5 Times Celebs Wore Inappropriate Outfits To Other People's Weddings
When wedding season approaches, it's time to shake out your best formal and semi-formal wear to dress for the occasion. But putting together the perfect wedding guest ensemble involves more than just dressing for the weather — it requires thoughtfulness around the event's theme and any spoken — or unspoken — rules regarding the day's dress code. As a guest, dressing for a wedding is a mark of love and respect toward the happy couple, and knowing what not to wear to a wedding can be incredibly valuable as you paw through your closet, helping you sidestep critical fashion errors on such an important day. Some savvy fashionistas are even investing in a designated wedding guest dress to help ensure they always have a classy, event-appropriate option to grab.
Unfortunately, mistakes happen, and even fashion-forward celebrities get it wrong sometimes. Stars may have some leeway when choosing avant-garde and larger-than-life outfits for red carpets, but weddings are typically different matters altogether, especially when they fall under the public eye. For better or for worse, certain A-listers' outfits have shown a disregard for wedding norms and caused public backlash, and we've gathered five of the most interesting cases.
Dua Lipa wore white
There's one hard and fast rule for wedding guests: Don't wear white. So, when Dua Lipa attended fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus and Marco Maestri's wedding in 2022 in a sheer white dress, it raised eyebrows. The piece featured dainty floral accents and a feminine silhouette that could have been completely wedding-appropriate in a different fabric — namely if it weren't white and transparent. Instead, the outfit cast aside color traditions while affording onlookers a clear vision of Lipa's underwear.
To be fair, she wasn't the only guest flaunting the shade. It seems like the no-white rule had been pardoned for this particular ceremony, allowing stunners like Didi Stone and Amina Muaddi to join Lipa in the white dress revolution. And since Jacquemus himself designed Lipa's Mugler dress, which hailed from his "Le Papier" collection, wearing it could even be seen as an homage to the grooms. However, this wasn't the first or only time the "Houdini" singer chose a dangerously bridal ensemble for a friend's wedding as seen in photos on Lipa's account on X, formerly known as Twitter, only weeks prior. The images reveal that she donned a lacy, nearly white Bottega Veneta dress with silver, attention-grabbing thigh-high boots for Olive Uniacke and Dane Ensley's wedding, suggesting a questionable trend.
Hailey Bieber's dress was too pale and too sexy for the occasion
In 2023, Kim Kardashian's ex-assistant, Stephanie Shepherd, tied the knot with former Apple executive Larry Jackson, and the guest list was filled with celeb names. However, some skirted the boundaries of appropriate wedding attire. For instance, Hailey Bieber elected to don a skin-tight Fancì Club dress with a generous back cut-out, prompting everyone to wonder if you can wear a cut-out dress as a wedding guest.
While her piece was a pale powder blue — and, indeed, she partnered it with a blue purse and cool blue eyeshadow — it was washed out by the indoor lighting so much that it appeared white. This inadvertently mimicked Dua Lipa's wedding guest faux pas, and onlookers judged the choice of color harshly. Commenters flocked to photos of the dress on Bieber's Instagram, where many called out the wan shade. "Whether it's light blue or not...way too close to white. Very disrespectful," wrote one commenter.
Even for those willing to forgive the barely blue color, the fit and silhouette of the dress raised more red flags. In particular, critics suggested that the backless ensemble was inappropriately racy for a formal event like a wedding and showed too much skin, especially because the cut-out wrapped around Bieber's ribs. As one Instagram commenter put it, "Why are you showing side boob and wearing white on someone's wedding? Ultimately tasteless."
Kim Kardashian showed more skin than she covered
Hailey Bieber wasn't the only guest pushing the boundaries of good taste at the Stephanie Shepherd-Larry Jackson wedding. Kim Kardashian showed up at her ex-assistant's wedding in a spicy black number from Alaïa that would have looked more at home at a nightclub than at a wedding. With no bodice in sight, this gown relied on a small, strappy bandeau to keep things decent. Meanwhile, the floor-length skirt featured a jagged peekaboo panel directly down the front, showing off Kardashian's undergarments as a focal point of the look.
It goes without saying that this gown is out of step with typical wedding guest attire. At the time of writing, neither Kardashian nor Shepherd have shared pictures of the dress on their social media accounts, which may be for the best. While Kardashian's fanbase is wide and deep, posting about wearing such a provocative dress to a friend's wedding would likely invite haters to leave their two cents about the appropriateness — or lack thereof — of the look.
Victoria Beckham looked mournful in restrained navy
Loud or skin-baring garments are always risky for wedding guests, but outfits can sometimes go too far in the other direction, too. Attending the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Victoria Beckham opted for a respectful and simple navy ensemble with a dress from her own fashion line. However, the somberness of the style provoked some critics. As one commenter wrote on X, "Does Victoria Beckham realize she is going to a wedding rather than a funeral?"
Beckham handled the outpouring of judgment with grace. "The dress is one of my favorites," the ex-Spice Girl told The Evening Standard. "Quite honestly, it was such a relief not to be hugely pregnant at this royal wedding that it was a joy to be able to choose anything I wanted to wear." This comment hearkens back to her heavy pregnancy at Prince William and Princess Catherine of Wales' wedding. As it happens, she also wore a navy dress to that affair. "I love a bit of navy," Beckham admitted to the outlet, and while some onlookers found the style and color choice too staid, it seems like a minor misstep compared to some other celebrity wedding looks.
Cara Delevingne thumbed her nose at the royal dress code
Speaking of royal weddings, who could forget Cara Delevingne's sharp menswear look at the 2018 nuptials between Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank? The British royal family tends to follow a strict dress code, and this occasion was no exception, calling for women to wear a day dress and hat. But Delevingne — a friend of the princess who apparently had the bride's permission to sartorially misbehave — instead dressed according to the men's guidance, which stipulated a formal morning coat.
"Eugenie has been a friend of mine since I was a kid, and I've always wanted to wear tails," the model later told Grazia (via Marie Claire). "I texted her, as I wasn't sure about it, and she was like, 'Of course, I expected nothing else from you!'" The resulting showstopper of an ensemble featured an Emporio Armani tuxedo paired with black pumps, and, of course, her notorious top hat, among other chic accessories.
Delevingne's risky outfit was the talk of the wedding, which seemed to surprise her. "I found it interesting how many people came up to me and said: 'You're so brave to wear that!' I was like, really? I feel way more comfortable like this." Considering that this was not just a wedding — it was a royal wedding — was the look inappropriate? Technically speaking, yes. Did we love it anyway? Absolutely.