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What to Wear to Graduations & Weddings This Spring

Happy Friday, friends! Now that things are starting to open up around the country, I’ve been getting requests for spring event dresses, so I ordered a few from Ann Taylor to try.

Current dress trends lean towards flowy, shapeless silhouettes, but I will always feel like I look best in more fitted styles, so I decided to feature this tweed button front shift dress. (And hey hey hey! It’s 50% off today!!!)

Spring Event Dresses: Tweed Button Front Shift Dress from Ann Taylor wearing: Ann Taylor Tweed Button Front Shift Dress // Dolce Vita Paily Slide Sandals // Tory Burch McGraw Hobo // Kendra Scott Simon Drop Earrings & Candice Cuff

I think the tweed fabric with fringe trim is so fresh and fun, and the bright cornflower blue is on trend. The square neckline is another trend at the moment, and I appreciate that the straps are wide enough to cover a regular bra.

All of these little details are what set spring event dresses apart from something you might wear to work… although I suppose there might be a work environment where this dress would be appropriate?

spring event dresses for graduations, weddings, etc.

This dress is a shift, not a sheath — that means it is cut a little straighter, especially through the skirt area. (A sheath tends to form more of an hourglass silhouette.) In my perfect world, I would have this skirt part of this dress tailored so it fits a little closer to the body, and I could probably take the straps up a half inch or so as well.

I didn’t have time to do that before this shoot, but I’m going to look into it. Otherwise, I’d say this dress runs true to size; I have my usual 6.

Spring Event Dresses: Tweed Button Front Shift Dress from Ann Taylor

I styled this tweed shift with my Dolce Vita Paily Slide Sandals, and I carried my Tory Burch McGraw Hobo. These are pieces that I’ve been wearing a ton lately — they go so well with both dressy and casual looks.

how to accessorize spring event dresses

The one thing I noticed, though, is that they kind of read like a higher shaft shoe, even though they are open. That braided strap near the ankle looks more bulky with the dress than it does with pants and jeans. I’d probably wear something more like this or this.

What to Wear to a Bridal/Baby Shower This Spring

For accessories, I wore gold Kendra Scott earrings and a mixed metal cuff. I’m a huge fan of Kendra Scott jewelry, especially for special occasion dresses. The quality is excellent, and the prices are what I’d call mid-range for fashion jewelry. Her feminine styles are both modern and classic, and I’ve had most of mine for years. They really hold up well.

This dress would be perfect for bridal or baby showers this spring, graduations, Mother’s Day… even weddings where the dress code allows.

I don’t have any weddings or baby showers to attend this spring, but I do have a high school graduation to attend… we just found out it will be in-person! And I might also wear this for Mother’s Day brunch.

What to Wear to a Bridal/Baby Shower This Spring

How about you? Do you have any events on the horizon?

Shop More Spring Event Dresses:

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photos: Alison Cornell

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39 Responses

  1. You look great. My grandson graduates in May but I need more coverage at my age. Maybe you could suggest a pants outfit but casual. Love the earrings.

  2. I suspect that Caroline is excited about her upcoming in person graduation. You look so nice in this very pretty dress. I hope that y’all are still having spring weather. Have a great day!

  3. I forgot that our granddaughter is graduating from college on May 8, but due to the change in Larry’s chemo regimen, his low immune system, and the new COVID variants, we will not be able to make the 4+ hrs trip to be there. They are only allowing 4 guests per graduate and only the department head professors can attend, so it’s going to be quite different. But as you said, at least the graduates get to walk!

  4. So beautiful and classy! I love your helpful tips and attention to detail. For instance, I wouldn’t have considered that the braided sandal strap reads like a higher shaft shoe. As always, please keep the tips coming!

    Congratulations on your daughter’s upcoming graduation! We have my daughter’s coming up next year. Have a great weekend.

  5. Super cute dress and it’s very flattering on you! I’m so glad you will be able to watch Caroline graduate…in person! I hope our school officials decide the same here in Louisiana. My daughter is graduating in late May and, rumor has it, the ceremony will be held in the football stadium. While I’m super excited to be there in person, I’m also worried about the weather and what to wear. It’s sure to be very hot and humid. I don’t wear sleeveless tops so I hope to find something with light weight fabric and flowy sleeves. Enjoy your weekend!

    1. Our high school graduations (the public high school my other 2 kids attend) always does graduation in the football stadium. It’s the only space big enough. But it doesn’t get that hot here — although it was pretty warm during David’s. It definitely adds some interesting variables when deciding what to wear.

