by neeq

Created on: March 25, 2009   Last Updated: March 26, 2009

Whether it's your high school graduation or college graduation you (girls especially, boys have it easy!) need to get it right; one for comfort and secondly, more importantly for the pictures that you will keep the rest of your life. Therefore it is important to pick a look that won't melt in the sun and won't make you cringe when you pick up a graduation picture 20 years down the road.

Majority of the graduates have their ceremonies in June/July, when the summer is at it's strongest. This means hot temperatures and possible huge tents with lots of lighting and too little ventilation; the effect being a sauna you can't walk away from, not until the ceremony is over anyway! Ceremonies, well they last a while too! From the chancellor's speech, to the long list of student names being announced, you are looking at 4-5 hours (assuming the total school population is closer to 50, 000). Now that I have covered what you can expect, I'll move on to what to wear.

Hair: If you are a brunette, stick to a shade of brunette; if you are naturally blond, stick to a shade closer to blond. You may wonder why, but think about it; you're in your early 20's, so far your fashion sense has been defined by what's in & what's hot' say 5 years down the road, you might choose individuality over a fad. 10 years down the road, chances are you'll be closer to your natural shade, so try staying closer to your natural shade. As far as style is concerned, pick something timeless; not the frizzy look from the 80's that wore off as soon as flat irons hit the shelves and you definitely don't want to go dead straight because, well, Morticia must cease to exist at some point! Try having it blow-dried with light flicks, or straight enough for it to still have some movement, a look say your mother still carries and you look at her thinking she's as stunning as ever for example. Main point to keep in mind eliminate frizz! The last thing you want is to have a frizz-ful day!

Clothes: No matter what your school, you will be wearing a gown. Halter neck tops or any fancy kind of shirt may look good otherwise but it makes the graduate look very shabby once you have your gown over. For a look that works with gowns, go for a collared white shirt; it always looks stunning under a gown and doesn't leave the neck area strangely naked. Around graduation time, lots of stores carry white shirts in different styles with collars helping you find the one that's right for you. Plus a white linen/cotton shirt, is perfect in hot weather. From experience, skirts may look sexy in summer, but again, under a gown, it almost ruins the look at once again gives you a weird nakedness from your knee/calf down. To maintain an elegant, well put together look, try wearing pants underneath, depending on your school gown colour, you could have it match, but do stick to neutral; white, black, grey or even navy blue or beige. Once again, stores do carry fantastic linen styles in the summer.

Make-up: Stick to timeless and classic. Stay away from fashion colours that are horribly out as soon as the season is done. For eyes stick to gold, beige, pink, neutral, sun kissed eye shadows. Use a liner; navy blue, brown, black, olive green depending on your eye colour and don't forget, 2 coats of mascara! Also, do make it a point to groom your eyebrows before your big day! For your lips, you can go with neutral shades, gloss, or a blush tint.

Once you have all this together, it won't be hard to maintain while sitting through your graduation and you can always easily touch up when you start with it simple!

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