. adding hair as you go) to form a crown, and as I ran out of hair reaching the lower right of my head, I twisted it inwards (like a mini chignon); tips...lots of pinning was required!!! But I did only have five minutes to do this as the sun kept disappearing behind clouds, but messy adds to the hairstyle (I would have just hidden the pins a bit better though).
For lips, I went with a more pinky red, another Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 03 Strawberry Kissed this time. The big cubic zirconia earrings were from Forever 21 (similar at Accessorize here), but I've seen this style in almost every jewellery store, so shouldn't be too hard to find!
There you have it, three occasion outfits that will guarantee that you'll be the best dressed guest there!
What do you like to wear as a wedding guest?
Are you more of a fascinator or fancy hat kind of person? I'm very lazy when it comes to hair as I tend to focus more on the makeup.
How many pairs of shoes have you unfortunately ruined by having to walk on wet grass?
xxxemma