# Graduation Attire (for a guest)?



## JLibourel

On Saturday, my wife and I are going to attend the graduation ceremony of my niece from San Diego State University. Is it still customary or appropriate to wear a suit to such events? I am afraid my wife will gripe about my being overdressed for the event. However, if it's likely that a reasonable percentage of the other men will be wearing suits or coat and tie, then I'll persevere. I was going to wear my "sportiest" suit--a taupe-colored job--as a sort of compromise, but I can't remember when I last attended a college graduation...maybe when I left Oxford in 1965.

I attended my stepson's high school graduation two years ago in suit and tie. I think I was the only white man so attired. A few other men wore suit and tie. Just about all of them looked like recent immigrants from Asia. More'n likely all their kids were going off to places like Harvard--which may say something about the differences between a culture of discipline and respect as opposed to one of slovenliness and indulgence!


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## Tyto

I last attended a graduation ceremony at UCLA about six years ago, and wore a sportcoat and tie. Many others were similarly attired, though the majority probably wore chinos and a polo, or something similar. Similar to your last experience, the majority of suit-wearers at this ceremony were Asian.


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## DougNZ

Wear a good, solid suit. It's not about what the horde are wearing, it's about what you think is appropriate for the occassion. A graduation? Your niece will be quietly proud that you thought the event important enough to wear a suit.

I went to my kids' prizegiving last year in navy sports coat and tie. The only other one so attired was the headmaster. In spite of that, I will continue to honour my children (and the other kids) at their most important school day of the year with a coat and tie. Hopefully this year one or two other fathers may, too. A few more the year after, and ...


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## P.J.

My wife graduated recently and I just wore a navy blazer, sevenfold tie, grey trousers etc. It was nothing spectacular, but it turned out that I was the best dressed. The only exceptions were a few of the speakers that came from Dow chemical. You all are probably thinging that people were showing up in chinos and polos. Instead many showed up in stained t-shirts and jeans. It is quite dissapointing and disrespectful. It should be noted however that it was a state university. I hope that this lack of respect is not applicable to other unversities.


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## gng8

I attended my son's college graduation last weekend. I wore a blue blazer, pocket square, grey pants, blue and yellow checked shirt and no tie. I was about typical of the attire (except the pocket square). I think your selection is great. You certainly will be in the top 10% of the graduating class guests.


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## thinman

DougNZ said:


> In spite of that, I will continue to honour my children (and the other kids) at their most important school day of the year with a coat and tie.


I feel the same way. As a professor, I attend graduation in a cap and gown, but wearing a suit and tie underneath. Most of the time the tie is barely visible, but once the ceremony is over, the cap and gown come off.

Graduation is a celebration of many students' most important achievement and for most of them it marks the end of their student days and their entry into the working world. It's important to me that I acknowledge this to my students. I hope my students get the message that I respect their achievements enough to dress for the occasion. I think your sporty taupe suit would send your niece a similar message and is an excellent choice.


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## Acct2000

I like your idea of the taupe suit, too.

You will be true to yourself, but not overwhelming in a conservative business suit.

You will be one of the better dressed people there.

Didn't your wife know you liked to dress well before she married you?


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## JLibourel

forsbergacct2000 said:


> I like your idea of the taupe suit, too.
> 
> You will be true to yourself, but not overwhelming in a conservative business suit.
> 
> You will be one of the better dressed people there.
> 
> Didn't your wife know you liked to dress well before she married you?


While I probably always had a somewhat above-average interest in turning myself out reasonably well (which isn't saying much in contemporary America), it has only become a major passion with me in the past six or seven years. (This forum has certainly abetted it!)


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## odoreater

As a student who is graduating this week from law school, and one that is not too particularly keen on the so-called "rules" I would really appreciate if people wore suits to my graduation. I think that it's a pretty important event and that a certain level of gravitas is appropriate. So, from a graduating student's perspective, you should wear the suit.


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## ccffm1

Dear Dr. Libourel,


I´m from Germany, that is why I´m not too familiar with the American graduation ceremony concept, but afaik such events are held open - air. I would also venture to assume that the weather is pretty warm there. In that case you might want to think about wearing a tan summer cotton suit, chestnut shoes, oxford button - down and a bow tie. I always thought this was a look that has its roots in an academic environment. If all my presumptions are correct, you probably couldn´t go wrong with it. Hope that helps.


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## odoreater

ccffm1 said:


> Dear Dr. Libourel,
> 
> I´m from Germany, that is why I´m not too familiar with the American graduation ceremony concept, but afaik such events are held open - air. I would also venture to assume that the weather is pretty warm there. In that case you might want to think about wearing a tan summer cotton suit, chestnut shoes, oxford button - down and a bow tie. I always thought this was a look that has its roots in an academic environment. If all my presumptions are correct, you probably couldn´t go wrong with it. Hope that helps.


Both my college and law school graduations were indoors at large sports arenas. I don't think they have that many of them outdoors anymore because of the risk of inclement weather.


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## Mr. Knightly

I believe that about 80% of the men attending my graduation were in a coat and tie, maybe half in suits. My entire family certainly was. However, it was a much smaller school.

I wore a shirt and tie under my robe but skipped the jacket. I always thought that a robe was equivalent to a jacket, although I suppose it's irrelevant since nobody can see it with the robe on and when you take the robe off is when you want the jacket.


