So as the semester winds to an end, those of you who will soon be bidding farewell to UBC for the final time probably have a myriad of matters on your mind regarding your all too near future. Chief among those thoughts is likely what you will be donning underneath your graduation gown on the day of your commencement. Remember that your graduation day pictures will be important in the years to come, so choose your outfit wisely. Here are some ideas to keep you stylish on this most important day:
My suggestion would be to aim for something like a cocktail-party style look with comfy shoes. Consider a dress or blouse and skirt combo. When selecting a top, remember that you will be wearing it under your robe, so ensure that the neckline doesn’t clash awkwardly with the robe’s neckline.
Alternately, you can wear dress pants with aforesaid style of blouse:
I also would recommend comfortable and stylish shoes since you’re going to be wearing them for a long time. Here are some ideas, depending on your individual tolerance for heels:
As for jewelry, depending on the neckline you choose for your top, you may or may not want to have a statement necklace. Earrings might also be a nice touch if you have pierced ears.
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Other Options:
If you want something more comfortable but don’t want to go barelegged, consider leggings. A symbol of academia and accomplishment, underneath your robe you would be wearing the outfit that got you through late nights of paper writing at the library and  early mornings clutching a cup of coffee as you walk into class. It’s all very poetic, really.
Or, for the more daring graduates, there is always the option of wearing, well, nothing under your robe. Think of it as a philosophical statement: you are being re-born from undergraduate academia into the Real World (though, to paraphrase John Green, the famed Real World is no more or less real than the ones which you have previously encountered). Fans of John Green will also recall that nudity under graduation gowns was the style of choice made by the protagonists of Paper Towns when they graduated from high school, so there is an apparent precedence for this choice. One only hopes that the day on which you are scheduled to graduate is not a particularly windy one.Â
Congratulations, graduates! Best of luck in your future endeavors. xoxo HCUBC