Sneak Peek of... My Graduation Dress!

As I mentioned in my last post, my Uni work is all complete so naturally my thoughts have turned to graduation. Or should I say, my graduation outfit! (This may be a little pre-meditated, my results aren't out until the 24th of this month.... but I am a glass half full kinda girl!!)

I hit the Trafford Centre yesterday with my best Manc' friend- also graduating with me- to find our outfits... 

Obviously I will be getting Graduation Gowns, but we found it really tricky to decide what kind of dress to get as we don't actually get a chance to wear the robes or even look at them until the day, so it is difficult to visualise what would match perfectly. I had seen a photo online of our robes so knew the colours we were graduating in would be black, grey and a burgundy red.

Graduation Gowns (Image courtesy of the UCLAN website)

The more obvious choice would be to go with a classic black dress. It is perfect for the occasion- timeless, formal and no worries of colour clashes, etc. This is what my friend went for and I have to say the dress she chose is stunning and suits her perfectly. 

However, I decided to be difficult and try and go with something a little bit more daring, that will stand out and be different on the day. I thought it would be harder to find and was pleasantly surprised with what I ended up with.

The Outfit:

Dress, French Connection £60, Shoes, River Island £45

I have to say it was a very Carrie Bradshaw-esque way of shopping as the shoes became the inspiration for the outfit! I fell in love with them straight away as they are a gorgeous coral colour (this picture does them no justice!) I was keen to steer clear of platforms for my graduation as being 5ft 9...and a half... ("sometimes a girl needs a half!") I tend to tower over most people in my heels anyway. This does not normally bother me, but I should imagine lots of pictures will be taken on the day and I do want to avoid the awkward crouching pictures as much as possible in group shots! Besides, ankle straps are bang on trend right now and these strappy sandals will be perfect for my sunny escapes as well as my graduation so I will definitely be getting my monies worth. 

The dress I found later and it stood out immediately! There are a lot of 60's inspired shift dresses out at the moment, which are amazing but they do absolutely nothing for my shape. I am a curvy girl, I have hips and a bum and baggy dresses do nothing more than swamp me and only emphasises how wide my hips actually are! Therefore I was ecstatic to find this figure hugging number. The black band details slims the waist whilst the orange panels highlight my curves in a more flattering way, injecting a pop of colour at the same time (that works perfectly with my new shoes!) It is knee length so great for the formal occasion and the black and grey will compliment my graduation gown. Winner!

I am slightly anxious that the more orangey/coral tones will clash with the burgundy on my graduation gown, however, I just loved this outfit so much that if need be I can wear my gown closed in pictures, and at least I will have a fabulous outfit for my celebratory meal. 

What do you think? Is this a look you would get for a graduation or do you think I should have played it a little more safe- or maybe gone even crazier!? Do you think the colour clash will be a problem on the day?

Maybe you have another event you're preparing for- I would love to hear your outfit ideas! Comment below or feel free to Tweet me (@Kate_Muzza) 

Kate 

xx