Never Wear This To A Wedding

The single most important rule when it comes to ladies' wedding attire etiquette is that you should neither upstage the bride nor should you wear an outfit that might allow you to be mistaken for her. The latter rule gave the Western world the rigid prohibition against wearing white to a wedding.

But when it comes to upstaging a bride, there's another color that should be on your no-list for wedding attire: red.

The reason for avoiding red when you are a wedding guest is simple. It's a color that draws attention to itself. The eye is naturally drawn to red, and the color incites feelings of passion in other humans. A dazzling, embroidered red gown (or even a simple red sundress) could easily sway the attention of those in the room away from the bride and her new spouse dressed in classic black and white.

According to Psychology Today, when men were shown the image of the same woman in a red, blue, green, and white T-shirt, men regularly rated the woman as more attractive when she wore red. Yep, the same woman was instantly more irresistible the moment she wore red.

In some other countries, such as China, red is seen as a color of good luck and fortune, so the traditional wedding dress is red with silver and gold embroidery. Thus, wearing red to a wedding in China would also be seen as a grave etiquette mistake, albeit for a different reason.

So, if you're going out to a bar, heading out on a first date, or just want to make a splash when you're hanging out with friends, go ahead and grab that red dress. But for a wedding, you don't want to make a mistake. Consider another garment in your closet. You have plenty of other colors to wear — except for white, of course.

Now that you've mastered your wardrobe, click here for the 14 Habits of the Worst-Ever Wedding Guests that you'll also want to avoid.