History Lesson on the White Grad Dress: The tradition of wearing white dresses to graduation can be traced back to the 19th century when women achieving academic milestones were a huge deal. 10 White Graduation Dresses for a Classic Look Do you know why all the girls wear white for graduation? Wearing white during graduation has been an American tradition since the mid 1800s. Wearing white originally started because many schools wanted their What to Wear to A Graduation (Guests + Grads) Merrick's Art I have a question. All of the graduation dresses I have seen are white. Why is that? Do they have to be white?