Dressing up for the wedding

You are free to dress to the theme or not. If you don't want to, we're just asking for formal clothing (not too formal because it's a farm in Vermont in October).

If you do want to dress to the theme, we thought you might appreciate some more examples of what that might look like, so this post is going to be mostly pictures. Unless otherwise indicated, these photos are from Gentlemen's Emporium. Given that this blog is one big ad for them, I'm hoping they won't mind.

First, mens styles.

A victorian man's costume is much like a modern man's formal outfit. Slacks, a button up shirt, and a vest or coat (or both). Victorian men wore ties like we do, but they also wore bowties, cravats, puff ties and ascots. And of course, hats were the norm.

This one is similar, but it adds a sack coat, which was popular at the time. Other coat options include tails and short coats.

Sometimes all you need are suspenders!

Or a tall set of boots.

Here's another version of the slacks and vest outfit.

Next up, ladies!

Ladies clothing at the time consisted of dresses, skirts, blouses, corsets and jackets. Skirts were full and collars were high. Sleeves were sometimes comically large, but could also be quite modern looking. Menswear styled jackets were popular. Bustles were in their heyday.

This is a simple outfit which could be replicated with a white button up, a full skirt, and a corset from Hot Topic.

This is a two piece dress. It's more complicated, but I see stuff like this in thrift shops often.

Poofy blouse, ruffly skirt, and impressive hat.

A vest and some boots can turn a modern outfit into a Victorian outfit.

Slightly earlier than the Victorian era was the Regency era, which is what you'll see if you watch anything Austen. This style would also work for the wedding. The dresses were inspired by greek statues, and were very simple, flowing, and empire waisted.

This is a photo from one of the many Regency Balls held around the world. As you can see, the dresses are all empire waisted. White muslin was  popular, but they also came in all sorts of other colors and patterns. Some had V necks and others had scoops. They cam in short puff sleeves or 3/4 length straight sleeves.


I hope this helps!

Cheryl addendum:

I think that the Regency period gets short changed in this comment, so I wanted to remind folks that Pride and Prejudice had some awesome costumes. Also Emma. And all the other Austen. Which Jae mentioned but failed to photo include. Sooooo ya. PHOTOS!