Glossary of Academic Dress

A large cape, often with hood attached, of cloth turned down over the shoulders and lined with fur and edged with fur tails. Distinctive to masters and doctors, the colour of fur denoted rank: for Doctors of Divinity it was grey, for others dark brown.

i. A type of hood trimming consisting of a strip of material sewn onto the inside or outside of a hood, near, but not flush with, the edge.

ii. Sometimes refers to neckband of hood.

Decoration generally made from white linen or cotton, usually with square ends, worn at the throat.

A term used when the lining, facing or edging of a surface is carried over to the other side.

Used for horned and rigid varieties of pileus.

Hat with soft round crown and a stiff flat round brim, usually made from black velvet and often trimmed with cord and tassels, which are sometimes coloured – or, in the case of Oxford, a twisted ribbon. It is the distinctive headgear of doctors.

See Sleeves (glove or closed)

Early Georgian (1700–1750). A very deep turned back cuff on a man’s jacket popular from 1720–1740.

A method of trimming a hood by which the lining is carried over one or both sides of a simple-shaped hood, or over the cowl or cape or both for a full-shaped hood to form a narrow edging of the lining on the outside hoods.

A rich silk fabric, with raised floral or figurative patterns. The designs most frequently encountered are Apple-blossom (the most traditional), Chelmsford, Cloister, Fairford, Lichfield, St Aidan, Tudor Rose, and Winchester. Cream brocade is frequently used in gowns and hoods for Doctors of Music, while the academic dress of the University of Surrey is distinguished by its use of mid-blue St Aidan brocade.

The word ‘brocade’ comes from the Italian, broccato, meaning a cloth that is embossed. This effect is achieved by use of extra yarn in the weft, as needed, which gives the illusion of a pattern woven on to the top of the material rather like embroidery. The brocades sometimes have a metallic thread incorporated into the weave. The reverse side of a silk brocade will often appear unfinished. See also note under Damask.

Smith defines this as that part of a full-shaped academic hood which lies against the back when the hood is worn and over which the cowl hangs open. See also Tippet.

A large and voluminous closed cope or mantle, based on a circle of material, with or without a hood attached. Sleeveless but with gathers reaching to the feet, with one slit in the middle front for the passage of both arms, or with two side slits.

A closed dress, generally shorter than the Cassock, with full sleeves.

Similar to a cappa clausa but based on a rectangle of material.

A garment worn by scholars and ecclesiastics, comprising a hood to be worn over the head and a cape or tippet worn over the shoulders, enveloping front and back to elbow or three-quarter arm length.

A long coat reaching to the ground fastened up the front, with reasonably tight sleeves. It was common lay and clerical wear in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, falling out of fashion for lay people, but retained by the clergy as everyday dress. Cassocks were scarlet for Law, and Doctors of Divinity

A name given, in the most general sense, to every pliant fabric woven, felted, or otherwise formed, of any animnal or vegetable (or even mineral) filament, as of wool, hair, silk, the fibres of hemp. flax, cotton - or even spun glass, asbestos or wire. But when used without qualification or contextual specification, usually understood to mean a woollen fabric such as is used for wearing apparel. Here again, it is sometimes specifically applied to a plain-wove woollen fabric, as distinguished from a twill. Beyond specialists, the disctinction hasn't been observed since the nineteenth century. 

A square collar formed by extending the gown facings upwards, which folds over the upper part of the back of the gown, covering the yoke.

Usually refers to a twisted piece of black cord sewn onto the yoke of a gown and secured by a button. The term may also refer to a decoration or gathering on the sleeves of some gowns.

A particular garment with a hood (vestis caputiata), worn by monks, varying in length in different ages, sometimes applied to the hood alone: in which case, it is the part of an academic hood that would cover the head if worn in that fashion.

Singular possessive for the little decoration on Harvard gowns. 

A material of silk, wool, linen, satin or cotton (and, nowadays, often rayon), having in it a pattern formed by the process by which it is woven. Silk damasks are woven with a fine closely-set warp producing a shiny warp face and a heavier, more widely-spaced weft giving a dull finish where the weft predominates. The word damask takes its origin from the city of Damascus and refers to a satin weave technique which uses a matte yarn in the weft and a shiny yarn in the warp to give the appearance of a raised pattern. The finished weave is enhanced by the way in which it reflects light and the way it is woven. The resulting fabric is reversible, although the obverse side appears rather does a photographic negative appearance. Cream damask is frequently used in gowns and hoods for Doctors of Music.

