Halloween provides the simplest fashion rules of the year, but British party-goers are facing increasing confusion thanks to a surge in nonsensical dress codes for weddings and celebrations. While trick-or-treaters enjoy clear costume guidelines, guests across the UK are finding themselves baffled, stressed or embarrassingly underdressed due to invented outfit requirements.
The Dress Code Dilemma
Renowned etiquette expert Myka Meier, who runs one of the world's leading protocol schools, Beaumont Etiquette, told the Daily Mail that hosts are creating confusing hybrid requirements that don't exist in proper etiquette. There are only a handful of officially recognised categories: white tie, black tie, formal, cocktail, semi-formal, business, business casual and casual.
Among the worst offenders is the confusing hybrid called 'dressy casual'. People tend to interpret this as 'polished separates, not jeans but not cocktail,' according to Meier. The problem arises when guests apply this interpretation differently, leading to events filled with mismatched attire where some are drastically overdressed while others appear underdressed.
Common Confusions Explained
Another problematic term is 'smart casual', which Meier explained often gets interpreted as 'jeans but make it nicer' - a choice that can easily cause someone to underdress for the occasion. Even more confusing is when hosts mix established dress codes, such as requesting 'formal black tie'.
These are two totally different dress codes, Meier emphasised. 'Formal is less formal than black tie. Black tie means floor length gowns and tuxedos.' Similarly, people often mistake 'casual cocktail' and 'semi-formal' as interchangeable, despite them representing 'wildly different levels of dress code.'
Meier clarified the distinctions: 'Semi-formal can take place during the day, say for a 2pm wedding. Think polished and dressy but with slightly more flexibility than cocktail and formal.' For men, semi-formal requires a suit and tie but not a tuxedo, while formal attire demands matching suits in traditionally darker colours.
The Social Media Backlash
Content creator Tori Moore, known online as the 'dress code girlie', recently launched a TikTok series called That's Not a Real Dress Code to address the growing problem. She's encountered increasingly absurd labels on invitations, including 'wedding formal', 'restaurant attire', 'old money', and 'elevated smart casual' - none of which exist in established etiquette.
'Fake dress codes are becoming more common because people no longer understand what traditional dress codes actually mean,' Moore told the Daily Mail. 'Dress codes like cocktail, formal and black tie have become diluted over time.' She attributes this trend to modern weddings increasingly becoming photoshoots, with couples curating specific colour palettes or themed looks.
Moore shared one particularly bewildering example: 'I once had someone ask for advice on what to wear to a "formal autumnal (circus attire encouraged)" wedding. When I suggested a long dress and a suit and tie they said it "wasn't formal like that."'
The discussion has sparked hundreds of comments from users sharing confusing dress codes they've encountered, including 'garden party formal', 'black tie creative', 'mountain formal', 'casual cocktail', and even 'athletic formal'. Many expressed frustration with the ambiguity, with one commenter writing: 'Women have enough levels to our attire… we don't need these made-up dress codes confusing us more.'
Another admitted to confronting the source directly: 'Oh, I message the bride and ask. If you're going to have a confusing dress code, I'm going to annoy you.' The collective exhaustion was summarised by one woman who declared: 'I just went to a wedding that was 'semi-formal garden party cocktail' and I nearly crashed out.'
As British social season continues, the clarity of traditional dress codes appears more valuable than ever. While Halloween remains the one night when anything goes, proper etiquette suggests that for everything else, sticking to recognised dress codes never goes out of style.
