Help me find a graduation dress!
 

Okay, I'm clueless about clothes, especially now that I can shop in "regular" sizes. I need help from the GC fashionistas!

I need a dress for graduation. The ceremony is at 11:30 am in the last week of May. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so the weather isn't really settled that time of year. It might be warm, but it might be kind of chilly.

I'd like something feminine and flirty, but not something that shows a whole lot of skin. I'm not afraid of colour (in fact, I look really good in brights and jewel tones), but I tend to stay away from patterns.

I've got great shoulders and fairly toned arms, so sleeveless is definitely an option. I'm an hourglass with a bit more sand in the bottom (but still pretty well-proportioned). I can wear a sheath, but an A-line would probably suit me best.

I currently wear between a 14-16 in dresses, but hope to be a solid size 14 (or maybe even a 12!!) by the time grad rolls around.

HELP! :D

http://a1216.g.akamai.net/f/1216/955...rge/119051.jpg

Is this sort of what you want? I think that it is very pretty. It is from Nordstroms.

OK I never understood this...you wear a gown. Why spend on a dress?

-Rudey

You don't wear the gown the entire day, therefore you must look your best when you peel off the gown. :)

-w

Rudey,

What alphagam-alum said. Plus, my family is flying up for the occasion, so we'll probably go to a really nice restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner so I need something appropriate to wear there.

P-n-C: I saw that dress at Nordstrom.com - it's gorgeous, but I'm not wild about the halter thing. I saw a Ralph Lauren dress that was very similar to that at the mall today, but instead of a halter top, it had spaghetti straps. Unfortunately it wasn't available in my size. :(

I also wasn't sure whether it was too dressy for an afternoon ceremony. God, I hate not knowing anything about clothes!

It looks like I'll be driving to Seattle to do some shopping!

OMG that dress is soooo gorgeous! I seriously want it!!

I am fantasy shopping on the internet. I really like that dress, but it is pretty bare on top. In the next few weeks, new spring merchandise will be in the stores so maybe you will have better luck if you wait. Until then, here are a few more cute dresses from Nordstrom.
http://a1216.g.akamai.net/f/1216/955...rge/110122.jpg
http://a1216.g.akamai.net/f/1216/955...rge/102918.jpg

Very tasteful choices, P-n-C. I like the pink one, of course. ;)

Thank you. I like the pink dress, too. Pink is very in for the spring and is in all the stores around here. :D

Here is the pink dress. Here is the black and white dress.

I love those shoes the model is wearing with the black dress.

Ooh, I really like the black one. The pink one is cute too, but it's a bit too "June Cleaver" for my tastes. But you've given me some great ideas!

At my graduation, many of the girls wore suity style dresses rather than formal dresses. Many of the dresses displayed look like something one wears late afternoon rather than 11:30 am. I'd personally wear something more day-like.

Ya need someone to roll wit cha? ;)

I found a few daytime dresses, but they were floral or had other prints so I figured Sistermadly wouldn't like them.

I don't consider those dresses 'formal' since they are knee length.

I don't either, but some girls wear shorter dresses to their proms, and those dresses could work.

:eek: :confused: :eek:

Short dresses to the prom? A fashion no-no!

Hey, they did it. There's always one or two each year. I wore red to mine when most of the girls were wearing black or another dark colour. it was long, of course.

I think Canadian "Proms" (my highschool didn't call it the prom. It was the formal.) Are very different from American Proms.
While mnay of the girls were dressed up. Some were in short dresses, so long, some very simple some eleborate. However, all the guys were in suits, not tuxes. It's a lot more laid back and not a big deal. Or at least it wasn't at my highschool.

Sure, and I might need some representation at graduation - my brother just closed on his new house, and can't afford to fly up with my mom now. :(

It depends on the print/on the floral. I don't know if you watch the Young and the Restless, but the strapless tea-length dress that Drucilla wears in today's episode is fantastic - it's made out of a tweed material, but it's sleeveless. If it's worn sleeveless, it as more of a formal look, but with a jacket over it, it had more of a corporate look. I've been crawling all over the net trying to find out who makes that dress.

Oh, and I'm not talking about a "grad dance" in the Canadian sense. I'm talking about the dress to wear under my cap and gown (and for the rest of the afternoon) on Graduation day.

Maybe it would have been more clear to the Canadian GCers if I'd said "Convocation" instead of "Graduation".

Ladies!
 

You should not be considering buying dresses from anywhere else other than: http://www.plainlydressed.com/

Or similar!

Since when do the Amish use the internet?

~K*~

There were some Amish people in an episode of Jerry Springer.
[Allegedly they were Amish].

You know what's really weird? Until I was in OAC (final year of high school), I didn't even know that other Canadians called the "prom" their "grad". At my school it was always "The Formal". I got really confused as well when a friend of mine said her "graduation". I was like, waitaminute, GRADUATION as in COMMENCEMENT (Convocation is the term used for university students, at least in my area)? It's only April, and you haven't done finals yet! She had to explain to me that it was her Formal (though lately, I've seen more and more Toronto area schools use the term "prom". Holt Renfrew and Fairweather both advertise "Prom Dresses") It's like "public school" vs "elementary school". Most Torontonians and those who went to non-public schools say "elementary school", but once I got to university, I heard many small town Ontarians say "public school"

Yep. It was always called formal at my highschool. I also call it public school. I have been using the term elementary school more since I have been on GC.

I think the term "public school" isn't really encouraged anymore as it isn't inclusive. You don't hear of anyone who attended school in the separate system ask another separate system grad what "separate school" (meaning Catholic elementary school) one attended. It is always "what elementary school". Also, the MInistry of Education uses the term "elementary school" for the same reason.

-Just something from someone who went to a Catholic school from Grade 1-5. :)

**Note to Americans: Most Canadian Catholic schools (at least in the elementary level) are supported by the provincial government the same way public schools are**