  6. What a beautiful color! And I love the tweed. I just can’t get on board with the shapeless dresses, either. Is this part of my ingrained “I want to look thinner than I am?” mindset?
    So glad you’ll get to go to graduation, Jo-Lynne!

  7. How exciting for Caroline! I know they plan to do graduation and proms here this year but not sure how yet! Last year many arranged their own events outside of the school board and were held outdoors and some were smaller gatherings. Our son is finished as of early this week from university but it will be a vritual ceremony:( but he will be going to the campus to pick up his degree and we all plan to go and get pictures which is nice as we did that for our daughters) his degree will get framed that day on site as well! So we are looking forward to that… he’s ok with no large ceremony.. our indoor gathering numbers still have to be 100 ( masked and social distanced) there are far too many in his case! I also will have baby showers to attend as our daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first baby and our first grandchild in September! Right now yuu can only have 10 people outside your family bubble in to your home so we are hoping the numbers increase by mid to late summer if not we will do different time slots. I have bought and ordered a few new dresses as yes we also have Mothers Day and Fathers Day plus the showers and graduation pictures… even though things may still look different for us. I did stay more with flowy looks, babydoll and some midi length that can all be worn with a flat sandal or wedge as we won’t be going over the top. Your dress today is very pretty and I love the color! I may have to get a second for back up for the graduation pictures lol

    1. At least you can get pix on campus. And in a way, it’s nice to avoid a long boring ceremony, lol. I expect ours to be pretty short since they’re doing 4 of them.

  8. Such a pretty color on you and so flattering. So glad your daughter will have a in person graduation ceremony. I felt so bad for all those who graduated last year and didn’t have one.

  9. It’s a very cute dress, having an almost Chanel look with the frayed seams. I think you’ll get a lot of use out of this dress. You could even wear it with a Jean jacket and flat sandals to dress it down farther. Or top it with a short white blazer for some work environments. Cute!
    I’m seeing babydoll dresses on all the influencers, no matter age. They are cute but are they appropriate?

  10. Gorgeous color, and it looks great on you! FYI, everyone, this is machine washable!! Also, there is a matching double breasted blazer, only available in small sizes (00-2). They do say it runs big (the blazer). I think it would make a stunning Channel type outfit for a morning wedding.

  11. I also have a daughter graduating from high school this year. The latest rumor is that she will get to have four guests, which is nice. The dress is cute, but our district holds graduation at an outdoor amphitheater in the foothills west of Denver. At my son’s graduation two years ago, we started with a nice, sunny day which then changed into rain and lightning, then hail and snow. I will be dressing for warmth this year!

  12. Maybe you could suggest something for a mother of the groom/bride? A jumpsuit perhaps? I need a little more structure in my outfits too! A jacket overtop or??? Not sure and I wanna look current! Thanks

  13. Lovely outfit! The color is beautiful on you.

    I’d love some suggestions for pants outfits for graduation events. Our son will be having an in-person event, but it will be held in an outdoor stadium. Seating will be on bleacher seats/stands, so heels and dresses aren’t practical.

    1. David’s was at an outdoor stadium, so I wore pants, and when I was there, I thought the moms in dresses looked so much nicer, and I regretted going with pants. At least, I regretted the pants I wore – they were more casual than I would haver liked. I don’t currently have any good dress pants besides black, but I’ll keep an eye out for something more spring. White jeans and a pretty blouse would work too.

  14. Hello Jo-Lynne. Thanks for the great dress suggestion. I like the sandals you have on with it. Are they ivory, like what I see available in stock, or are the ones you are wearing white?

  15. Pretty color on you! Do you think you’ll wear that dress to your daughter’s graduation? Are those sandals comfortable though for walking? I remember at both my sons graduations we had to do a lot of walking and part of it was on dirt paths, so the 2nd time around I wore flats. It’s fun to hear that others have fun occasions to dress up for now. My life has become so ultra casual now; I even wore my yoga clothes to meet my husband for a light dinner out last night. (disclosure: it’s a casual restaurant with outdoor seating and I brought the dogs, and I did not look or feel sloppy or out of place, but just the fact that I did wear leggings and running sneakers illustrated the fashion shift in my life over the past year! 😆) Happy Friday!!

    1. These sandals are actually great for walking (I mean, within reason, of course… I wouldn’t want to walk miles in them, but they’re pretty stable for grass and unpaved paths b/c of the block heel.)

  16. Happy you get an in-person graduation. I actually just bought the pink AT tweed with fringe jacket to try this morning. It looked so “spring”! Hoping it looks good like this dress.

  17. Love this post but would love to see some options with short sleeves. My arms lost their tone with gym closures.

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