Graduation dress recommendations for DD22

[magentacaramel]

Hi everyone

My daughter is graduation in a week and we still have not found a dress for her. So please could you help with suggestions:

here is the low down:

size 4 or 6 UK
height 5’1’. So petit dress required
no sequins
nothing that looks like office wear
no large patterns or flowers
tight fitted
sophisticated style
modest (no plugging neckline).
sleeveless or with sleeves (not strapless or straps)
her sash will be lilac
budget £100 max
i am grateful for all suggestions.

thank you

What has been the difficulty so far? There must be a million suitable dresses around at the moment?

When I was graduating, the guidelines were a white blouse and a black skirt. It’s not that difficult. Keep it simple. Anything fancier detracts from the graduation gown.

I'm about to upload a dress to vinted that my sister wore for her graduation in September, Zara, full length black, sleeveless, fitted. It has been taken up as she is petite. Happy to send it onto you

The issue is she has an idea of the dress she wants to wear, (white dress with a tight top half & pleated skirt) but she cannot find the ideal one. She is slim & petit and the dress either does not fit well, does not have good coverage and / or needs to be tailored. We have purchased dresses new & from
vinted in the past and have spend a lot getting them altered.

it’s her graduation so she wants to dress up. All her uni friends dressed up as it’s their special day. I did the same on my graduation.

Thank you. Would love to see a picture of this dress.

You usually need a button for the sash to work. They do have a trick to make it work with dresses but it always pulls at the neck. So a nice blouse and trousers or skirt would be better.

I'd also recommend flat shoes. I sit through a lot of graduations and the number of young women who walk badly in 6" heels and thus look a bit like they've pood themselves is quite high. Either that or their foot gets stuck on a floor panel or they trip on the stairs.

She’ll have a gown on won’t she? So no one will really see if her dress fits perfectly. She’s 22, a grown woman. Tell her to pop to the shops and choose one that she can wear on a night out - it’s not that important!

Agree - me too. It looked smart, and the clothes could be recycled for office wear.
Some of the female graduates now look, shall we say, unprofessional.

It's academic dress - the gown should be the star.

Ignore all the people saying what it was like when they graduated - you and your daughter are right that these days, most young women dress up and want to feel fabulous at their graduation.

I'm not sure what you mean by modest style. Does she want a midi length?

A few ideas here, given that her sash is lilac:

https://www.asos.com/4th-reckless-petite/4th-reckless-petite-sleeveless-wrap-drape-ring-detail-maxi-dress-in-white/prd/207565849#colourWayId-207565858

https://www.asos.com/vesper-petite/vesper-petite-bengaline-square-neck-scoop-back-midaxi-dress-in-black/prd/209687687#colourWayId-209687693

https://www.asos.com/amy-lynn/amy-lynn-tailored-waistcoat-mini-dress-in-milk/prd/207974263#colourWayId-207974264

https://www.asos.com/topshop/topshop-lace-insert-grown-on-shoulder-midi-dress-in-dusty-lilac/prd/208706043#colourWayId-208706053

https://www.asos.com/topshop/topshop-box-pleat-skirt-dropped-waist-maxi-dress-in-black/prd/209231267#colourWayId-209231278

https://www.asos.com/other-stories/other-stories-off-shoulder-maxi-dress-with-peplum-hem-in-black-mixed-velvet-and-satin-fabric/prd/209565178#colourWayId-209565179

Hi thank you for those suggestions

I have passed these on

agree about all of the above negative comments. I thought this was supposed to be a style section…

we are finding that the top part of the dress does not sit well on the boob area (is loose). Many of the dresses need taking up.

the dress is important to her as without giving too much away, she will be getting other awards as well. So will be involved in other ceremonies throughout that day as well.

thanks again

I’m a stage sitter at graduations. The men always dress in suits and look smart. Half the women look like they’re off clubbing in Magaluf - tight dresses, boobs spilling out, fake tan and hairspray galore, ridiculous heels.

This isn’t the colour you want, but something like this would be perfect.

www.johnlewis.com/reiss-ava-pleated-midi-dress-burgundy/p114425474

It sounds like she is spiralling if you have already bought dresses, had them altered etc. and still she has “nothing to wear”.

I would step away and leave her to it. But one piece of advice from someone who has sat through literally 100s of graduation ceremonies is that shoes are more important than clothes. The gown covers most of the dress but a killer pair of shoes that she can confidently walk in are a must.

