A er all the sleepless nights throughout your four years at DePaul, graduation is the one day to look your best and make it all about you. Even though you want to wear a nice out t underneath your gown for all the graduation pictures you are going to take with your family and friends, also keep in mind all the walking and waiting you’ll be doing on your graduation day, so make sure you look fabulous but are comfortable as well.
Around this time of year, stores are usually stocked up on all the latest dresses because graduates want to look formal and classy on their big day. Floral dresses or solid bodycon dresses are usually common for many graduates, but any dress will do as long as it is not long or too pu y and will stick out from under your gown. However, if you want to be a bit more comfortable and out of the ordinary, rompers are in, for both women and men now, and can usually substitute a dress perfectly.
Jerome Dotson, a junior accounting major, is a former Express Brand Ambassador and current stylist for Dappr NYC. He recommends students wear something comfortable yet professional. “You are graduating and it’s time to show the world you are about your business,” Dotson said.
He encourages graduates not to be afraid to wear their proud Blue Demon colors and suggests wearing red, maroon, yellow, green or gray to complement the blue gown.
On his graduation day, Dotson said he plans on wearing a double breasted oxblood suit with a brown loafer, white shirt and no tie.
Dotson said one of the biggest graduation attire mistakes are the shoes. “Make sure they are the bomb and key part of your entire out t,” Dotson said.
He recommends that guys wear a nice pair of shoes that are shined and do not cover their pants.
Heels are usually a good choice because they look nice in photos and complement your dress perfectly, but be careful because you do not want to be that person who trips while walking up to the stage. Dotson said students should at least ensure that they can walk across the stage in them.
Ashley Renteria, a health science major, said she does not want to make the same mistake as her eighth grade graduation when she wore a short dress with a ll skirt that made her gown round and stick out. “I looked like the little wedding cake brides,” Renteria said.
Instead, for graduation Renteria said she plans on wearing a dress and cute sandals because she does not
want to risk falling in heels. She said she will wear her hair curled with her cap pinned on and some light natural makeup.
Besides picking out an out t, accessories, makeup and hairstyle are key factors in looking good on graduation day. Your makeup should be more of a natural look that is sweat proof and looks good even with ash photography because you don’t want to look like a ghost in all your graduation photos.
Marie Christophell, an English major who nished in March but will walk this June, said she plans on wearing a knee-length bodycon dress to graduation. She will wear about three to four inch heels because she wants the height since she is only ve feet tall, but she also wants to make sure she can walk in them.
She said she suggests other graduates wear what they are comfortable in and should not let others in uence their decision. “It’s your graduation, you might only do it once, so you should do it your way,” Christophell said.
Christophell said she also plans on decorating her cap, but it is her best kept secret, so people will have to wait to see it.
Graduation might not be the time to try a new hairstyle because your cap is going to cover most of your head
anyways. Try not to get a haircut the day before in case it turns out bad, and always try on your cap with your desired hairstyle ahead of time.
One of the best ways to stand out at graduation and give your look a personal touch is by decorating your graduation cap.
Brenda Elizabeth Becerra, a public policy major who graduated in 2016, decorated her graduation cap with a photo of the La Villita arch with the Chicago skyline in the background. “I knew that I wanted my cap to stand out and I wanted to represent my community with it,” Becerra said. She said decorating her cap meant an accomplishment for her parents, her community and herself.
Although decorating your graduation cap may seem like it takes a lot of work, it can actually be pretty easy and still come out as beautiful as Becerra’s. She said her little sister used Photoshop to design her idea and then she simply printed it out on card stock paper and make the necessary cut outs for the tassel button on the top.
Becerra said she would encourage graduates to decorate their caps with something meaningful to their journey that they can look back on for motivation when tackling their next big challenge in life.