23 TV And Movie Dresses That All Bridesmaids Should Wear At Every Wedding Forever
1.This purple dress Princess Diana wears on The Crown.
Netflix, I am willing to spend way too much money on this, so please let me know if it's available for purchase when you get a sec.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: There is such fanciness here, I love it. But you could also run around in this dress doing whatever the betrotheds need or want, and then have a grand old time dancing for hours.
Best part of the dress: The swoops on top of the purple.
2.The dress that Prince — Prince — styles Jess in on New Girl.
I would be committing an act of treason if I didn't include Prince's styling, albeit fictional.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: I feel like this gives off the same vibe as an artsy goth candelabra. Maybe I'm wrong about what goth is at its core, and if so I apologize, but, like, you know what I mean. And I am very down to have that vibe at a wedding.
Best part of the dress: The fabric.
3.Andie's legendary yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Andie says you can't lose something you never had, but I feel like I lost this dress. I miss it. Its ghost lives in my closet.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: You would be hard-pressed to find a piece of clothing that's a better combination of cool, debonair, and fun. No matter the bridesmaid's personality, this works — even if, like me, they're neither cool, nor debonair, nor fun.
Best part of the dress: The color.
4.This dress Tahani from The Good Place walks around in.
Don't get me wrong, I know Tahani (Jameela Jamil) could look good in a tub of freaking baked beans, but she looks excellent in this dress.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: For a casually high-end wedding, this is the move. Imagine a bridesmaid wearing this during a ceremony in a park or something! Flawless. Also, the silhouette is the absolute tops.
Best part of the dress: The fabric.
5.Tinkerbell's classic dress in Peter Pan.
Few outfits remain in the cultural lexicon for more than 50 years, so the fame of Tinkerbell's dress must be for a reason. The reason is it's so cute.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: It's so not a bridesmaid dress, so the opposite of traditional, so "I don't care about the rules," that it's ideal for a "hey, let's just get married now and then go to a party" sort of wedding.
Best part of the dress: The hem on the bottom.
6.This blue dress worn by the great Hilary Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Why did Hilary not get her own show? She is arguably a protagonist stuck in a supporting role, and that potential comes out through her sensational clothes.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: I don't know what to write here because it seems wholly self-evident to me. This would be a stellar sophisticated-but-casual bridesmaid dress. The shoes aren't my thing, though.
Best part of the dress: The color.
7.The dress Judy from White Christmas wears in "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing," a marvelous scene.
Somewhere in some alternate universe, there's a version of me who's a thief. She has done her research to find out where this dress is being kept, she has broken into the warehouse or studio or wherever, and she has stolen it in the dead of night.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: Something about it feels like it's tailor made for you to wear while you watch your friend get married. Plus, LOOK AT THE WAY IT TWIRLS. LOOK AT THE WAY IT TWIRLS. LOOK AT THE WAY IT TWIRLS.
Best part of the dress: LOOK AT THE WAY IT TWIRLS.
8.Paige's dress at the Love Island Series 6 prom.
I'm 99% sure I gasped when Paige walked out in this. She looks ridiculous. She looks like a villain in an action movie, and that's a gigantic compliment.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: For your, say, yacht wedding (is that a thing?) or your we're-secret-agents wedding (please be a thing), Paige's dress is magnificent. I love the suave-ness caused by the neckline and the slit.
Best part of the dress: The neckline.
9.This simple dress worn by Allison from The Umbrella Academy.
Sunny dresses like this are sooooo goooood. Why don't I wear this kind of thing more? Why have I relegated myself to athletic shorts? Get your head in the game, me.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: Certainly the antithesis of the previous one, this is for a no-fuss, no-muss celebration. Like, if you're thinking about or want a courthouse wedding or you're planning on doing a one-on-one small thing, I think we have the bridesmaid look.
Best part of the dress: The stripes.
10.This dress Marianne sports in Allied.
Speaking as someone who has never seen the movie and essentially discovered this dress when I was looking around for stuff to add to a previous post, this look is the best part of Allied.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: Dresses from the '40s have a grace and a dignified quality that I would have trouble finding in any other decade to the same degree. So, when you add seafoam green to that, it's kind of immoral to dislike it. What loser doesn't want graceful and dignified seafoam green bridesmaids?
Best part of the dress: The color.
11.The dress Lorraine wears to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Back to the Future.
If I knew my mother wore this to a high school dance and I had a DeLorean time machine, making me able to take this outfit from my mom after she was done with it, I would speed up to 88 mph ASAP — not that it matters how soon I'd do it, because it's time travel and all. Anyway.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: At a wedding ceremony, all the bridesmaids often wear the same dress, sometimes with color variation or, like, small changes. A bunch of this dress in a row would be candy on the eyes.
Best part of the dress: The silhouette (but also the neckline and the orange-pink color pairing).
12.This dress Jasmine dons in Aladdin.
