The Burgon Society
We are a learned society for study of academic dress and regalia - design, history and practice around the world.
Founded in 2000, we hold regular meetings comprising a lively mixture of social interaction and scholarship. The peer-reviewed journal, Transactions of the Burgon Society, publishes many papers arising from the Society's research, and is supplemented by the newsletter, Burgon Notes.
Latest News
Burgon Society Congregation
Posted: 5th August 2024
The 2024 Congregation will take place on Saturday 5th October at the York Medical Society in York.
Hood of the Month
PhD Birmingham
The University of Birmingham received its Royal Charter in 1900, with Elgar as its first Professor of Music. The crimson PhD hood is of the full London shape [f3], and was originally lined with one of nine faculty colours. It was proposed that these colours should be in shot silks, but as the University of Wales had already decided to incorporate shot silks into their scheme, the suggestion of watered (moire) silk was adopted instead. This generated a unique and dazzling range of hoods, and the colour-coded system is still used to distinguish the faculties of lower degrees.
However, the system was adapted from 2000, so that the only use of the colours at doctoral level would be to line the scarlet hoods of higher doctors. All PhDs were henceforth allotted the same hood, lined with bottle-green watered silk, with which the robe is also faced. This standardisation produced a pleasing and somewhat Regency combination, lessened the confusion between hoods of the same academic level, and aligned the University with the schemes of several others, including Exeter, Manchester and Warwick.
Andrew Plant, FBS
Join Us
Membership of the Society is open to anyone who is interested in academic dress. The annual subscription entitles Members and Fellows to a free copy of our annual peer-reviewed journal Transactions of the Burgon Society on publication, as well as our quarterly newsletter Burgon Notes. Members enjoy discounts on purchases from the Society’s shop, including tickets for events, and may apply for Fellowship of the Society by examination.