I bought a beautiful Reformation dress on Poshmark for a wedding – now I’m worried it will offend the bride
A WEDDING guest who was once excited about the dress she bought now questioned if it would offend the bride.
The attire wasn’t what she had thought.
Wondering if she could still pull off the look she had planned, she explained her dilemma in a Reddit post and asked for opinions.
“Can I make a silk midi formal?” she began.
“I bought this beautiful Reformation dress from Poshmark for my cousin’s wedding when I thought it was going to be cocktail attire, per his mother.”
Turns out, the mother of the groom was wrong, as the invitation said formal – and she worried this wouldn’t live up to that dress code.
The sleeveless frock was mid-calf length, featured a high slit and corset-style top, and was made of green, silk, floral fabric.
Hoping to find a way to make it work, she suggested some ideas.
“I can dress it up with a formal updo, jewelry, and platinum Loeffler Randall Dahlia heels.”
She then offered some “context,” to see if she could still swing it.
“The wedding is in March and at a downtown urban venue. The groom’s family is habitually underdressed so I wouldn’t worry about it so much were it not for not wanting to offend the bride.”
Readers were torn.
“Honestly if the groom’s family is always underdressed, then the bride might have put formal as the dress code TO GET THE GROOM’S FAM TO DRESS UP,” one person wrote.
“No, this isn’t formal. The length, slit, shorting (stitching on the back) all read semi-formal or cocktail,” argued a second.
Another, however, said it was a toss-up: “I would say it depends on the audience. If the crowd is ‘blue blood’ and stickler for codes, AND you don’t want to stand out, get a different dress.
“If they’re generally more casual and laid back, I think you would be absolutely fine.”
And a third said she likely wouldn’t be alone: “It's not really a formal dress, but in this case, I think it will be okay. You were originally told it would be cocktail attire, so you won't be the only one to have planned for that, and the groom's family will be underdressed.”
