‘A big pouffy dress is not really me’: the brides who got wed in a suit – long before Dua Lipa

For some people, wearing a big white dress on their wedding day feels as key as the rings. For others, less so.

When Dua Lipa wore a Schiaparelli couture white skirt suit as she wed the actor Callum Turner in London last month, she joined a long line of women who have opted for a suit. Not least Bianca Jagger, whom Lipa was speculated to be emulating – the model and activist caused a stir when she got hitched to Mick Jagger in 1971, wearing a Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking jacket and bias-cut skirt.

Dua Lipa ties the knot with the actor Callum Turner at Marylebone town hall, London, in a custom Schiaparelli skirt suit. Photograph: Roland Hoskins/dmg media Licensing

In a way it’s strange that it’s still considered unusual, but the concept of the traditional wedding, dress and all, still holds immense sway. So who else has chosen a suit over a dress? And were they inspired by Jagger or simply cutting their own cloth? We asked readers for stories of their wedding-day suits.

Tilly Burn, 31, works in local government, Moreton-in-Marsh

‘I wanted to feel cool’ … Tilly Burn on her wedding day. Photograph: Tanli Joy

I had been toying with the idea of wearing a suit for a while – the reusability really appealed to me, and I realised that if I had a wedding dress it would hang forgotten in my wardrobe. I wanted something comfortable and, rather than just looking beautiful on my wedding day, I wanted to feel cool.

Then I saw the iconic photo of Bianca Jagger and I just thought she looked so cool; effortlessly chic and sexy. A woman wearing a suit looks so powerful! So she became my inspiration.

I tried on lots of different suits, from really expensive Vivienne Westwood ones to mid-range to much cheaper. My suit was by a brand called Me+Em, and I got the trousers tailored perfectly by a local suit-maker, Anwen Greenaway. I felt incredible.

I was married nearly three years ago at the Manor House hotel, Moreton-in-Marsh, and have worn the suit at least 15 times since. On one memorable occasion I did a great John Lennon costume with it.

Judith Winters, 55, archaeological editor, North Yorkshire

‘We were going to do this our way’ … Judith Winters’ wedding day, Sheffield, 1997. Photograph: Mike Bateman

We got married in 1997 at Sheffield register office. We were indie postgraduate students and had decided on a humanist wedding – it was definitely our statement of: “We’re going to do this our way.”

I had never dreamed of the white-dress wedding but I did want to dress up for a change. So we took a trip to the fairly new Harvey Nichols store in Leeds. I chose a pale blue Nicole Farhi trouser suit that matched the occasion perfectly.

I felt amazing in it. The trousers were really comfortable and it meant I could boogie on the dance floor and pick up the small children who were at the wedding.

I have worn the suit several times since. It’s still hanging in my wardrobe, looking for that niece to pass it on to.

Justine Knowles, 57, osteopath, Birmingham

I married my husband in 2003 at the register office in Birmingham. We had already been living together for five years. We had no desire to have a traditional wedding and wanted to be quite unconventional about it.

We started with a list of things we could do without and a big, expensive white dress was top of it. I’ve never been a girly-girl and a big white pouffy dress is just not really “me”. So I thought: “Why don’t I just buy a white trouser suit like Bianca Jagger?” I said: “We could go a bit more rock’n’roll with it.” My husband played in bands and he wore a royal blue and red pinstripe Ozwald Boateng suit.

I also didn’t want to end up with something in my wardrobe that I’d never wear again. My mum had put a token effort into getting me into a “nice dress” from the high street but even she admitted I looked better in the white tuxedo trouser suit I had picked out from Principles. It fitted perfectly and was only just over £100.

I have worn it on other occasions since. It probably needs a good old dry clean.

Sarah Morley, 59, graphic designer, near Bath

Sarah Morley in her backless evening waistcoat. Photograph: Dominique Bader

I was 44 when I married my husband, Chris, at the Roman baths in Bath in September 2011. I’ve never really been a “dress” person, and I’ve always admired women like Diane Keaton, Bianca Jagger and Katharine Hepburn, who showed how stylish a suit can be. Plus, I thought a suit would reflect that I was independent, strong and stylish. But the women’s suits that I’d been looking at didn’t have that edge.

I was at a loss until the day my husband-to-be had a fitting for his suit (he’d always wanted a Savile Row suit and had thought if not now then when). While standing there as the tailor, Richard Anderson, measured him, I thought: “Damn, of course this is the answer.”

A man’s suit, fitted to me, just had that frisson – there were no alterations to make it more feminine, and underneath I wore it with a traditional men’s formal backless evening waistcoat ... but with no shirt. It felt fantastic.

Judith Mendes, 61, marine biologist, Jamaica

‘The decision was a practical one’ … Judith Mendes on her wedding day.

The decision to wear a suit was a practical one resulting from a sentimental choice to get married where we met, at the coastguard base in Port Royal, Jamaica.

At the time I was a graduate student studying coral reefs and doing my fieldwork right next door to the base. One Christmas, students were invited to a party and I met my now ex-husband there.

So we decided, when we got married in 1992, that it would be nice to get married back there on a coastguard vessel. This required walking up and down a narrow gangway as well as over obstacles on the deck. Obviously a big pouffy dress was just not going to work.

I got that suit off the rack. The shawl collar was made of lace and it had sequins and beading that sparkled in the sunlight. I really felt very beautiful in it.

Helga Saint Pierre, 71, retired teacher, Halifax, Canada

‘We were students with little money ‘ … Helga Saint Pierre and her husband on their wedding day.

We were students with little money when we got married in the 70s. We planned a simple secular celebration in Canada with university friends, a homemade meal and cake. The only splurge was champagne.

I wore a dove-grey suit that I’d bought off the rack and a small lily of the valley antique brooch that had been my first Christmas present from my soon-to-be husband. All in all, there was no spectacle and very little cost: $100 in 1976.

Maxine O’Neill, 61, location coordinator, Harrow

‘I’ve still got the hat’ … Maxine O’Neill on her wedding day in 1993.

It was 1993. My husband and I both worked in the record industry and were not the kind of people who would wear traditional suits or meringue-style wedding dresses; it just wasn’t really “us”.

So my lovely mother-in-law, Belle, who was a dressmaker, made me a suit in cream silk, and I made a hat out of a feather boa. We got married in Newry, northern Ireland, where my husband is from.

I don’t have the suit any more because I left it at my parents for safekeeping and they moved and sent it to charity by accident. But I’ve still got the hat.