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Dressing for a wedding? Read the vibe – the rules have changed | Jess Cartner-Morely on fashion

Wearing a hat, avoiding white and dialling down the sexiness are no longer mandatory. Instead take inspiration from the bridal couple’s style cues

To turn up in white would once have been considered not much short of a declaration of war on the bride; now, an all-white dress code is sometimes requested by the happy couple. The modern bride, who may well have a professional hair and makeup team and a suite of two or three spectacular outfits with which to wow the room, is frankly not all that worried that cousin wotsit is going to upstage her with a bit of cleavage. The 3pm country wedding – church bells pealing, heels sinking into grass – still exists, but the dress code that went with it is no longer a universal standard.

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