Navigating workplace friendships is complicated enough, but a last-minute dress code change for a wedding invite can send any teetering relationship over the edge.

When a younger guest’s choice of dress was criticized behind her back by her co-worker, things quickly took an awkward turn.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

AITA for refusing to buy a new dress for any of my friend’s weddings?

I (19f) have been attending a lot of weddings recently. (Most of my friends are my co-workers – who are much older to me.)

She has a comfortable routine going when it comes to weddings.

I wasn’t included in the wedding, but was invited, so I always had a set dress.

I wore a regular length, tight black dress.

Now I should add for context: I have attended 5 weddings over the last two years and none of them had a specific dress code.

One of my coworkers is getting married next June and, after I received the invite, she asked what I’d be wearing.

She thought there was no need to reinvent the wheel for this one, but the bride had other ideas.

I told her that I would wear my regular black dress.

(I don’t have a lot of others. The only ones I do are very formal.)

She told me after that she actually has imposed a dress code (which was not mentioned on the invite) and that everyone should be wearing red, as she was going to wear black.

I agreed and said I’d get to buying a nice one.

But after doing some digging, something felt off.

However, when I spoke to my other coworkers, none of them mentioned anything about a dress code.

One of them even asked her (the bride, “Maria”) and Maria said there was no dress code.

Initially I thought this was confusing, but maybe she changed her mind and forgot to tell me.

Finally, the truth comes out.

So when I asked my coworker to ask her, Maria said, “I don’t like the black dress she always wears.

It’s old and unflattering and I would rather my guests look presentable at my wedding.”

I always felt good in the dress. It is old (I bought it for my sophomore prom), but I felt as if it still worked.

I texted Maria that I wouldn’t be able to attend her wedding.

Maria tries to save face at first.

She came up to me at work and put a sweet act on about how she thought we were friends and she really wanted me there.

Eventually, I told her I was not planning on buying a new dress because I heard what she said about my black one.

Maria said I was mistaken, but I know I was not.

But then her “niceness” wore off.

Even though she apologized, she texted me later that I am uninvited from her wedding as she would rather not have a broke teenager ruining all her photos.

I spoke to my friend about this, and he thinks I could have just bought a cheap red dress and avoided all the drama.

AITA?

Her friend sure showed her true colors.

What did Reddit think?

This redditor thinks she did the right thing by stepping away from the wedding and their friendship.

Maria should have acted like an adult and just been upfront.

It’s just not practical to buy a new dress for every event.

Dress codes requirements make things harder for women anyway.

Her friend may have made a pass at her for being young, but she’s the one who was acting immature.

No dress could have saved a friendship already hanging by a thread.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.