We all had something to say on whether you should dress for the occasion when I wrote about the lack of tradition seen in the Birdcage at the spring racing carnival. I loved your comments that ranged from total agreeance to one of you accusing me of outright Lara Bingle jealousy- ouchies!
From a young age I’ve been fascinated with the psychology of why we dress the way we do. For the most part in the western world we have choice as to what we wear every day, and whether you commit to loving fashion or not, society dictates that we humans wear clothes. In public anyhow.
So whether you are of the ‘I don’t give a fig what I wear’ or the ‘my belt and shoes must match’ ilk, we make these choices because we live in a world where we have to wear clothes.
This week’s idea is around what colour means to you, and how you apply that to various occasions in your life. There are common traditions like black or dark colours for a funeral or a bride wearing white for example. And I’m aware that these traditions extend to all sorts of variations depending on your cultural or ethnic heritage.
But what about colour and occasions? I’m off to a wedding shortly and thought about what colour I should wear.
“It is a question I get asked a lot – what are the no go colours to wear to a wedding. In a former life I was a marriage celebrant and for a number of years now I’ve been an image and colour consultant, so I think I can speak with some authority that comes purely from experience,” Jo Shires from The Style Advisor tells me.
“Although we live in modern times, white or cream belong to the bride. It is tradition. Accept it and respect it,” she says.
I can recall going to a wedding years ago where a rather gorgeous female attendee turned up in a neon pink, figure-hugging, strapless mini dress. Tanned and lithe she looked an absolute knock out with just the right amount of sexy thrown in.
But next to the bride? It screamed ‘LOOK AT ME!’
You couldn’t keep your eyes of Miss. Neon Pink and while I will never know whether she did it on purpose or subconsciously, I can recall wondering what was going through her head when she got dressed for that wedding.
“I think you need to find the colour that suits you best and wear it but don’t take attention away from the bride!” Jo says.
“For the majority of women black is not a colour that suits them and it’s not really appropriate for a wedding anyhow. It’s not a bad idea to find out what colour the bridal party are wearing so you don’t end up looking like the extra bridesmaid.”
So am I overthinking it? I’m not sure, but I do know I’m not the only person who’s ever attended a wedding, wearing clothes that I chose to wear.
What do you think?
