Your Wedding Style Guide – Saltburn edition
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Since we’ve been back at our desks post-Christmas there’s been a slow ripple of gossip around the YSW team.
“Have you seen it yet?”, “The scene at the grave?!”, “The bathtub!!” and “That look’s giving Farleigh vibes” are messages whizzing back and forth.
I am of course talking about Emerald Fennel’s new Amazon Prime smash hit Saltburn, the dark thriller that puts the English upper classes of the early 00s under the microscope and doesn’t look upon them kindly.
Seen through the gaze of Oxbridge scholarship boy Oliver Quick, the landed Catton family of Saltburn estate are revealed to be utterly elitist, manipulative and totally out of touch with the wider world.
Yet, despite their unscrupulous morals and Oli’s own sociopathic ways that have got team YSW well and truly freaked out, one thing we can all agree on is the fabulous fashion on show with every flick of a tennis racket-toting wrist (on the end of a bespoke designer tux, obvs).
Which got us thinking, what if Saltburn was the sartorial vibe of your wedding?
Who would you channel? Are you an immaculately dressed Elspeth or more boho-inspired Pamela?
And let’s talk about how we would dress the guys if Saltburn was transposed from somewhere in Middle England to north of the border.
We’re bringing you your wedding style guide – Saltburn-style…
Oliver Quick
Barry Keoghan may have become synonymous with his lack of attire in Saltburn (Murder on the Dancefloor anyone?) but Oli’s discomfort with his social standing as the scholarship outsider is brought front and centre by what he does wear.
He never quite hits the mark at Oxford – it’s all in the sleeves – and it’s only when he settles into life at Saltburn we see him start to thrive in his new surroundings, even rocking a pair of antlers with a bare chest like the best of them at his birthday bash.
So how would Oli dress for a wedding in Scotland?
Well it has to be a tux, of course.
But it won’t be bespoke. His scholarship wouldn’t run to tailored groomswear, but for such a special occasion it will be more than a rental.
We’re fans of this tuxedo by Marks and Spencer with the velvet jacket elevating the look to an outfit worthy of a black tie wedding at Saltburn.
We reckon even Farleigh would approve.
Farleigh
Speaking of Farleigh, the bitchy lost boy cousin, of course it has to be the sharpest of tailoring.
Setting our Saltburn-style wedding in Scotland we’re dressing him these beautiful made-to-measure trews and velvet jacket with jaunty bow tie by Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers.
And for the toast of Oxford himself?
Wearing black tie every night for dinner at Saltburn will have lost its sense of occasion for Felix so for his wedding we’re opting for highlandwear.
But nothing too traditional. He may have the bluest of blue blood but the heir apparent of Saltburn does after all tote an eyebrow stud and an earring and dresses like all of his Oxford contemporaries, that is, with a nod to all the trending fashions of the time.
Pop up collars and baggy jeans we’re looking at you.
So for Highlandwear for Felix we’re bringing it bang up to date with the new and oh-so-stylish brown Crail jacket and waistcoat from McCalls Highlandwear.
So suave and cutting edge in groomswear right now.
Elspeth
When we first meet Elspeth she openly declares how she cannot abide ugliness and we reckon the former model is the driving force behind upholding the tradition of dressing for dinner at Saltburn.
We are in love with the sparkly ethereal lilac evening gown she’s wearing when she meets Oli for pre-dinner drinks on the terrace and we want her wedding attire to be reminiscent of this look with its bandeau straps and spangle.
So for a wedding look we turn to firm fave Berta, guaranteed to give that sex appeal Elspeth oozes so effortlessly.
The label is exclusively available in Scotland at Opus Couture and we reckon it would suit Lady Catton down to the ground.
Though a for a slightly more understated look with all the caped details we love for an Elspeth-inspired bride, you could definitely rock Halfpenny London (pictured below), available at Rachel Scott Couture.
Emerald Fennel was recently quoted in Vogue saying to recreate Venetia’s look at the bare minimum “you will be needing a headband, dingly-dangly earrings, and a thousand long necklaces, draped between your boobs, which have been hoisted up with a super-super padded bra, probably in a neon colour, that peeks out of your top.”
And with that quote, all my uni-day outfits come flooding back!
Yes to the strands of pearls and beads, the Gossip Girl-era layered tops and headbands.
So dressing Venetia wedding-style we need to make a real statement.
In lieu of strands of necklaces we’re opting for beaded fringing all the way or eye-catching, statement-making feathers courtesy of Naeem Khan (pictured above), available at Rachel Scott Couture.
But if she’s destined to be always the bridesmaid, never the bride in our little fantasy let’s at least let her do it in character-worthy glitz with this fabulous number by Dundee-based brand Isolated Heroes.
Perhaps the most tragic, yet only likeable character in the whole film, Pamela apparently has grown up comfortable in the world of Saltburn but is fragile, vulnerable and stands apart from “the set”.
Like Oli, she’s marked out by her clothes, with a more bohemian edge than either Elspeth or Venetia would ever pull off.
So we’re turning to the queen of boho, Temperley (again, available at Rachel Scott Couture) and this beautiful ‘Beatrix’ gown for Pamela.
Just style with a blunt fringe and uber-coiffed bunches.
And lest you think we forgot Sir James…
Nothing so simple. His suit of armour. Of course, yah!
Which Saltburn character would you style yourself after?
Let us know at editorial@yourscottishwedding.co.uk or @yourscottishwedding
