The traditional view most people have of a grad dress is of something long, often sleek and elegant, or sometimes with a great sweeping skirt that will flow beautifully on the dance floor. But one of the very big things among the new collections of 2011 grad dresses is the short dress. It’s not that there haven’t been short grad dresses before this, but for some reason many of the designers have really grabbed the idea this year, and created some truly stylish short gowns. And they are perfect for someone who really isn’t into that high society look.
One of the favorite designs created for the shorter grad dresses in 2011 involves having a tightly drawn waist, with many layers below that creating a wide, lifting skirt. It’s true that this style shows off the legs of the wearer, but there may be a more important strategy to the design that makes use of this exposure of the legs. A short dress of this type looks especially good on a shorter girl, because it appears to lengthen her legs. If she wants to seem taller than she is, then she might do better wearing a dress like this rather than one of the more traditional long grad gowns.
The Clarisse designers have taken the trend of short grad gowns and really run with it, creating an entire line just of these shorter dresses, to augment their main line. A multi-layered tulle skirt seems to be the favorite for these dresses, to add the lift that helps make the wearer’s legs seem longer. But designers like Sherri Hill have also taken up the trend, sometimes using an animal print for the dress, to add flair and a hint of danger. Jovani, too, has included many short gowns among its 2011 grad dresses collection, sometimes using the layered tulle effect, but often creating sleek sheath dresses instead.
When you read the descriptions of these short 2011 grad dresses, one of the most commonly used adjectives is “sassy.” These dresses certainly do change the complexion of the grad dress. They are not really formal dresses even if they are very dressy. What they do is add an element of playfulness that the longer, sleeker grad dresses don’t always have. So if the formal, elegant “high society” look is simply not the kind of style a girl wants, then these shorter dresses are another way of making a high impact statement at your grad.
There’s another interesting trend this year with a lot of the designers. One of the big things appears to be dresses with large swirling patterns of color. Those colors might consist of big flowers, or they might just be wide colorful streaks whooshing around on a flowing skirt with lots of material. The swirling colors tend to go with swirling skirts, made from materials that flow easily as the wearer moves. Jovani is one designer using big flower prints or color bursts in this way, but many others have included such gowns in their grad dresses collections for 2011. One Alisha Hill grad gown even features large paisley designs in loose clumps on a basically white dress.
Some of these brightly colored grad gowns feature very large flowers around the bottom of the skirt and smaller flowers higher up, giving way simply to an eddy of color. It’s almost as though the wearer is walking through a field of giant flowers. Other dresses mix a couple of tones of the same color, intertwining in streaks. And at least one of this year’s new grad dresses appears to use peacock feathers and colors as a theme.
In the Scala line, there are a number of gowns and dresses that feature these splashes of color. The big swirls don’t predominate, and there’s certainly a mix of everything, but the large prints have a definite presence. There are plenty of the large floral designs, but Scala is a bit different from some other designers because it offers many of these prints in short grad dresses, somehow giving them a sexy punch.
Sherri Hill is a designer who has made great use of big colors for the new grad dresses for 2011. But in addition to many dresses that boast the large floral prints, this designer occasionally spices it up even further by adding a leopard or other animal print, either as the main color element or as trim. In addition to the more formal dresses, Sherri Hill also adds pizazz to shorter dresses, with big swirling flowers and lots of ruffles.
One designer who has really gone to town on these brightly colored new grad dresses is Jovani. If you check the Jovani collection, you can see that the dresses that don’t have the big swirls of color are in a definite minority. One seems to have a Hawaiian flavor to it, with a bit of leopard print mixed in, while another is all dramatic reds and blacks. Some of the Jovani grad dresses are playful and swirly, while others are more elegant, with the colors sweeping up and down the dress in more subdued lines. This is one company that’s taking this trend to the next level.
Of course it’s not all “big color” for the new grad dresses of the year. Those who prefer a sleeker, single-toned look have not been left out of the mix. You will still find 2011 grad dresses in black or darker colors, with torso-hugging strapless lines and mermaid skirt styles. There are also plenty of the gowns with wider, flowing skirts, and there is no noticeable absence of extra draping or the occasional ruffle. But for anyone who’s in the mood to make a big entrance while adding a bright splash to the drama, the flowing colors of this year’s dresses are perfect.