Good point about the shoes, @disappearingfish. Though I didn’t interpret the OP’s comment about previous dresses as being for THIS event, more a comment on how hard she’s had to work on getting a good fit in the past - so she would like off-the-peg petite suggestions. Am I correct in that, @magentacaramel?

Having nosed around a bit (love a bit of targeted online searching, me) I can see why she’s struggling. There are petite ranges but they are often limited, and prices are pretty high right now! So that’s taken me to looking at sale/outlet sections, which narrows the options again.

I always think Reiss has some lovely petite clothing. They have a couple of dresses in their sale that might be suitable - elegant, quite modest, but very dark green (almost black). It wouldn’t clash with the sash, though I can understand why your DD was thinking of a paler dress under her gown!

Reiss 1:
https://www.reiss.com/style/su808406/w87196

Reiss 2 - a little over budget, but striking with all the draping:
https://www.reiss.com/style/su758791/h65966

This is also very pretty, but I suspect too warm a pink for a lilac sash!
https://www.reiss.com/style/su742374/w51557

I’ve also seen a few asymmetric dresses elsewhere - how does she feel about having one shoulder bared? It wouldn’t show particularly under her gown and usually makes for quite a modest/secure neckline.

https://www.karenmillen.com/tailored-crepe-military-pleat-notch-neck-wrap-mini-dress/BKK21291-133-20.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign={campaign}&utm_adgroup={adgroup}&utm_term=&utm_device=c&utm_content=&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21831343676&gbraid=0AAAAACo7BY-rQJSn8d3CW_l5zbPPKPCLq&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg_7sttb7kQMV6pFQBh3ksgK6EAQYBiABEgLRv_D_BwE

This is white with a fitted top and pleated skirt, as she's petite it would likely sit on the knee...

https://www.karenmillen.com/petite-tailored-structured-crepe-forever-pleat-midi-dress/BKK16961-133-24.html

Or this in midi length, available it petite as well as size 4 & 6 - it's over budget but there is an additional 20% off the listed sale price with a code.

This is a style board, but an important element of stylishness is being dressed more or less appropriately for the occasion.

I honestly don’t understand why or how some posters are linking long, sleeveless evening dresses - they will look utterly ridiculous with an academic gown in daytime. (Assuming her ceremony is during the day? My call to the Bar ceremony was in the evening - everyone wore suits.)

Such a shame she’s rejected ‘office wear’; a beautifully cut black dress or a plain blouse and black skirt would have looked lovely.

(PS, I’ve had three ceremonies of my own; needed a gown whilst dining for a year to qualify for my former profession; wore one in court regularly; now live in Oxford so see students in gowns all the time; and occasionally still need one myself. Absolutely feel free to ignore me.)

That white Karen Millen dress with pleats is a helluva lot better than the evening wear …

Well, for my part I was answering the brief. It should be possible to say the brief isn’t quite right without being rude and superior about it.

It needs shoulders/sleeves as that’s how they’ll attach the hood/colours of the gown if there is no button to hang it off on the front. And beware, the gown/hood is heavy!

I agree @MissPrismsMistake - and as I say, I have been to 100s of ceremonies. Flimsy materials are also not up to the job of keeping a hood in place so all these satin-y slip dresses are pulled out of shape.

But, it's what the women are wearing these days. It doesn't matter what I think, or what you think, it's what they think is important. We all made horrendous style/fashion mistakes in our youth, it didn't kills us.

We got my daughters from odd muse. A classic black dress that was fitted and she wore again at Xmas. Bought in November so likely a current piece

a beautifully cut office style dress looks great, really should re consider. My dd wore an earlier version of this. Was a dark purple colour. She’s short too

Those suggesting a nice blouse need to come and stand in the robing area of a graduation ceremony and see what women wear nowadays. The only people wearing a ‘nice blouse’ will be the people dressing the graduates.
Skintight dresses and huge heels on strappy shoes seem to be the outfit of choice. Even in the middle of a snowstorm in November!

Could she get a top and a skirt making the same style that way she could get a better fit, or get a tailor to alter fit perfect fit.

what do you mean by sash? The gown hood?

There's over 900 petite dresses in a size 6 on Debenhams website!
Dresses | Petite Fluid Tailored Colourblock High Neck Pleated Midi Dress | KarenMillen

Dresses | Petite Lace Panelled Satin Wrap Midi Dress | Coast

Dresses | Petite Lace Pleated Sleeveless Midi Dress | Oasis

a bit over budget and maybe too Kate Middleton! Dresses | Petite Lace Insert Midi Dress | Coast

Not in the last 20 years, only the old ladies that are fitting the gowns.