Graduation outfits: Students tell us how to impress on a budget

Like Keerthana, Alicia Munhupedzi also used the internet to find her dress, but it was a bit last minute.

“‘Where can I find a nice dress really fast and cheap?’ I thought.”

Reply? Depop, the second-hand clothing app popular with Gen Z shoppers, was sold for $1.2bn (£890m) earlier this year.

Like everyone else, Alicia thought her outfit was important.

“Graduation is a milestone, especially if you’re not planning on going to graduate school,” he says. “So there was pressure for me.”

So much so that he couldn’t sleep properly the night before the ceremony and woke up at dawn to get ready. “I got through today thanks to two hours of sleep, water, good energy, energy and coffee.”

Knowing that all eyes will be on her when she receives her diploma, Keerthana says that she was nervous for the graduation ceremony, but it passed faster than she thought.

“This is the only moment you have for yourself,” he says.

So, was it worth waking up at 05:00 and getting ready for two hours?

“Yes,” says Keerthana, “I couldn’t compromise on that.”

Additional reporting by Kate Berry and George Sandeman.