On Sunday, I have promised to take my mum shopping to find a dress for graduation. She has already been with two of her girlfriends and found nothing suitable. So now it falls to me!!

What do you think would be appropriate? She wants a dress, maybe a cardigan or something to wrap over, some shoes and a fascinator. She had a hat for my undergrad degree and wore it for about 5 seconds because "nobody else was wearing one"!

Advice?! My robes are going to be claret and light blue (where is the *vomit* icon when we need it)

That sounds like a really nice idea. I can't say I really remember what other mums wore at my last graduation, but I'm sure a summery dress would be perfect, with something over it in case it's cold/rains. I'm praying for sunshine for mine!

Yes, I agree, its a lovely thing to do :-) I think most of the mums were wearing summery dresses with a pashmina or cardigan incase it got a bit chilly. I just checked my photos from my MA and mine was wearing a nice dress and jacket. Lol, she has to get the shoes too, that is essential for us girls! Lol at the vomit icon - will this do? (sprout) Mine, when I finally graduate will be deep red and black - I see other unis and they are so much more colourful!

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ooh I hope my hubby's/mine grad robes aren't claret and blue - he's a Millwall fan and would consider claret and blue to be 'scum' (west ham) colours! - its a real offense in my house to wear those!

I'd say persuade her to get a small fascinator - something that looks more like a hair accessory than a big feather thing (this brings back my post traumatic episodes of my wedding where my mother in law got 2 fascinators commissioned for it - to choose from to wear for herself, they cost £400 each! and they both looked fugly IMO)

I'd say anything from debenhams, john lewis, house of fraser, phase eight would be 'suitable' - if she wants to go a bit glam then coast is a good shop for dresses.

What a devoted son you are (!)

I echo what others have said.  Regarding the shoes - she will be on her feet for a lot of the day and may be walking / standing on grass so very high or very narrow heels might not be the most comfortable / suitable.

Not sure about the hat / fascinator position (at most of the graduations I have been to (4 of my own and 3 a year for 5 years as a member of academic staff) very few people (virtually none) wear them) but I know that some people like to dress up more akin to a wedding (much more so than at my first graduation 20 years ago). If she is wearing a hat / fascinator make sure it isn't too big as it will obscure the view of people sitting behind her in the actual ceremony.

Well, we went today. Got a nice dress. Have decided on colour for the rest of it, but she wants shoes, some kind of little cardigan or throw and we saw a nice fascinator as well - not too big but not too small.

Quite impressed that she saw nothing when with her two girlfriends yet I go along and we found a dress within twenty minutes, and it was in the sale!

Ah but we can all be quicker when there is a man with us (or that is my experience - with other women we drift and keep looking whereas men are (and I know this is a generalisation) more analytical so we have to explain what is wrong with that dress or this skirt and so we just get on with it) - shopping is definitely more purposeful when I am with my husband than with a friend:-)

Actually, that's probably true - my female friends often ask me to go shopping with them because I will tell them exactly what I think. If I don't like it, I say so. If I do like it, I say so and will mean it. So maybe that was the benefit!

Shopping is a lot quicker with my hubby cos he gets really bored about 20 secs after we enter the first shop and then we have to go home :-s or trawl HMV for 8 hours, to end up buying nothing "because its all cheaper online" - why doesn't he look there in the first place!??? - very dull.

Its worth having a look online first to narrow done shoes - and then you can target the next shopping trip. I'd imagine phase eight, monsoon and coast all do nice cardi/wraps.

Not sure about shoes - Dune perhaps?

We looked in monsoon and coast and she wasn't impressed. She has an idea exactly in her head what she wants, so I guess that helps! The dress has been the hardest bit. She just wants to upstage me, that's all...

lol DanB will you come shopping with me next time?! Sounds like you're a great help, although I'm not sure it will be possible to upstage your graduation gown!!