Graduation outfit

So I was sitting here trying to churn out an outfit post, when I remembered that I hadn't blog about my graduation outfit.

As you can see from the pic, I wore a red shirt, a pencil skirt, a belt to cinch in the waist, tights and heels. I also wore a long black cardigan over my red shirt (hidden by the robe). I think bare legs would have looked better, but I couldn't do without. My graduation ceremony was right smack in the middle of the winter months, you see.

I think in some countries, the girls would wear cocktail dresses underneath their robes. Although there were some girls at my Uni doing that, in general, it was the norm to wear something more formal; a shirt and skirt.

If like me, your University adheres to a smart dress code, here are a few tips on how to dress for your graduation/convocation:

1) Do wear a buttoned down shirt if your hood comes with a loop that needs to be secured on to a button. A pin works, but it's a bit more tricky. You will be needing good, strong pins.

2) The hood may force your shirt to ride up which is terribly annoying. Wearing a blazer helps or you can try pinning it down. I look a bit sloppy in the pic because the hood was too heavy and the tiny pins fell out.

3) If you graduate during the summer months, you may feel quite hot wearing the robe. So try to wear something light underneath. Have a think about the fabric. Sweat patches are not attractive.

4) Do not wear a white shirt unless you want to look exactly like the other 5645689143 graduates.

5) Do not wear jeans. Please.

6) Heels. Heels. Heels. The robe is bulky and will overwhelm us, making us look shorter. Any added height helps. I only managed a 3-inch pair of heels, but I'm telling you, the girls who wore 3 and a half to 4 inches looked way better.

7) Do practice walking in your heels. You really don't want to trip on stage in front of a few hundred people with cameras.

8) Do check the weather report. I checked it religiously the days leading up to my ceremony incase I had to wear thicker clothes.

9) You will get hat hair, so leave the hat on until the end of the day. The hat is not really one-size-fits-all so secure it with bobby pins.

10) Since I don't believe in fashion rules myself, feel free to forget everything you've just read and just wear something you're most comfortable with! Do note that the above were just some personal observations and by no means "rules" :)