I like to think of myself as a pretty culturally attuned person – well, to whatever makes it onto my IG feed, at least, and one thing I’ve noticed lately is that people seem to be getting into a bit of a tizz about that wedding – yes, Nate and Cassie’s, the focus of the latest episode of Euphoria. While the main focus is on the hysteria of union itself, as well as the day’s grizzly ending, there has been a lot of discourse around the guests’ looks – particularly Jules’s barely-there scrim of draped satin and Maddy’s cut-out chartreuse gown. Now, Euphoria isn’t typically where I look for life and style etiquette lessons, but I actually agree that weddings are always the perfect opportunity to wear a slutty look.
There are many reasons for this – some that teeter further into the territory of outright sociopathy than others, but let’s start light. Beyond being a celebration of the union of two people, weddings are essentially big, open-bar fuelled parties with your best girlies – and who doesn’t love getting all dolled up to paint the town red with your best babes?
My colleague Olivia Allen also points out that weddings are no longer memories confined to happy couples’ physical photo albums: “There’s a line delivered by Julia Roberts to Hugh Grant in Notting Hill (1999) that I think is particularly relevant when it comes to selecting your wedding outfit in the Instagram age: ‘Every time anyone writes anything about me, they’ll dig up these photos. Newspapers last forever. I’ll regret this forever.’ Replace ‘newspaper’ with ‘carefully curated 20-slide dump’ or ‘Vogue wedding feature’ and very little has changed. Why then would you dress like a dowdy aunt if you don’t wish to have an image of you in calf-grazing polka dots immortalised online? Instead, I’d recommend looking as hot as possible, so you can wistfully reflect on the body you took for granted in your old age.”
In an age of milquetoast Tinder matches and indecipherable Feeld acronyms, weddings are essentially ready-made meat markets for singletons. “If you’re single, weddings are an excuse to make use of the love in the air and find someone to snog!” concurs British Vogue contributing Osman Ahmed. “Weddings are supposed to be fun for everyone, and the best ones are always a little bit naughty and flirty. If you’re going to get married and celebrate the fact that you are conforming to societal expectations to officiate your love, then you cannot be mad at your single friends for wanting to feel sexy at your wedding. That is a single woman’s prerogative!”
They also offer an opportunity to push your style in a more daring direction. At recent weddings, I’ve found myself stepping into more sartorially experimental territory than, say, the office or a work event. “More glamorous than ‘slutty’,” as Ahmed puts it. With a wardrobe that skews monochrome, I’ll often opt for something that still feels me, but skews a bit more skimpy – a spaghetti strap camisole with a midi-skirt, for example, or a figure-skimming, off-the-shoulder dress – it’s proven a great way for me to feel like I’m pushing the boat out.
“I like a dress that shows skin but translates as chic – I wore a really fab crepe cut-out gown by Christopher Esber to a wedding last year,” echoes Ahmed, adding: “I’d suggest some kind of a cover-up. Maybe it’s a cute little cardigan or a jacket for the ceremony. Maybe it’s a fur stole.” (Although Maddy’s covers little more than her forearms.) “Keep it somewhat classy for the day, and wait till everyone’s drunk to remove the layers later in the evening.”
Alexa Demie’s character’s look was essentially fuelled by vindictive spite – a means of getting back at the girl who stole her man, and to remind that man of what he’s missing. Now, I can’t say that I endorse that behaviour, but if you are going to turn up to an ex’s wedding while bad blood continues to course between you, what are you going to do: turn up looking like you’re taking a day out of the convent? As the show’s costume designer, Natasha Newman-Thomas, shared in an interview with The New York Times, “it had to be something equally powerful to Cassie’s dress if Maddy is going to show up to this thing.”
All of this goes to say that, when it comes to wedding-guest dressing, you shouldn’t try and outright out-dress the bride on her big day, but a bit of sex appeal never goes amiss at an event that’s literally a celebration of two people so horny for one another that they’ve decided to publicly declare that before their most beloved. “Keep it chic enough for the ceremony and fabulous enough for the dancefloor,” asserts Ahmed. “There’s still an element of good manners that comes with being a wedding guest, but that doesn’t mean you have to come in a cloak.” I do to that!