what to wear to graduation: the complete guide

Yours truly just graduated on Thursday with First Class Honours from the LSE, so yes, I do consider myself a veteran in graduation day dressing. Before I begin, there are a few things to bear in mind when you plan for the big day.

1. It will be one of the most heavily photographed days of your life, with the exception of your wedding.
2. You will be going on stage in front of hundreds of other people, albeit for a few short seconds. Your trek across the stage will possibly be broadcast onto a big silver screen as well.
3. It will most likely be an all-day event... and all-night too, if you celebrate after.

I know these pointers seem obvious, but it's a good place to start. So, from here we proceed to...

The Dress

Before you decide what to wear, do some research on what your academic dress is like (the LSE one for example). Most commonly, the gowns are shapeless, black and fall all the way down to your ankles, and there is a hood thing you wear over your shoulders.

Note that these hoods are meant to be hooked onto a button so that they stay in place. The last thing you want is your hood sliding all the way down your shoulders as you stride confidently across the stage to shake your university director's hand. Hence shirts are recommended, but who would want to wear a shirt and a pencil skirt to their graduation? Shirt dresses are an alternative, and that was what I went with in the end, and after much trial and error, I settled for one with a lovely draped tulip skirt. Another choice is to use safety pins to clip the hood onto your dress, but remember your gown is borrowed before you pierce holes all over it.

Another thing to remember is that these gowns are HEAVY and can be extremely warm. It wasn't much of a problem for me because it still feels more like autumn in London right now, but if you're graduating in warmer parts of the world, make sure you go with something light.

Colour is obviously mandatory. I saw a brilliant range of colours at graduation, and you'd want to wear something other than black if you don't want to look like a shapeless sack, and you'd end up wearing your robe open most of the time. But a white and orange horizontal striped knit dress? No, no, no (true story). Keep it classic, keep it clean.

The Shoes

Just remember you'll be walking around the entire day and hopefully you'll arrive at a sensible conclusion as to what footwear to choose. There were some insane choices that day, including this monster and some stripper-worthy heels, but most kept to classy mid-heels, including myself. These LK Bennetts are the best investment I've made in a while.

The Hair

The mortar board! The annoying piece of hatwear that I just couldn't put on right. Sadly the hat precludes the possibility of doing anything overly fancy with your hair, but you can't go wrong with a good bouncy blowdry or pretty sidebraids.

I absolutely love these ladies for hair inspiration. If I had the talent (or more hands) I'd have worn this to graduation.

The Makeup

Trust me, you won't have time to go running for the powder room in between the ceremony and all the photo-taking. So wear something that you're comfortable with, and something that will stay on for pretty much the whole day. Again, keep it classy, it's not a night out after all.

Cos everyone loves a Nasty Gal!

And.... The Flowers

Obviously, you deserve lots of flowers because it's graduation! Congratulations for surviving university, off you go, it's party time!