Shoes for the Graduation, Part 3
Manolo says, many of the Manolo’s internet friends suggest that the Manolo has erred in his graduation shoe recommendations. However this comment one from the Professor CJ is the most complete.
I hate to cast sobriety on the Rachel’s day of acknowledgment, but there is in fact a written rule. Per the American Council on Education Costume Code:
People will see your shoes. If you walk across a stage, your feet will be eye-level for many in the front rows. Wearing sneakers or flip-flops (which I see on both men and women) does not make you look festive, it makes you look cheap and immature.
I suggest either a nice, dark shoe or a muted school color. Given the time of year, a tasteful sandal would be lovely.
And get the pedicure, not because your feet aren’t pretty, but because a bit of pampering is a nice way to reward yourself on a special occasion.
This advice from the Professor CJ is so much more complete and sensible than that which the Manolo had offered to the Rachel, that the Manolo will henceforth adopt it as his own.
Frankly, the Manolo was simply unaware that there was the formal rule regarding the appropriate wear, which given the proclivity of many recent graduates to adorn their academic costumes with the colorful plastic geegaws in order to express their “individuality”, may perhaps be understandable.
But, now that it has been pointed out to him, the Manolo cannot but agree that one should honor the occasion with the appropriate feetwear. Thankfully, the Professor CJ has noted that this does not mean that one is limited to only the dullest of shoes.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Unless of course Rachel is graduating from a college like mine that had so many graduates if everyone had walked across the stage to receive their diploma, we all would have been there for a very, very long time! As it was, they did it by department and all you had to do was stand up. If this is the case for Miss Rachel, I think her shoe selection would be most stylish and appropriate :)
May 4th, 2007 at 4:53 am
I agree ^^
She’s in 8th grade, I’m sure she’ll be fine.
And not all stages are at eye level! My graduation was in a QUARRY. Yes, a big hole in the ground where the “seats” were cut out of the existing rock and there was no refuge from the midday June California sun beaming down on our black polyester robes.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:43 am
For reference: The 8th grader is Elena (who needed the flats). Rachel is the college graduate who might need to wear the tasteful dark shoes under the toga.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Manolo, you could start a series from this ;)
May 4th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
To my own graduation last year I wore smart black pumps adorned with a tiny bow to my graduation, in compliance with what we were told to wear by the ceremony organizers. My parents and favorite professors said I projected the air of the sophisticated college graduate ready to face the world as I strode across the stage, in comparison to my adolescent-looking classmates who shuffled across the stage in white platform flip-flops or worn-out blue sneakers.
Wear grown-up business person shoes with the black academic gown, and save the bright things for the after-party.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I wore plain black shoes to my Undergrad and Graduate graduations, though the latter enjoyed my simple 3 inch heels.
As for graduation venues, my first was at the football stadium. We all had to walk across the stage but they didn’t say any body’s names due to the sheer number of graduates that school was cranking out. At the next one, the school didn’t have a venue big enough and it is in the middle of the city, so we had to use the Rose Garden, but they did say all the Grad students names, and even though I wrote the pronunciation on the card, the idiot woman still said my last name wrong. Here’s to being forever embittered.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
One need also consider the color of the gown and mantle. Not all graduation gowns are black (especially for the graduate degrees) and the shoes should never clash with the color(s) on the mantle.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
A related question: when is it appropriate to wear robes at a commencement? Must one be on the dais, or a member of the graduating class, or can anyone with an advanced degree come in all looking like Hogwarts?
May 4th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
While personally I would rather be hit with a croquet mallet than ever go anywhere but a beach in a pair of flipflops, I say:
Isn’t college graduation pretty much the last time you dress only for yourself and your peers? There will be plenty of time for interview shoes. And she wasn’t proposing flipflops or sneakers, just some high-heeled sandals in a less-than-conservative color. I say she wears the shoes she picked out. What are they going to do? Withhold her diploma?
May 4th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
I wore red Chucks to my high school graduation, and I still look upon that fondly. I wore black men’s wingtips to my undergrad, and I still regret it. I’m wearing Nine West black suede and patent wedges to my graduate ceremony (gown, thankfully, not required) in 2 weeks, and I’m thrilled.
Moral of the story: It’s your graduation, so wear what makes you feel fabulous!
May 4th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Academic rules for footwear?
Square.
Why, you might as well sign on for a National Lapoon film in the character of Tight-Lipped Dean. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. Suspended joy, that is.