A note on brocade and damask

These two fabrics are very similar and often confused. Both are woven on Jacquard looms, an invention by Joseph Marie Jacquard, in 1804, which was modelled on earlier French designs. Originally, it used a system of punched cards which, when added to a loom, controlled the manufacture of complex fabric designs, such as brocades and damasks, but nowadays the looms are operated digitally. The word ‘brocade’ comes from the Italian, broccato, meaning a cloth that is embossed. This effect is achieved by use of extra yarn in the weft, as needed, which gives the illusion of a pattern woven on to the top of the material rather like embroidery. See also Brocade.

Both techniques are said to have originated in China, but in the Middle Ages damasks were found amongst both Byzantine and Islamic cultures. The French Huguenots, expelled from France, brought their brocading skills to England in the seventeenth century. Traditionally these fabrics are made from silk but, these days, are often made from rayon, sometimes called viscose, or the older term, art silk, which is a generic term for an entire family of textiles made by dissolving cellulose fibres in various chemicals. The process was first experimented with around the time the aniline dyes were making an appearance from 1856, but it was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that manufacture on an industrial scale became a reality.

A method of trimming a hood by which a strip of material is sewn onto the outside of the hood, so that one edge of the sewn-on material is flush with the edge of the hood. An edging may be on the cape edge, the cowl edge, or both. See Faced.

In medieval manuscripts, this usually means ‘shoulder piece’ alone, but is sometimes used for a gown with a large shoulder piece and hood placed above it. Epitogium, meaning literally anything worn over a toga, is naturally a very vague term. In the Statutes of Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1358), cap. 3, it is clearly the long Tabard. In the later Statutes of All Souls’ Oxford (1443), a passage seems to make epitogium the gown itself. It is derived from the evolution (c. 1450) of the hood to the chaperon, where the cowl was rolled up to make a solid roundel, the liripipe was worn very long and used as a scarf, and the cape had virtually disappeared. The modern epitoge, a ribbon-like decoration worn over the shoulder, is a remnant of cape, roundel and liripipe. In France, epitoge came ultimately to mean a scarf worn very like a hood, but which appears to have been the latest form of the tippet or fourrure. It is still a common part of French academic dress, where it is worn on the left shoulder, the liripipe hanging to the front with bands of ermine: one for bachelors, two for masters, and three for doctors. It is also used at Irish institutions, but Irish epitoges have no roundel and the cape is unpleated so that they consist of a single long narrow piece of material (the liripipe) broadening into a triangular cape section.

A valuable fur worn by nobility and certain high-ranking university officials taking its name from Herminia (Armenia). It was worn by nobility and still appears on the dress of Proctors at Oxford and Trinity College, Dublin.

A method of trimming a hood by which a strip of material is sewn onto the inside of the hood, so that one edge of the sewn-on material is flush with the edge of the hood. This method is also applied to the front of some doctors' gowns. See Edged.

1. Type of hood trimming See Faced.

2. Type of trimming found on many academic gowns, consisting of a turned-back portion of the gown down each side in front, or a piece of material sewn onto each side of the gown in front. On academic robes these are usually light-weight, tightly woven fabric, often imitation silk - and, in North America, velvet or velveteen - sewn as long bands onto/around either side of the front opening and/or applied on over the sleeves. Sleeve facings evolved from sleeve linings which were first exposed at the cuffs then gradually extended up the sleeves. The facing may be the same colour as the main body of the gown, or contrasting. Certain gowns, particularly doctorates, may be faced on each sleeve with the same material as the front facings. On gown sleeves, facings may be brought over the cuff so that the facing is partly on the outside.

See Collar

Types of hoods with a cape, such as those for Cambridge, London, and Oxford doctorates.

On academic robes this are usually light-weight, tightly woven fabric, often imitation silk, sewn as long bands onto/around either side of the front opening and/or applied on over the sleeves. Sleeve facings evolved from sleeve linings which were first exposed at the cuffs then gradually extended up the sleeves.

Type of braided trim used on certain gowns at Oxford, Durham, Hull, Sheffield and elsewhere.

Used as a term for the flowing outer garment - usually black, but oftehn coloured in North America - that is a standard component of academic dress. It is distinct from a robe which generally refers to the festal gown of a doctor. The sleeves and back of the gown are pleated or gathered onto the yoke. The varying shape of sleeves of the gown nowadays usually distinguishes between bachelors and doctors (wide or open sleeves) and masters on the other (closed sleeves).

Evolved from the medieval capuchon or chaperon. The monk’s hood was originally attached to the cloak, but was later detached, and draped over the upper back. By the fifteenth century, the material, lining and colours had already come to signify academic status and qualifications.

i. Full shape: the lower part of the hood the cape (or tippet) originally draping the shoulders front and back, is moved to the back only, with the cowl (the part covering the head), hanging over it.

ii. Simple-shape: lacks a cape, only the cowl is retained.

iii. Aberdeen-shape: the cowl is removed or vestigial and only the cape is retained.

A loose or overlapping part of a garment, forming a flap or fold.

