Graduation Dresses and Promotion Dresses

What to Wear for Graduation: From Ceremony to Celebration

Congratulations, graduate! Now that all the hard work is done, it’s time to celebrate in style with the perfect graduation dress. Wondering what to wear for your graduation ceremony? You’ll need a chic ivory or white grad dress to slip on under your cap and gown, but the first step is to check your school’s dress code. Most schools have requirements regarding graduation dress length, style, and color. Generally speaking though, graduation dresses are short and modest in design. Trendy and stylish? Absolutely! Mini and revealing? Absolutely not. Save the sultry flair for your after party, because you want your dress to match the sophisticated tone of the ceremony. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re deciding what to wear under your cap and gown:

• Go for colors lighter than your cap and gown. This is why ivory and white graduation dresses are so common: They are subtle under any cap and gown color! If you know you’ll be wearing a dark color for your ceremony gown to suit your school’s colors, then you’ll have even more color options when shopping for commencement dresses. A light-colored gown, however, calls for an ivory or white promotion dress or a soft pastel grad dress that won’t show through the gown.
• Consider the location of your commencement ceremony. If you’ll be outside in the summer sun, be prepared with a grad dress in a lightweight, breathable fabric so you don’t overheat! Cotton summer dresses can absolutely stand in as commencement dresses since they’re made to weather the high seasonal temps with comfortable ease. On the other hand, an indoor air-conditioned hall may give you the chills if you don’t dress warmly. In this case, consider promotion dresses in thicker fabrics.
• Keep length in mind. Your graduation dress should be short enough to be unnoticed under your ceremony gown. Generally, knee-length and short grad dresses feature skirts that are short enough, but if you’ve got your eye on a cute midi summer dress, it’s best to try it on under your ceremony gown first to make sure your grad dress doesn’t peek out from beneath the gown.

When all the pomp and circumstance is over, it’s time to party with friends and family. For your graduation party, you can wear your commencement dress or switch it up for another fun style. The sky is the limit here, so don’t hesitate to explore beautiful print party dresses or pastel summer dresses, or you can stick to ivory and white dresses in the graduation dress collection above to stand out as the grad at your own celebration. If it’s your party, you can wear what you want! Are you going to a friend’s graduation party? Then you’ll want to wear a cute summer dress or graduation party dress in fun colors, but save ivory and white for your friend this time! If you’d like to check out even more party styles in every color, explore all of the fun options in the party dress section.

Whether you’re celebrating an 8th grade promotion, high school graduation, or college graduation, shop the white graduation dresses in the collection above to find styles that will be comfortable under your well-earned cap and gown. Once you’ve got your hands on that diploma, it’s time to party in a trendy graduation party dress. From simple white grad dresses to feminine floral-print graduation party dresses, you are sure to find chic and affordable styles to fit any budget. Get a great graduation dress for less, and then snap an Insta-worthy pic for all of your friends to see!