The one that sold me on the whole idea of a proper wedding guest dress was a midi in a heavy crepe, worn to an October wedding in a cold church followed by a marquee that turned out to be surprisingly warm. It sat through two hours of sitting, standing, kneeling for a hymn I didn't know, then dancing, and never once needed adjusting. That's the test, really. Not how it looks stood still in front of a mirror, but whether you forget about it by the time the speeches start.
Crepe and good quality satin are the two fabrics I trust most for this, because they drape rather than cling, and they don't crease the second you sit down in a car for forty minutes. Satin needs a bit more care, a cool iron on the reverse or a steamer rather than heat straight on it, and it shows deodorant marks more than you'd like, so get dressed before you do your make up, not after. Crepe is more forgiving, it can go through a gentle wash on occasion though I'd always hand wash or send it to be cleaned if there's any beading or a delicate lining, because a cheap lining underneath a nice outer fabric is often where these dresses let you down over time, pilling or going a bit grey after a few wears. A dress that's genuinely done three or four weddings for me has held its shape because the lining was decent, not because the outer fabric was anything special. Chiffon layers are lovely for summer but they snag on everything, a rough fingernail, a chair, so treat them gently and don't expect them to survive a wedding with a lot of rough stone walls or a garden with brambles.
Where this kind of dress is the wrong choice is anywhere genuinely casual, a barn do with hay bales and wellies provided at the door, or anything described as "relaxed, come as you are," where a structured wedding guest dress reads as trying too hard. It's also the wrong pick if you know you'll be on your feet all day at an outdoor ceremony with no seating, because anything too fitted through the hip will punish you by hour three. And it genuinely clashes with anything too bridal, head to toe white or ivory obviously, but also big veiling, feathers, or anything that could be mistaken for the bridesmaids if they're in a similar colour family, which happens more often than you'd think with pale blues and blush tones.
The one mistake I'd actually warn you off is buying based on how it photographs on a hanger or on a model online, rather than how it moves when you walk, sit, and raise your arms above your head for a group photo, because that's the actual job it has to do all day.
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