Wedding guest style guide: what to wear, what it's made of

A wedding is a long day in one outfit: a ceremony, a photograph queue, a meal, and several hours of dancing. What the dress is made of decides how the last part of that day feels. This guide covers the dress codes, the fabrics, and what the pieces we sell are actually made of.

Reading the dress code

• Black tie. Floor-length, or a very dressy midi with serious shoes and jewellery.
• Cocktail. Midi or knee-length, structured or fluid. The broadest category and the most common.
• Semi-formal or "smart". A midi dress, a jumpsuit or tailored separates. No floor-length.
• Garden, beach or daytime. Lighter fabric, prints allowed, and a heel that will not sink into grass or sand.
• No code given. Match the venue. A town hall and a country estate ask for different things, and the invitation's own formality is a reliable hint.

Two rules survive everywhere: not white, and not more attention-seeking than the couple. Everything else is negotiable with the people who invited you.

What the fabric does over a twelve-hour day

This is the part most style guides skip, and it is the part you feel by ten in the evening.

• Polyester holds pleats and colour, resists creasing through a long car journey, and drapes convincingly. It also holds heat. For a summer wedding in full sun, a fully synthetic dress is the one you will want to escape.
• Viscose drapes beautifully and feels cool. It creases more easily than polyester and is weaker when wet, so it does not love rain or a spilled drink.
• Cotton and cotton blends breathe, which matters outdoors, and crease, which matters in photographs. A cotton blend with a little polyester is the usual compromise.
• Elastane or spandex at around 5% is what lets you sit down through a three-course meal in a fitted dress without regretting it.
• Linen is the coolest option and the most creased. That is a look, but decide in advance whether it is your look.
• Lining matters as much as the shell. A polyester lining under a beautiful outer fabric behaves like polyester. Check whether the composition covers the lining.

What to check before you buy

1. Find the fibre composition. In the EU it has to be given before you buy. If a listing will not tell you, assume the answer is one you would not like.
2. Check the length against your shoes, not against the model's. Maxi means different things at 1.60m and 1.80m.
3. Check the lining and the opacity. Flash photography finds every unlined panel.
4. Check the care label. Dry-clean-only is a running cost for a dress you will wear three times.
5. Consider not buying at all. Renting, borrowing or buying secondhand is cheaper and lower impact than anything new, including anything of ours. We sell new dresses and that is still the honest advice.

What we can and cannot tell you about our dresses

We do not audit factories and we hold no environmental certification, so we are not going to call these dresses sustainable. What we do have is our own catalogue data. In September 2026 we checked all 1,441 clothing products we sell: we hold a full fibre composition for 920 of them and not for 521. The figures, the method and our own mistakes are in the label truth report.

Occasion dresses sit at the synthetic end of that data. Three of the four pieces below are largely or entirely polyester, and we would rather say so than let a photograph imply otherwise.

Four wedding guest options, with what they are made of

Satin Cowl-Neck Maxi Dress with High Slit

60% cotton, 35% polyester, 5% spandex. The most breathable of the four, and the one to pick for a warm day.

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Elegant Long Maxi Dress

95% polyester, 5% spandex. Drapes well and travels without creasing. It will be warm in direct sun.

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Numoco Floral Midi Dress with Ruffled Sleeves

100% polyester. No stretch, so size on the measurements rather than on the label letter.

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Floral Print Maxi Day Dress

The maker calls it a cotton blend and gives no percentages. That is one of the 521 gaps we are chasing.

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Questions people ask

Is a polyester dress a bad choice for a wedding?

Not in itself. Polyester holds its shape, resists creasing and photographs well, which is why so much occasion wear is made of it. It is warm, so think about the venue and the month. What matters is knowing before you buy.

What is the lowest-impact way to dress for a wedding?

Wearing something you already own, then borrowing, then renting, then buying secondhand. Buying new comes last. We sell new dresses and this answer does not change.

Do you sell certified organic or fair-trade occasion wear?

No. We hold no certifications and do not claim any. We can tell you the fibre composition where the maker has given it, and we tell you when it is missing.

How do I get the size right?

Use the garment measurements on the product page rather than the size letter. Our suppliers use different sizing systems and they do not agree with each other.

See the rest of the range in clothing, and the full catalogue data in the label truth report.