Shoulders Are for Peasants: The Royal Wedding Dress Code for Women
Day Dress with Hat is the dress code for women headed to the wedding of America’s own national treasure Meghan Markle and some dude called Harry, but unless you finished Cotillion like I definitely didn’t, you might not know exactly what that means. Regardless of whether you have an invite (because you totally do), here’s your guide to fitting in with all the other real-life fancy ladies.
Day Dress
A “day dress” describes a conservatively cut, semi-formal style that isn’t a gown; it’s a few tiers down from white tie in terms of formality, but you still have to have your shit together to pull it off. Nothing black, nothing white, nothing short, nothing see-through. Pearl jewelry is a safe bet—it’s a daytime event, so anything too flashy is frowned upon. If your dress doesn’t have sleeves, you should cover up with a jacket, pashmina or bolero, and your hemline should fall no higher than just above the knee because Henry VIII’s ghost lives at Windsor and if you show any more skin than that he will definitely try to marry you.
Hat
I’m an American living in Britain, so obviously my favorite part of any royal wedding is the wanton encouragement of “fascinator” hats. As flamboyant as the clothes are conservative, fascinators are paramount to a memorable royal wedding ensemble, as evidenced by Princess Beatrice’s 2011 Lovecraftian horror crown. The word “hat” is a cute stretch for what a royal wedding guest hat embodies, which is specifically the bodies of as many stuffed crows as you can glue together and balance on your forehead.
A Small Purse
Seating is tight at a royal wedding. With over 800 guests, you don’t want your messenger bag to get in the way of Sir Elton John’s cape.
Close-Toed Shoes
Nobody but Prince Andrew wants to see your bunions, so protect your pedicure from the prying eyes of the gentry with sensible close-toed shoes. Day dress also dictates that you keep your heels low; anything too extreme isn’t practical for escaping a hedge maze.
Day Dress with Hat: Never Worn
Avoid suspicion regarding your commoner status with these four simple fashion rules for royal wedding readiness. Add good posture and an actual invitation, and you’ll pass as posh with flying colors.
What?
Shoppo is an actual AF shopping app with millions of actual AF products that you can buy today. Download the Shoppo app, like Shoppo on Facebook and follow us on Instagram for great prices on all sorts of shoes, accessories and fascinators you could wear to the royal wedding.
