The other week I graduated from university with a law degree. I'm not sure how I even got to this stage, as even in third year I would walk into university and think, how am I already at university?! and now I have finished! I've already rambled about finding out my result, so if you fancy reading you can read it 'here.'
I thought I had planned my outfit months in advance, however, I then realised that a lot of the gowns and hoods sit best if you have something to pin them to, like a button on a shirt. The dress I chose had delicate lace at the top section and I didn't want to have to safety pin the delicate material. I rushed out the day before graduation to find a better dress - apparently no one wears nice dresses any more, unless you're 50+. There was nothing suitable in so many shops that I looked at, until I went into Oasis and then I found two that I liked. The other dress was a gorgeous bright orange/red which I loved but the one I chose seemed more appropriate and I knew the colour would suit my gown. Annoyingly, as you can see from the photos, I had a more modern style hood which sat perfectly as it had more of a shape and a button attachment, so it didn't need any support from the outfit underneath. I would still advise you bring safety pins and roughly plan your outfit around this just to be safe. Also, luckily or maybe unluckily - I seem to have a big head so my cap sat very snug, however, a lot of other girls had to pin their's onto their heads, so definitely bring bobby pins just in case!
Dress: Oasis
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
My boyfriend very kindly and extremely generously, bought me a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, as a congratulations present for finishing uni and graduating. I tried to wear them in during the weeks leading up to my graduation so they were remotely comfortable, however, when it came to it, I decided to wear my trusty Zara lace up heels as I know I can walk in them and I didn't want to risk tripping over while walking down the cathedral to collect my degree. If you can, I would definitely recommend wearing comfortable shoes or maybe taking those roll up shoes to wear before you walk down in front of everyone, as my feet have never hurt so much from all the standing around for hours before the actual ceremony.
Shoes: Zara
Hannah's Dress: from a local designer shop but there is an identical one in New Look
Hannah's Shoes: New Look
Make up wise, everyone says go for your usual natural make up look, however, my make up is never overly natural so I chose a cool toned smoky eye instead. I'm used to wearing heavy eye make up so I would have felt strange without it. I chose a cool toned look as my dress was grey so it seemed to work better than my usual warm browns. My only advice for make up would be to bring a powder to touch up and use a setting spray, which also helped cool me down as it was so hot.
On the day it was lovely to see everyone again, catch up a little and reminisce on the years. The ceremony was pretty boring; it was mostly focused on the chancellors and some other 'academics' who we had no idea about and as it was in a large cathedral and the graduates get the worst seats, we could hardly see or hear what was going on. We got hardly any attention throughout the whole ceremony and it felt like they were happily rambling on about themselves and then thought - oh yeah, I guess it's about time we call out some names and get them to walk down to a woman sitting down at the side just leaning over to hand you your degree certificate. The cathedral was beautiful so at least the settings were nice. The music was a little dramatic - the organs were very loud and apparently the song we walked into the cathedral was Hitler's favourite song... just what you want! Oh, I know that because my boyfriend's kind of a geek about those kind of things.
My 15 seconds of fame during the ceremony was actually pretty nerve racking! I didn't think I would be nervous, but I think the formality of the whole event made it quite scary. Also, they didn't really tell us where to go once our names had been called and we had to go and shake the chancellor's hand, so I was slightly worried I wouldn't know where I was going or what I was doing, but it all worked out fine! My sister and boyfriend commented how they were surprised at how happy I looked, I think it was more to do with it was scary and I felt awkward so when I feel awkward I just smile away and no one knows any wiser! We had to walk straight down the middle of the cathedral in front of everyone, just staring away, which was also pretty awkward but I was too focused on walking to care!
I still don't really believe that I've done it, finished university and actually obtained a 2.1 degree in law. All those tears, the stress, worry, anxiety and the constant moaning, has all been worth it. At the end of the ceremony they asked us to applaud our family and friends who had supported us throughout the degree. I felt so thank full for my boyfriend and sister as they are the ones that endured all of my stresses and even came to my final exams with me and helped me cram the morning before. Hannah even said to me that she even felt like she would know what to write in the exam, she had sat there for so long listening to me. Jamie, my boyfriend even remembered some of the cases better than I did!
If you've got your graduation soon I hope you have an amazing day and feel proud of yourself - oh and don't forget to constantly smile, because you will learn what it's like to be a celebrity constantly getting papped!
