I graduated from law school last week! Three very tumultuous years came and went like that. It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t serve (or at least try to serve) all the looks for what was my last graduation from school (but I guess never say never, right?) Anyways, this post shares all the details of everything I wore to my law school graduation ceremonies.
The Law School Graduation Ceremonies
Before we get into details, it might be helpful to discuss why I needed so many to begin with. I had three different ceremonies:
- BLSA/LaLSA graduation is a ceremony put on jointly by Columbia Law School’s Black Law Students Association and Latinx Law Students Association. The ceremony features student speakers, keynote speakers, and awards for academic achievement, community service, and commitment to the ideals of justice. Each student who participates in the ceremony gets the opportunity to walk across the stage when their name is called and receive their stole from their respective organization(s) of choice.
- Columbia Law School Class Day is essentially a graduation ceremony for the law school. Schools call this day class day for a reason that I’m not sure about, but I know that universities don’t really quite say graduation, and this event can’t be called commencement because that’s the last day. At any rate, this is the ceremony where each law student’s name is called as they walk across the stage. The dean speaks in addition to a faculty awardee, a keynote speaker, and two student speakers. I was given the honor of serving as one of the student speakers. You can watch a replay of the ceremony here.
- Columbia University Commencement is a celebratory time when graduates of all of Columbia’s (I think) 14 schools come together to officially have their degrees conferred by the University president. It is technically very optional since there is no individual recognition of students, but the energy was amazing and it was exciting to see the school pride as the deans from each respective school beg and beseech the president to grant candidates their degrees. Of course, at the conclusion of the ceremony, the president grants all candidates their degrees, making graduation from the university official. You can watch this year’s ceremony here.
What I Wore for my Law School Graduation Ceremonies
The Dresses:
Even though I would be wearing academic regalia to all three ceremonies, I wanted to look and feel my best. I had actually created a mood board for my law school graduation and while I didn’t stick to the same color palette, many of the dress styles were included in some way. The dresses I wore were all very distinct from each other in their style, but all suited my personal style. For more dress suggestions check out this previous blog post.
- Day 1: House of CB Helena Dress. (size worn: small)
- Day 2: Nadine Merabi Daisy Dress in Blue (size worn: small) *bought this via Poshmark because it was out of stock it came back in stock two days before my graduation*
- Day 3: Cult Gaia Shannon Dress in Orange via Poshmark (size worn: medium) *this dress is no longer sold retail in this color, so to find orange you would have to rent it or find it for resale on a site like Poshmark, but it is sold new in white and pink*
The Shoes:
Comfort was the name of the game so I kept it simple with the shoes I picked.
- Day 1: Zara Lavender open toe heels from a previous season
- Day 2: Jimmy Choo Bing 100 in Ballet Pink
- Day 3: Zara High Block Heel Vinyl Sandals
The Hair:
I got micro links installed for graduation and planned to go back to the hair salon where I got them installed to have curls put in my hair. However, the humidity had other plans. I was not confident that my hair would turn out how I wanted it to look, even with fresh curls put in the day of. The humidity was out of control and there was rain in the forecast for my graduation day. On top of that the curls would only stay in for one day and I had three days of events. So I made a gamete decision to have my hair conrowed (with the micro links still in so as to not waste my money) and wear a wig. Hergivenhair had sent me a unit a few months back that I intended to use for graduation but got sidetracked by the allure of microlinks. Thankfully it came through for me in the midnight hour.
- The unit: Hergivenhair Kinky blow out lace front – 20 inches (to see how I styled it check out this video)
The Makeup:
It was very important for my makeup to look smooth and airbrushed while also being long-lasting. After the experience I had with my hair I did not want to deviate too much from my usual products for fear of it not coming out great in pictures. That being said there were a couple of stand-out highlights from my makeup looks over the three days.
- Day 1: To match the lavender dress I decided to go with a purple-themed eye look. Some highlights from the look include
- KEM Beauty Eden eye palette
- NARS Soft Matte Foundation
- Lilly Lashes “Miami”
- Day 2: This was the big day. I would be on screen because of a speech and I wanted my makeup to be on point. Glowing enough to look like good skin, matte enough to be long-lasting but not too much of either. So I went with
- Day 3: I kept it simple with my usual makeup routine, including Mented cosmetics every night palette on the eyes, with the exception of switching out my NARS Soft Matte for my NARS light reflecting. It definitely served me well. I ended up going to a beauty brand dinner later that day wearing the same makeup and only touched up with blotting paper once. I’ve included a picture to show you how well the makeup lasted through the day.
The Fragrance:
I decided to get a new fragrance for my graduation and I went with Trajan by Electimuss because it came at the recommendation of Funmi Monet, an expert when it comes to perfumes and where I get most of my fragrances recommendations. It smells very similar to Baccarat Rouge 540 but it has a bit more of a citrusy vanilla kick to it which is exactly what I loved about it when I sampled it. Now, whenever I smell this fragrance I’ll think of the joyous occasion that was my law school graduation.
Thanks so much for your warm wishes and congratulations on my law school graduation. I’ll definitely have more to say about the last three years but for now, I am filled with the utmost gratitude.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3: 5-6
