Graduation is important, so use these tips to look the part!

Graduating from college or university is one of the most exciting moments in a student’s life. For months, or years, you’ve worked toward the moment when you receive your diploma, and it’s important that in that moment you present yourself in the best way possible and wear an appropriate outfit. Though when you walk across the stage you’re likely going to be wearing a commencement gown, you still want to have the right outfit on underneath for the many pictures you’re going to take.

Here’s a list of things you might want to consider wearing to your graduation:

The right accessories

On the day of your graduation, keeping accessories to a minimum is probably the best idea. If you want to wear jewellery, make sure it’s small and goes with your outfit. For example, nice stud earrings, a necklace and rings will work. And for those that like to wear large watches, try to pick one that is classic and appropriate.

This gold necklace from Forever 21 is the perfect simple accessory for graduation:

The right shoes

Shoes are arguably the most important part of your outfit on graduation day. This is because you’ll likely be standing for a while before and after the ceremony, and they’ll show the entire time whether you’re wearing a commencement gown or not. For ladies who like to wear heels, this is definitely the right time. Just make sure that they go with the outfit you’re wearing (and also the gown). And if you’re not into high heels, you can definitely wear a nice pair of flats. For guys, wear some nice dress shoes and follow the same rule of neutral tones.

For ladies, these heels from Aldo are a great option:

And for guys, these dress shoes from Zara are perfect:

The right grooming

The right grooming (hair, makeup, beard style, etc.) is very important on graduation day. Remember, this is a day you’ve worked toward for what has probably been a long time, so you want to look the best you can in the photos that you’ll take on your graduation day. With that being said, this probably isn’t the time to experiment with a new hairstyle or extravagant makeup. Just stick to what you know looks best and more importantly, what makes you feel your best.

The perfect outfit

For the ladies, you can really wear anything from a nice dress, to a semi-fancy jumpsuit, and even dress pants. The key to getting the right outfit is to make sure that it’s not too casual. For example, if you want to wear a dress, go for a style that is comfortable, that suits you, and is semi-dressy.

For guys, it’s probably best to skip jeans and go with some dress pants. To go with dress pants, a button-down shirt always works.

Remember that these are suggestions and what we’d like to see most of all is your individuality, so you should ultimately wear what you’re comfortable and happy in! But if you’ve been having doubts about what to wear, we hope that these tips helped you out.

Congratulations to all the 2017 Humber and Guelph-Humber graduates!