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## JLibourel

ccffm1 said:


> Dear Dr. Libourel,
> 
> I´m from Germany, that is why I´m not too familiar with the American graduation ceremony concept, but afaik such events are held open - air. I would also venture to assume that the weather is pretty warm there. In that case you might want to think about wearing a tan summer cotton suit, chestnut shoes, oxford button - down and a bow tie. I always thought this was a look that has its roots in an academic environment. If all my presumptions are correct, you probably couldn´t go wrong with it. Hope that helps.


Thank you for the imput. I agree that's a great look. However, my wife absolutely loathes my bowties and doesn't care much for the one pair of chestnut shoes I have. In any event, I don't own a tan summer-weight suit of any kind although I wish I did. I could probably approximate the look with a tan wool-silk-linen jacket, white cotton slacks and chestnut shoes (although to keep the peace I would have used a long necktie instead of the bowtie), and I considered something on that order were the weather going to be hot. However, the predicted high is going to be 19 C, so I'll just stick with my suit, which is a fairly lightweight worsted.


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## spreadcollar

take every opportunity to wear a fine suit and not have it inspire questions of "why are you dressed up?" that said,the majority of people at these events are in, at best, sportcoat & tie, but usually just a dress shirt of some sort.


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## Mute

At a college graduation ceremony, I don't see how anyone can look out of place in a nice conservative suit or a sport coat and slacks. A powder blue tux and frilly shirt on the other hand......


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## lee_44106

For goodness sakes, this is a graduation ceremony. It's a formal event. I could care less what other people are wearing. To me, such an occasion calls for a suit, if for nothing else out of respect for those hardworking college kids. Overall I'm rather dismayed by the sloppiness that I see everywhere. What really gets me is the ubiquitous flip-flops that people equate with formalwear.


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## Will

Ah yes, formal flipflops. Black, worn with black cut-offs, white tee and a black baseball cap with reversed bill.


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## chat_chapeau

Graduations are significant events and guests should appear respectfully, as they would at a wedding or funeral.


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## Stuttjukken

Blazer and trouser are ok, but I want to wear my dark solid suit.


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## JLibourel

Thank you for all the replies, gentlemen. As it turns out, we are not going to be attending the graduation ceremony, but we are going to a reception of some sort and dinner in its aftermath. We were supposed to take my wife's father (grandfather of the graduate) down to San Diego for the ceremony and the festivities afterward, but he decided the whole event would be too much for him. (Can't say that I blame the old boy, he's about to turn 89 in a couple of months.) Thus the three of us are going to the two later events. I am taking my attire down a notch and wearing the better of my two blue blazers and a tie. I hope my wife doesn't grouse about the tie too much. I expect the festivities afterward will be pretty casual, alas, knowing what an incorrigably poor dresser the father of the graduate is. (A great pity since he is a very fine looking man otherwise--tall, handsome and athletically built.)


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## Acct2000

Maybe you'll rub off on him some day when he sees how good you look, Jan!


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## Leon

I have come a bit late to this thread, and I would have, perhaps naffly, suggested sub fusc.

However, at such a university event, I would probably don the tie of an educational establishment I had attended to show that I belonged.

Leon


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## gindrinker22

My dad wore a suit with a nice tie to my college graduation a few weeks ago to my college graduation and I appreciated the fact that he did. A few men wore suits and they looked nice. I think you should wea rone and not worry about what your wife says or what others might be wearing.


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## JLibourel

Well, here's the upshot of the story: As I mentioned previously, we ended up not going to the actual ceremonies and instead went to a reception and buffet dinner at a lovely home in the hills east of San Diego. I opted to wear my W.W. Chan blue blazer, a very nice Canali rep tie I had just purchased, coordinated Talbott pocket square, Chan blue shirt, gray worsted slacks and the Allen-Edmonds in Kingsley in chili for a sort of "high end dress casual look." To tell the truth, I might as well have been wearing full morning attire, complete with the top hat, so out of place was I among the other men at that event. Virtually all of them (most of whom had been at the ceremonies, BTW) were dressed as if they had just come back from a shopping excursion at Home Depot or some similar establishment. Case in point: The father of the graduate was wearing a tropical print sports shirt, shorts and sandals. He had worn this outfit to the ceremonies. His attire was pretty much the norm at this gathering. I was the only man in coat and tie. None of the other men remotely approximated my sartorial standard. Some of the girls were in rather pretty dresses, and my wife, God bless her, was nicely turned out. Sometimes I feel that we on this forum really are swimming against the stream...but, then, that always was my way!


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## JLibourel

Leon said:


> I have come a bit late to this thread, and I would have, perhaps naffly, suggested sub fusc.
> 
> However, at such a university event, I would probably don the tie of an educational establishment I had attended to show that I belonged.
> 
> Leon


Sub-fusc???!! This isn't Oxford or Cambridge, man, this is San Diego State we're talking about!

Besides we Americans don't really have school or university ties, at least that I am aware of, and my old Balliol ties gave up the ghost and were deep-sixed many years ago. Besides, no one around here would recognize a Balliol tie, or even an Oxford University tie, for that matter, if I garrotted them with it!


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## medwards

Today was graduation for the university at which I teach. The clothing we wear to such ceremonies cannot generally be seen by others for it is covered by our academic robes. Given the weather here in the nation's capital, it can be rather warm at an outdoors commencement ceremony and I know that there are students and faculty who don rather informal garb under their robes to combat the heat. I cannot imagine that. It is not a matter of comfort...it is simply a matter of respect. I would hope that guests at such gatherings would feel the same way and dress accordingly.


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