Jasmine's signature blue ensemble is rightfully adored, but we have let this fall by the wayside as a consequence. I'm doing God's work by including it here. You're welcome.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: I think each wedding should be a unique experience, because the relationship is so personal, special, different from any other. I would want that originality on my friends as they stand by my side, and I have never seen a dress like this.
Best part of the dress: The color.
13.This dress on Emily from that show Emily in Paris.
I have not watched this television program, and I have no plans to, but if I needed to watch every episode 25 times in exchange for this dress, I'd debate doing it.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: Unless the wedding is super-duper fancy, this dress would go with every kind of vibe, no matter what twists and turns arise. Traditional wedding? It works. Vegas wedding? It works. The venue shuts down day-of because of a rat problem and the ceremony has to be at Sears? It works.
Best part of the dress: The zig-zag pattern-y part.
14.Vivian's opera dress from the rom-com staple Pretty Woman.
Now, does Pretty Woman have a plethora of think-piece-worthy gender and social class dynamics? Yes. But is this dress think-piece-worthy because it's so flawless? Yes.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: If you're going to go all out for a rich wedding — and I mean all out: horses, completely gold plates, fireworks over the Riviera — you're required to go all out on the bridesmaid dresses. There is no better form of that, of "I could buy Andorra," than this gown.
Best part of the dress: The neckline.
15.This dress Monica from Friends puts on for Rachel's birthday party (technically, sort of, Rachel's birthday parties, but that belongs in another article).
I would wear this all the time in a non-pandemic world if I went to fancier places.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: You know the 27 Dresses bridesmaid dress that's hot pink and tiny? Monica's outfit here is like the PG-13 take on that. I love it. I want to wear it at a chill and wildly fun wedding, where the music is just someone's Spotify workout playlist.
Best part of the dress: The length.
16.This dress Princess Margaret rocks times a billion on The Crown.
Embarrassing confession time: I had the image above saved as a tab on my computer for months because I wanted to find this dress. I never did (but in all fairness, I don't think I really looked that hard, lol).
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: It nails a difficult, dream combo for me: equally sweet and suave to no end. I mean, imagine dancing in this dress! Oh, the way it would turn! But at the same time, the off-the-shoulder top makes it wealthy-casino cool.
Best part of the dress: The skirt.
17.Cece's gold dress for Prince's party on New Girl.
Here we have another one that has lived in my brain for a very long time. Only in this case, the dress has lived in my brain for nearly eight years.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: Look, I'm a huge fan of elegant, sparkly dresses. And I'm a huge fan of anything that can look high-end even if converse were to be paired with it. Let's give bridesmaids sparkles they can wear with comfy shoes.
Best part of the dress: The sparkles.
18.Eve's pink dress from the 2000 Best Picture winner, Life-Size.
If you learn anything from this post, let it be the following: shine bright, shine far, be a star.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: To me, this is, like, an amazing version of the classic bridesmaid thing. It's a simple silhouette with a weird, ugly addition. If you want traditional bridesmaids outfits, there isn't a better option.
Best part of the dress: The color.
19.The blue version of Aurora's famous dress in Sleeping Beauty.
Aurora 100% should have been told about the curse put on her, but if she needed to be ignorant for us to get this gown, then fine.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: In real life, maybe the shoulder situation would be odd, but it comes across as majestic in animation. The cut is wonderful, too, and the full skirt is always a win in my book. Plus, what a great blue.
Best part of the dress: The silhouette.
20.Also, the pink version of Aurora's famous dress in Sleeping Beauty.
Hey, if something works, I'll buy it in a bunch of different colors.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: See above, but change "blue" to "pink."
Best part of the dress: The silhouette.
21.And the blue-and-pink version of Aurora's famous dress in Sleeping Beauty. I don't have a second image for it because it has a tragically brief life.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: In addition to everything you've already read about this dress, we now have the added bonus of Pollock-y splats. They make this a flawless bridesmaid look for someone who wears gogo boots to heavy metal concerts (which is not me, but I can appreciate the energy it gives off).
Best part of the dress: The Pollock-y splats.
22.Rosa's dress for a Brooklyn Nine-Nine Thanksgiving.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn't known for its fashion, but perhaps someone should do a viewing expedition in search of adorable outfits. I'm not volunteering, only because I don't have the time.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: There are people out there who like things calm, organized, civilized. These people watch cable dramas and get their news from Politico. If you are one of these people, A) thank you for sticking around to read my nonsense for so long, and B) I have found your bridesmaid dress. If I wish to emulate you, I will get this.
Best part of the dress: The lace.
23.And finally, this purple dress Tahani wears on The Good Place.
I could write a long song to this dress.
Why it's perfect for a bridesmaid: I'll be honest with you, folks. I just want to wear this dress. I want to be near it. I want to breathe the same air, and I don't care what for. If it needs to happen for bridesmaid purposes, so be it.
Best part of the dress: The shininess, but the silhouette is a veeeeery close second.
