The Ultimate Androgynous Style Guide for Wedding Guests — Qwear Fashion (2024)

We get a lot of qwearies about dressing up for an "in-between" look.

One person wrote, "I've seen tons of wedding outfit posts but none for wedding guests!" Good point! Going androgynous is one thing when you're in street clothes, but it's a whole other ball game when we're talking formal wear, and dressing up as a wedding guest is different than for other formal occasions because we tend to want outfits that are bright, happy, and playful.

Because androgyny means so many things to so many people, this article will be very long. I don't want to define androgyny for anyone. Androgyny can be dresses, suits, ties, pearl earrings, heels, or derbys. The following are just suggestions and inspiration that you can put towards an outfit that speaks to you!

Everyone approaches androgyny differently. For many people, it involves combining items from the men's and women's departments. For others who have a traditionally masculine or feminine appearance, they may choose to offset it (such as a masculine-presenting person in lipstick and a dress.)

Inspiration

Alok Vaid-Menon is one of my favorite power clashers. ViaThe Pain & Empowerment of Choosing Your Own Gender: Alok Vaid-Menon

Jackets/Blazers

Suit jackets from the men's department tend to be boxy, and depending on what you're going for, may be too masculine for your interests.Double-breasted ones are pretty cool though, and if you have hips they'll bring out some shape.

You can also get pretty creative with the designs though, and go for bright colors and patterns, which will deter from the boxiness.

Women's blazers will create a more feminine silhouette. Depending on where you shop they can still be pretty androgynous. I can personally vouch that the suits at Topshop have a nice fit.

By the way, if you are low on cash you can often find really great blazers at thrift stores! You can get them tailored for pretty cheap too.

Pants

Next, you'll want to pick out your pants. Unless you happen to get a jacket that comes with pants. Try on lots of things, and don't get discouraged if they don't fit. I'd expect about 25% of the things you try on to fit the way you like. Try things from all departments, and don't be afraid to mix and match.

Also, don't be afraid to go a size up. Everyone is so into "slim fit" these days that we forget that pants are supposed to have some room in them. Having a nice hang to your garments is also an important element of obtaining an androgynous look (Anita Dolce Vita goes more into the "slouch" here.) I'm not going to post any specific products, because it really all depends on how it falls on your body.

Accessories

A lot of people feel that ties are too masculine. It really depends on how you look and what you're wearing with it, because if you have a tie with heels on it's a very different look than a tie with traditional masculine attire.

In many ways, the accessories will really complete the androgynous look you're going for. Here are some gender-neutral accessory ideas that aren't ties:

Shoes

Bing found these monkstrap gems from Cole Haan. I think they are amazing and they have a really androgynous feel!

Make Up

Of course not everyone is into make up, but if you are - there are many ways to use make up in an androgynous way! For example, I can't not include this image from our femme desire show:

Check out this tutorial on how to get your own glitter beard!

Mojo has a ton of makeup tutorials on her Facebook page.

Or you can just use some bold lipstick:

Check out more wild make up inspiration on our Pinterest.

You can also do some simple black eye liner: