Academic dress of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford has a long tradition of academic dress, which continues to the present day.

The exceptions are the MA gown and the Doctors' convocation habit; the MA gown has long closed sleeves with arm slits just above the elbow and a crescent-shaped cut at the foot of the sleeve, forming two forward-facing points, while the Doctors' convocation habit is sleeveless.

Gowns of the same basic shape are worn by barristers (see court dress), preachers and bishops in the Church of England.

It is less voluminous than the clerical-type gown, and has a flap collar and long closed sleeves with arm slits just above the elbow, except for the Commoners' and Graduate students' gowns, whose closed sleeves have evolved into streamers through which the arm does not pass.

Men wear a mortarboard (also known as a square or trencher cap) [h1], which is not worn indoors, except by the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Proctors.

When meeting the Vice-Chancellor, Proctors, or other senior official of the university in the street, it is traditional for a man to touch or raise his cap.

Doctors in the lay faculties (i.e. those except Divinity and Philosophy) wear Tudor bonnets [h2], which are round and made of velvet.

Subfusc (/sʌbˈfʌsk/) comes from the Latin for 'of a dark/dusky colour', and refers to the clothes worn with full academic dress in Oxford.

Their origins stem from the formal day dress worn in the past that has, to a certain extent, fossilised around the Edwardian period into what it is now and has changed only slightly since to accommodate modern trends and needs.

Members of the British Armed Forces may wear their service uniform with gown and hood (for graduates) in place of subfusc and cap.

He demanded his due in the exam, and the university's proctors duly responded, before fining him one shilling for failing to wear his sword, allegedly also part of the archaic statutes.

[15] Commoners (i.e. those without a scholarship or exhibition) wear a short black lay-type gown which just covers the suit jacket.

As a very general approximation, students wearing scholars' gowns may be predicted to achieve a first-class degree on completion of their final examinations.

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 also only in recent years that female undergraduates have been permitted to remove their mortarboards during university ceremonies.

Women who opt for the mortarboard now no longer wear them indoors, but conform with the practice of male members of the university.

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.

The convocation habit or chimere is like a scarlet full-dress gown, except in that it has no sleeves, is part-lined with silk of the appropriate colour, and closed at the front.

A similar garment (in scarlet or black) is worn over a white rochet by Church of England bishops especially when sitting in the House of Lords.

The degree is known to have existed since the early 16th century, and seems to have originally used the same robes as Doctors of Medicine, on the rare occasions when this was necessary.

In Oxford he always wears white tie and bands though in the past he wore a 'waterfall cravat' with court dress underneath his robes.

When John Hood, a non-MA from outside the Congregation of the university, was appointed vice-chancellor in 2005, a new lay-type (undress) gown was designed for him, being black with simple gold trimming on the sleeves and flap collar.

The back of the gown has a large university shield similarly trimmed with gold and silver laurel branches.

A hood fully lined with miniver is worn turned inside out so that only the fur is visible.

He or she now wears a proctor's dress gown with purple instead of blue velvet sleeves and facings.

[27] The assessor's hood is Burgon or Oxford simple-shape made of unlined white corded silk.