I had no idea how big a deal Mum's dress is at a graduation

[Passportto]

I have sons who will (hopefully!) be graduating over the next couple of years and I would have got it badly wrong, thinking it was their day and my duty was to turn up in much the same way as I did for their end of year assemblies in primary school

Two, senior, sensible, professional, not particularly image conscious women at work have sons graduating this year and the talk has been all dresses/bags/shoes for weeks. Their chosen outfits (I have been subjected to constant photos of the various possibilities) look like mother of the bride outfits to me. Is this normal?

@PUGaLUGS - yep it really does go so quickly.

DD2 graduated last year and it was the most horrendous day of wind and rain. The very nice summer dress I had bought in anticipation stayed in the wardrobe and I wore leggings, knee length boots (we live in Scotland) and a dressy tunic top. I had a waterproof coat on most of the time. The few mothers who had not ditched their fancy mother of the bride ensembles looked like drowned rats, poor souls. This year, DD2 graduates in November, so something lovely and cosy is on the cards.

I work in a university and attend graduation every year. The few MOB style folks generally look totally out of place. A nice frock or something you won’t bake in, and some comfy shoes for standing about in l, is just fine. The Graduands themselves often can’t walk in their shoes, which makes those of us on stage wince/giggle and that’s the only thing we ever remember.
20 years ago, my mum’s friend wore a hat, etc to her daughter’s graduation at an ex-poly. Almost everyone was over-dressed, but it was in a city with a reputation for ‘done up’ ladies.

Just looked at DS's graduation photo and DH is wearing grey trousers, a blue jacket and a pale blue open neck shirt.

Him and DS look like young and old versions of the same person

Oh bother! I assumed just don't turn up in jeans and t-shirt. I'm not intending to be in anything but the casual family snaps if we remember before the gown is returned.

Two old RGs here. Mothers were in discreet wedding outfit but not full on MOB. So skirt or dress with a smart jacket, bag, heels, fabrics not too shiny or weddingy. Men were in dark suits, or kilts.

The students themselves were in sub fusc under gown for the women and kilt and white tie/white tie under gown for the men. Or other national dress. So maybe this is at the smarter end of graduations.

I find it strange when I see all sorts of short and sparkly dresses under gowns. That wasn't allowed!

Watching with horror... I have 2 months...

Watching with even more horror as only have one month here ... Just planned to wear some smart work clothes - maybe linen trousers and a smart linen tunic.

That sounds perfect bluesky.
The overdressed parents look a little bit try hard.

I didn't even invite my mum to my graduation .. and I wore jeans.

I don't understand the fuss. It was totally boring.

There were a lot of hats at my graduation. Lots of MOB type outfits. All fathers in suits. We didn’t have any professional photos taken. My mother wore a hat and didn’t look out of place. She wore a floaty trouser and top combo with it - she looked great! But it was Oxbridge and it was 14 years ago.

I wore wedding guest level smart to my DD's graduation. Her graduation outfit was much the bigger deal, on a par with choosing a prom outfit.

Incidentally, it was hell on earth, a total cattle market and complete financial rip off. She was the first of our family ever to graduate and we had no idea what to expect. We learnt from our mistake. I graduated myself the year after and didn't attend the ceremony and younger DD graduated this week and has no plans to attend her ceremony either.

I find it strange when I see all sorts of short and sparkly dresses under gowns. That wasn't allowed!

My uni had a strict dress code. Black/navy dress or trousers and shirt. Or national dress. Thinking about it that probably encouraged more conservative dress in parents.

I also found it weird to see girls dressed up to the nines with sparkles, tan and big hair like an american prom at another city’s uni.

Recent :
DD 1 Cambridge - nice summer frocks for the mothers ,, one or two in hats looked very out of place, certainly no MOB. No tottering heels on the graduands, stewards checking for unruly furry hoods, sensible shoes, gowns looking a bit wrecked after 3 years of very frequent use.
DD2 - Russell Group uni - very mixed - some MOB, some very relaxed - I in between in smart linen trousers and simple top. Tottering heels for graduands ( inc own DD) and party dresses underneath smart hired gowns .

I cannot remember what anyone wore at my 3 graduations. 😬😄

its the ultimate cop out but I wore nick black trousers, suede mules and a nice floaty top. It felt about right. Some people were very casual, some very done up.

no I didnt nick the trousers.

“Mind if I hijack Bert and ask where you got your trousers? I like the sound of them“
Sorry, Flavia- they are seriously lovely but they came from EBay with the labels cut out. I suspect they are M&S though.......

I wore summery dress from local charity shop with jacket and low heels. Dh wore jacket, shirt and tie ( and trousers obvs). Graduand dd wore little black dress abd killer heels. It pissed down! The photo I chose to frame of the day is one of her leaping in the air, bare feet tucked under her, one arm in the air, the other clutching a huge bright orange umbrella! We were all like drowned rats. Graduations are utterly utterly boring!

Eh??

I wore a nice floral shift dress with matching nude heels and small bag, got the whole outfit for just under a tenner at a charity shop! No posed family photos, though I did get my hair done and it lasted about 5 mins - thanks Manchester weather!!

My mum came to both my graduations and I don't remember what she wore, just something smart-ish.

I wore a fitted lilac blouse with black trousers & black heels that I could hardly walk in for my first graduation.

I don't remember what I wore for the second one.

My dm wore a smart floral blck dress cardigan and court shoes. She looked smart and lovely in the photo but not like she was at a wedding.