White royal wedding trends

According to traditional wedding etiquette, there are few worse crimes than a deliberate attempt to upstage the bride. And so, for decades, wearing white as a guest has been considered among the most heinous of wedding faux pas.

But times have changed and now the Millennial generation of brides not only view this as an outdated concept, they are actively rebelling against it by surrounding themselves with friends in white on their wedding day.

As is often the case with wedding trends, the Royal family have been ahead of the curve in successfully showcasing the art of wearing white to weddings this year.

The Duchess of Cambridge – whose sister and bridesmaid Pippa Middleton wore a white dress at her own wedding in 2011 – made headlines in May when she wore a cream-coloured Alexander McQueen coat dress to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

At the time the move drew some finger wagging with accusations of upstaging, but astute style commentators pointed out that her outfit would in no way clash with the bride.

Three months later, Brides magazine declared the concept of white being a colour reserved only for brides as “over”.

It said: “Gone are the days of white being only for the bride. Instead, we’re seeing a rise in white bridesmaids’ dresses.”

Wedding blogs such as Love My Dress and Festival Brides have also identified white bridesmaid dresses as a trend, with a recent flurry of images of groups of brides and their maids in all-white or ivory being posted.

Katie Arnott, founder at bridesmaid dress retailer Wearerewritten.com, said the number of brides visiting her studio and specially requesting white bridesmaids’ dresses has skyrocketed. She says ivory bridesmaids’ dresses “are probably now our biggest requests from brides”.

“It’s kind of an act of rebellion, and can be quite controversial among older relatives who are sometimes more hesitant about it,” Arnott said.

“Wearing white to a wedding is definitely less of a faux pas than it used to be. I’ve worn white to a wedding recently because realistically you’re not going to upstage the bride, because she’s the bride!”

Earlier this year, Emma Morrison, stylist and former Vogue editor, told the magazine: “I think it’s epically chic and takes a brave bride to have her wedding party in white.

“It’s so striking for the bride to have the confidence to know that she’ll stand out among a bevy of similarly clad babes.” – The Sunday Telegraph