Summer has arrived, bringing with it the glamorous event season and the perfect excuse to dress up. To help you breeze elegantly through your social calendar, whatever the occasion, whatever your style, we’ve invited Laura Fantacci, the talented Stylist and Founder of WIT (Wearing it Today) to share top tips and style picks with you in a series of guest blogs. Very exciting!

With all the fabulous wedding-guest-gorgeous looks available on BrandAlley right now, we’re kicking things off with Best Dressed: Wedding Guest.  So, we’ve just caught up with Laura, who’s revealed a few of her stylist secrets to show you how to create the ultimate wedding-guest outfit. Not just for women, but for guys too! Over to you, Laura…

For her:

• Be different

For weddings, it would be nice to see more women trying something different. So, instead of a dress, why not try co-ordinated separates? A chiffon blouse and pleated skirt with high heels and a metallic accessory or two will make you really stand out. Or why not opt for a jumpsuit? A fail safe, to ensure you don’t turn up in the same outfit as another guest, is to make your look as unique to you as possible.

• Make it more effortless

If you do go for a jumpsuit, for example, add a blazer to wear over your shoulders and tuck or roll up your sleeves to make the look a little more effortless and altogether chic. If you have an early morning wedding service and want to refresh your look come the evening, keep the core of your outfit the same and add or subtract by showing a little more flesh and changing shoes – all finished off with a glamorous touch of red lipstick.

• Keep it luxe

Ensure colours and fabrics are expensive looking: all black and all white only count as a no-no out of respect for the wedding party; cream can look lovely, especially when broken-in with other colours; while silk and chiffon fabrics are always luxurious. However, try to avoid fabrics,  like linen, which crease easily.

For him:

For men’s wedding attire, I always have one rule – stick to the classics.

Keep it real

• Always go for a real bow-tie over a clip-on. Just make sure you get someone to tie it who knows what they’re doing (sadly that’s not me so I always rely on YouTube to guide me). If it’s a neck-tie you’re wearing and your partner is keen to colour-co-ordinate, keep it tonal as opposed to matching shades.

Wear a good shirt

• It’s likely that, as the evening goes on, you’ll take off any jacket or blazer and be dancing the night away in your shirt and trousers. So choose a shirt you’re happy to revolve your whole look around and always wear a belt.

Stay classy

• Coming back to my general single rule of men’s dressing for wedding occasions, keep the whole look as classic as possible. And that includes those all-important details, such as cuff-links and watches – experimentation is always risky as it’s too easy to get it wrong.

Thanks, Laura.

So there you have it, a few tips and great inspiration too. We hope you enjoy your wedding celebrations this summer, whether they’re on a beach in the Bahamas or a church tucked away in a small village in Tuscany.

Feeling inspired? Head over to our site to check out all our fabulous Wedding sales and get wedding-guest-ready at a fraction of the price. (Don’t worry, we won’t tell!) And if you need to get your hands on wow designer must-haves fast, remember to pop into our Outlet for wedding-guest-perfect styles delivered in 3-5 working days.

Stay tuned for our next Best Dressed blog post with Laura as she guides you through a day at the races….