Graduation dress - am on platform

[worstofbothworlds]

I'm an academic and I'm sitting on the platform for a graduation tomorrow.

It shouldn't be too hot (just as well as my gown is very very heavy and completely swamps me, as I'm rather short - I borrowed a much lighter gown for another occasion recently which was fine but it's definitely heavier than that).

I was just going to wear a blouse and trousers but saw a male member of a procession today in white tie! Now I'm wondering if I need to go more formal.

Dress by guests does not help at all as they are all dressed as if for garden party/summer wedding/ clubbing.

From memory it helps to wear something that does not ride up even when attached to a heavy gown (I cannot remember if you have to button it down but I think you do, and I remember a dreadful choice from my UG graduation where my blouse didn't tuck in and my gown kept pulling it up, but for that we had prescribed white top/black skirt and ditto my own PhD graduation had prescribed dress under the gown).

I don't actually own a gown so can't try on various outfits, I just have to go for it tomorrow morning.

Safety pins are your friend. You don't have to worry about wearing something with a button if you simply safety pin your gown to your shoulders instead.

Blimey!! White tie!! I've never seen that and I work in a university and attend multiple graduations every year. Nice blouse and trousers should be fine I would have thought. Wear sensible shoes, the last thing you want to do is trip up as you exit the stage. Wear as few rings as practical, you will do a lot of clapping. And, if you can find one, pop a small folding fan in your pocket for discrete cooling onstage.

You don't need a button or something in the middle, they can pin the shoulders to keep it in place, so summer dresses fine.

I think dresses look nicer with the gown than trousers but anything reasonably smart is fine.

I always make an effort as the students and their parents do, I have known academics turn up in jeans but I think that's really quite a contrived 'look at me I'm so important I don't even have to dress up' type of a thing. The Chancellor and other officers wear a tie, so a blouse and trousers is fine.

The female students all wear micro-minis and extremely high heels, if the one I attended recently is anything to go by!

Also, at ours, if you don't like your gown or it is too heavy, then you can swap to a lighter/better colour one. Loads of our staff don't wear the ones they are supposed to, as they are too garish/heavy/fancy a change.

Shirt and trousers sounds fine - not much shows anyway in my experience. Our university asks for staff to wear dark dress/skirt/trousers. Agree that dressing by guests wouldn't work - would end up looking massively unprofessional!

at ours, if you don't like your gown or it is too heavy, then you can swap to a lighter/better colour one

I'm sure I could but I'm vv proud of my PhD and it stands out a lot - in a good way (I don't expect anyone to know where it's from, but I do!) so I won't swap!

Thanks all, will definitely stick to low shoes and no jeans. I never wear jeans to work anyway. I don't wear that many rings. Will have a small but strong coffee before going up too... have a tendency to get a little sleepy in hot rooms... but not too big as I don't want to have to dash out to the loo...

Safety pins will be sought out and pinned discreetly to the inside of my trouser pocket I think.

The female students all wear micro-minis and extremely high heels

Yes they rather remind me of the christening guests at my friend's DS' parallel christening (two at the same time for some reason) who all seemed to have decided to start at 11am as they mean to go on till about 4am the next day. Yes you are at a party to celebrate something fun and important. No you are not in a club.

I wonder if White Tie Man was someone important but I don't know him? I tend to be rather unobservant and have rubbish face recognition skills!

At my Uni the scroll bearer for the honorory degrees has to wear a white tie (if male).

I'll watch out for the scroll bearer...

At my daughter's graduation, the person receiving the honorary doctorate was in a rather scruffy jumper and jeans. BUT .. when he gave his acceptance speech he explained that he had arrived at his hotel the previous evening (from the other side of the country) to discover he'd left his suitcase at home! Unfortunately he was about 6'5" and rather stout, so no chance of rushing out and getting anything off the peg. He was quite an eccentric anyway, and this story endeared him to everyone.

I just wear a smart dress and heels. Nails done to match robes in dark red.
You'll need 3 safety pins, one for each shoulder and one for the front.

I hate my robes, had I realised I'd have to wear them very year, I'd have done my PhD at Herriot Watt which are a lovely shade of pink. We say every year that we'll have a competition to find the stupidest outfit. We have found a Swedish uni where the robes come with a sword.

stamps foot
I want a sword!

We always have the "best shoes" competition. How some of them manager to skip across the stage without falling flat on their faces is one of life's little mysteries.

I also was mystified.

Safety pins at shoulders plus blouse that tucks in = no visible tummy.
So all happy!