Academic Gowns and Accessories: The Origin
Academic apparel is the formal attire worn by students and university officials at commencement and graduation ceremonies. The full regalia comprises a flowing gown, a hood and a head cap. Some other variances of names include Graduation Gowns and Accessories, Academic Gowns and Accessories.
In the present day, academic apparel is purely symbolic of graduation. However, there was a time that they were worn by university students on a daily basis. Can you imagine moving from one lecture hall to another wearing an academic gown and hood?
How it all started
Academic apparel dates back to the 12th century when University institutions were a part of the Roman Catholic Church. Studies occurred in cold unheated churches where the gowns and hoods were worn to keep warm. The early association with the Catholic Church can be seen in the similarities between academic apparel and church robes.
Since students and faculty at that time had their gowns on all the time, the gown was a means of differentiating people in the academic community from the residents of the town.
Academic gowns became the official apparel of the academic society in 1321 with the University of Cambridge and the Oxford University setting the tradition as the attire for commencement (matriculation) and graduation. By this time, Caps, Hoods and Stoles were worn to differentiate the faculties and degrees of learning.
Later in that year, the leaders of the universities forbade “excessive apparel” in the university, prescribing everybody to wear long robes throughout ceremonies so as to achieve uniformity.
David Boven’s paper on American Universities Departure From the Academic Costume Code gave another explanation for everybody sharing identical apparel on graduation day. It was the way to get rid of any disparities between a wealthy individual graduating and somebody who could not afford luxurious suits. The University regarded all people who were graduating as equal once it came to academic achievements. Therefore, all of them dressed identically.
Over the years, the traditions set by the early English universities spread overseas to the United States of America and beyond, until the period after the American Civil War(1861- 1865), where the Americans and the likes developed a general distaste for anything “British,” which included academic clothing such as gowns.
In the year 1894, an American Intercollegiate Commission met to establish a standard style for both robes and hoods that must be adhered to by American Universities. At that time they decided that all robes should be black; Bachelors’ gowns to be made of yarn from long wool fibers and to have pointed sleeves; Masters’ gowns to be made of silk with long closed sleeves; Doctors’ gowns faced with black velvet with three bars across the sleeves. Hoods were made of the same materials as the gowns, with the length varying with the degree.
Over the years, academic regalia have experienced some minor variations as the standards applied to traditional regalia have also changed over time. Although the gown hasn’t changed much over the years, the graduation cap has undergone many different alterations. The most common is a mortarboard cap which borrows its name from the flat board used by bricklayers to lay mortar.
Historians believe the reasoning behind the style of the cap is to represent the mortarboard of a master workman. Regardless of the uncertainty of origin, this style has remained accepted and popular. Tams and Tudor round bonnets were adopted for Doctors of lay faculties.
In general, Bachelors, Masters and Doctors of Divinity were required to wear the square cap(mortarboard cap), while doctors in lay faculties were prescribed the round bonnet or Tam with 4–6 sides depending on the degree.
Students became more interested in using different colors to represent their particular school during the 1950s. Thus, some universities decided to do their own thing while following the standards set. Today, academic gowns and accessories differ from university to university.
Why is academic apparel special?
Similar to getting married, graduation is an important cultural tradition that serves as a form of rite of passage a person may experience in their life, as it adorns you with a new status. While academic apparels are no longer used for warmth, it symbolizes recognition and achievement while representing the level of study.
Academic apparel has been alive and is evolving over the centuries and would continue to play a vital role in people’s academic experience.
What we do at Trenor Coats and Gowns Limited
At Trenor Coats and Gowns Limited, we are proud of our reputation as a reliable and trustworthy brand making custom Academic Gowns, Hoods, Caps, Bonnets, Tams, etc for sale.
We have in stock over 20,000 varieties of beautiful and well-tailored academic gowns and accessories in different colors and sizes for hire. We supply for kindergarten, high school and tertiary level graduation ceremonies. We also have in-stock gowns for choir robing and pastoral school graduations.
We provide after-sales service to maintain the gowns and accessories we sell to increase the longevity of the fabrics through our complete fabric care and clothes maintenance service.
Our customer service experience is second to none. We ensure that our customers are provided with all available options and we guide them to make the perfect selection to suit the occasion.
Contact Details
0553655059/0245026840 info@trenorgroup.com
Written by :
Loveryn Dodu
Research and Training Supervisor
Trenor Coats and Gowns Ltd
References
Artandi.C., (2020). Buy your grad gear today. Retrieved from graduationsource.com
Boven, David T. (2009) “American Universities’ Departure from the Academic Costume Code,” Transactions of the Burgon Society: Vol. 9. https://doi.org/10.4148/2475-7799.1075
Jones. H., (2021) The History of graduation caps and gowns. Retrieved from www.herffjones.com/resources/graduation/the-history-of-graduation-caps-and-gowns/
Mccallum. J. Academic dress. Retrieved from www.fashion-historylovetoknow.com
