Academic dress of the University of Oxford: Encyclopedia II - Academic dress of the University of Oxford - Student dress

Academic dress of the University of Oxford - Student dress

Academic dress of the University of Oxford - Undergraduates

Commoners (i.e. those without a scholarship or exhibition) wear a short black lay-type gown which just covers the suit jacket. The gowns have a flap collar and instead of sleeves have two streamers adorned with folds. These are the remnants of closed sleeves, as can still be seen on the laced gowns of the higher faculties.

Scholars (and some exhibitioners) wear a black clerical-type gown down to the knee. The gowns are gathered at the yoke, and have bell sleeves to the elbows (in effect they are short versions of the BA gown).

Until the abolition of their statuses in the nineteenth century, gentlemen-commoners and noblemen-commoners each had distinct gowns, generally of coloured silk in the lay shape, decorated with lace.

It is sometimes claimed that undergraduates by custom do not wear their caps. This is incorrect. For example, undergraduates appearing before the Proctors' Court are required to present themselves wearing their caps and to salute the Proctors in the customary manner upon entering. They are then usually invited to remove their caps for the remainder of the proceedings. As mentioned above, it is customary to touch or raise one's cap as a salute to senior officials of one's college or the University.

Furthermore, it is also only in recent years that female undergraduates have been permitted to remove their mortarboards during university ceremonies. As mentioned earlier, women who opt for the traditional soft cap do not have this dispensation, and should remain covered at all times.

Academic dress of the University of Oxford - Postgraduates

Graduate students who do not have an Oxford degree wear a black lay-type gown that is a full-sized version of the commoner's gown, reaching to the knee. However, they are not worn by graduates of other universities who are reading for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, who wear a commoner's or scholar's gown as appropriate. Nor are they worn by non-members of the University reading for diplomas, who wear no gown, even with sub-fusc. In practice, many graduate students wear the academic dress of their old university except at those occasions where "foreign" academic dress is prohibited, such as the Encaenia and the second half of degree ceremonies when the graduand pays his respects to the Vice-Chancellor in the dress of his new Oxford degree.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Student dress", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki