History of the Graduation Gown

When you are a graduate from college you may not realize that it is considered a cultural tradition that is often considered by many a rite of passage into the world. The overall graduation ceremony will mark a transition for you from one particular of your academic career to another.
The very first graduation commencement has been said to take place as far back as 1432 at Oxford University. At this very first commencement, the graduates were required to deliver a sermon in the Latin language as a final part of his overall curriculum requirements. They were also required a cap and gown as a part of the overall dress code for graduation but where did they cap and gown actually originates from?
The mortarboard of today was once called a hood and this hood was said to be dated clear back to the age of the Celtics. During that time, the only ones said to wear these caps and gowns were the Druid Priests as a form of symbolizing their superiority and higher intelligence. However, today the mortarboard is worn by students as a part of their overall graduation dress code. The tassel that is attached to your mortarboard is used to signify your academic achievement and structure.
Before the 1950’s the graduation gowns were grey in color and this was only practiced in the US. In Europe however, the gown has been found to be used as far back as the 1800’s and was then used to signify particular areas of study that the individual may be engaged in at that time. During the 1950’s students of various institutions began to ask for caps and gowns that would represent their school colors as a part of their graduation dress code. They felt it would be a great way for them to show their school pride along with their great achievement. They had their wish granted and today as a result, there are gowns available in a wide array of different colors that are available.
The overall academic dress codes for graduations were said to be born during the 12th and 13th centuries. During this era, the standard day to day dress code of faculty and students alike was the standard clerical dress. Around 1321 however the University of Coimbra made the decision that all Doctors, Bachelors, and Masters would be required to wear their gowns daily as a part of their overall dress code for their particular school.
So as you can see the history of your graduation gowns and the traditions that surround it goes back for hundreds of years. Students just like you have been worn them as a symbol of their great achievement. So as you put on your gown for your own graduation commencement you should really take a few moments to reflect on the graduates of the past and feel a sense of pride. Furthermore, remember people of yesterday had to wear these gowns every day, and today you only have to wear it for one of the most special moments in your life, your own graduation.

Different Types of Gowns

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If you search on the history of mankind you can find that the upper class people like bishops or other peoples of Middle Ages were different types of graduation gowns with attractive colors. Most of them were red, blue or other attracting colors and the local people did not have the authority to wear those types of gowns. In these modern ages you can see that many older universities are also use different types of attractive gowns for special ceremonies and those are the endemic graduation gowns for those universities. Every endemic doctoral robe has its own design and color and you can hardly find any similarities between two endemic types of doctoral robes.

In Britain there are mainly two types of endemic graduation gowns and they are the Oxford Doctoral Robe and Cambridge Doctoral Robe. These shapes or designs are quite different of each other. Both graduation gowns have same sleeves and in past they used bell-shaped but now both use open sleeves which is longer than the past one. The button shapes are different for different colors and designs. In some cases you can see that the open shaped buttons and other cases close shaped buttons. Sometimes the buttons can be seen in front but most time the buttons are situated under the coat.

The graduation gowns can be varied with design and color about the position of the doctor. All these gowns are dress gowns but you can also get the undress gowns which is usually a black coated gown. Normally there is no difference between the student and master gown but in some universities you can get the difference between the design and color of undress gowns. These types of undress gowns are quite rare in the modern age but you can see them in the old British people or in old fashion British gowns design. In the older British universities like the Oxford and Cambridge you can still find the use of undress gowns but usually they always wear the modern academic dresses with dress formal graduation gowns.

So we find that there are mainly two types of graduation gowns are most familiar one is dress gowns and the other is undress gowns. The use of undress gowns is limited in these old British universities but the dress gowns are hugely popular in every country of the world. The design and color can be varied but the main patterns of the dress gowns are same in every universities of the world and you can hardly imagine any convocation or graduation parties without any graduation gowns.