This Woman Was Bullied for the ‘Too Sexy’ Dress She Wore to a Wedding

That’s what happened to Liz Krueger, a Minnesota fitness professional who recently posted a picture of herself in this formfitting bandage dress to her Instagram, with a caption that read, in part: “If only I knew that choosing this dress for a wedding on a 90 degree day meant so many women would be outrightly rude to me, and even come up behind me slap my ass as I’m standing alone. As quote ‘it was a dare from her friends, bc I was a target.’ And then proceed to spill a full beer spilt down my arm.”

Trying to decide what to wear to a wedding can be pretty fraught. You’re trying to interpret some cryptic dress code like “Dressy Casual” or “Beach Formal” while avoiding the color black because a wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion, plus avoiding the color white because … duh.

But you generally don’t think your choice is going to end with you getting bullied and doused in beer by judgmental wedding guests.

Krueger, who stepped in to attend a Minnesota wedding when her friend’s plus one canceled at the last minute, says she felt “pretty” in the dress, not “slutty,” and received several compliments on her look from friends and family before leaving for the event.

Some (intoxicated) wedding guests obviously disagreed, however. Although attire at the wedding ranged from “dressy” to “baseball hats and jeans,” one of the women told Krueger that she felt “embarrassed for her” because of what she was wearing, and they all laughed at her after one woman spilled beer on Krueger’s arm.

“I laughed it off and tried to just act like it didn’t bother me, because I felt humiliated,” she tells Yahoo Style. “I felt like I was in an adult version of ‘Mean Girls.’”

Krueger felt so unwelcome that she called her husband to meet her and left early.

She decided to post on Instagram about the incident to spread her message of self-confidence and empowerment, which she preaches every day in the fitness business she runs with her husband.

“I hope that my situation can help someone else and let other women know it’s not OK to bring each other down or harass each other,” she says. “I want to inspire women and build women up. It’s hard to do when they are tearing you down.”

In response to those who think her dress was “too sexy” for a wedding, Krueger says, “I respect their opinion. If they think it’s too sexy, they don’t have to wear it. I am very confident in my skin, as over the years I’ve had to overcome a lot of body issues, and I’m finally to a place where I enjoy wearing fun dresses. … I’m a kind, genuine person, who doesn’t do it for attention, and I am happily married to my best friend, who supports my choices.”

Traditional wedding etiquette discourages overly sexy attire, especially if the wedding is held in a church or other religious institution. The fashion director of Brides magazine, Elle Strauss, expressly opposes wearing body-con attire as a wedding guest, as she told Yahoo Style recently. “No one needs that, especially at a wedding,” she says. “It’s too much.”

However, most dress codes tend to prioritize the rule of not distracting from the bride. And pouring beer on another guest ultimately seems a lot more distracting than showing off your gym body at a summer wedding.

Either way, Krueger didn’t let the incident get her down. As she summed up on her Instagram post: “Regardless, we had one heck of a fun night and no ‘grown’ women’s comments/glares could bring me down as a wedding guest.”

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