A method of trimming a hood by which the inside of the shell is completely covered with material of a different colour or texture from that of the shell (outside of the hood) itself.

The narrow tail-like portion of a hood, used originally for pulling it on and off the head.

A loose term for expensive varieties of fur used in medieval costume; sometimes cheap fur was disguised to appear as expensive fur. Marten’s fur was often used.

See Watered.

The standard iconic symbol of academe, a type of headgear (usually black) consisting of a hemispherical portion shaped to fit the head and a stiff square flat top, usually with a tassel attached to the centre of the top. A fusion between a skull cap and square cap (reinforced with card or, latterly, wood) and having a central button and tassel. Usually of black cloth but found also in a variety of textiles and colours. Also known as a trencher or square cap.

Sometimes referred to as a ‘strap’. The part of the hood that keeps it in place when worn, by passing in front of the wearer’s neck. Some hoods have a separate sewn-on neckband, on others it is cut as part of the hood. Occasionally, in more radical designs (such as for the University of Kent), it is replaced by buttons or cords.

A plain, closed, sleeveless circular garment with gathers hanging to the ground, worn over the Supertunica. It resembles the cappa clausa, though with two slits at in the front, from which the arms emerge. By the fifteenth century it was identical to the Tabard. Worn by regents of theology, laws and arts as an alternative to the cappa clausa.

A round brimless cap or hat, often tall, with a flat top, in the centre of which is a button. The term is also used of the round brimless cap in various stages before its squareness appeared in the sixteenth century, when the apex was usually a point or a stalk, rather than a button. It is a distinguishing feature of certain European systems of academic dress, and part of the system of the University of Sussex, though that institution now reserves it for fewer degrees than in the past.

A method of trimming a hood by which a cord is sewn against the edge of the hood; or, alternatively, let in between the shell and the lining. Some US gowns  use piping between the yoke and the skirt. 

A rib is a ridge, which may be longitudinal, horizontal, or oblique formed on the surface of a textile. Ribs usually result when a heavier warp is covered by a fine closely packed weft or vice versa. Ribbed describes a fabric with prominent ribs.

A term generally used only for the academic festal gown worn by doctors, the scarlet robes of judges, or for the official dress of University Chancellors and Law Lords. See Gown.

A basic shiny weave with characteristic floats (the portion of yarn in a fabric that floats above two or three threads), whereby the warp (vertical) yarns pass over many weft (transverse) yarns before going under one. There are many satin fabrics made with a variety of fibres in this weave, such as cotton, silk, and wool.

1. A rectangle of black corded silk, art silk (viscose) or stuff of double width. Usually between seven and nine inches wide, pleated at the neck and with pinked or plain ends, worn over the hood, keeping it in place. Along with cassock, surplice, and hood, it forms part of ‘choir dress’ of Anglican clergy, and is worn with a black gown by academics in holy orders. The scarf is an undecorated broad strip of black fabric hanging full length from the neck down the front of the wearer. The scarf was traditionally black silk for senior clergy and those with master’s degrees, and black stuff for lower clerics. The scarf is passed through a cord on the yoke and secured by a button. It is worn with some DD robes or by clerics with the black gown, although the Newcastle DD wears a white scarf to distinguish the robe from the Durham DD.

2. At some institutions, as an alternative to a hood (usually for diploma or certificate awards) a strip of cloth, plain or decorated, worn around the neck. Sometimes referred to as a stole, this is not to be confused with the ecclesiastical vestment of the same name.

The basic (outer) part of a hood, on to which the various types of trimming are sewn.

Term to describe a textile that is usually produced by weaving the warp and weft in different colours, resulting in shimmering variations in tone owing to the refection of light. It is a notable feature of the academic dress schemes of the University of Cambridge and the University of Wales.

Shape of hood that consists of cowl only.

Long hanging sleeves of Tudor origin, free behind the arm from just above the elbow, and hollow inside. A distinctive feature of most masters’ gowns, they are closed at the bottom end, and have a side-slit for the arm. The end of the sleeve is called the ‘boot’, generally cut from a pattern that sometimes denotes the institution to which the gown belongs. They were also called bag-sleeves in the seventeenth century.

Voluminous and open style of sleeve, sometimes referred to as bell-shaped, found on most bachelors’ gowns, doctors’ robes, Cambridge undergraduates and Oxford scholars’ gowns. The sleeves usually reach the full length of the arm on the outside (though they may be shorter) and slightly longer on the interior side, hanging the full length of the gown, pointed at the extremities.

Usually on lay gowns with a flap collar. Open above the elbow in the shape of an inverted T, then cut away horizontally on each side of the elbow to meet the flat lower part of the sleeve behind, which is sewn shut below the armhole.

Also known as the Mortar-board, Trencher or Square. The most common variety of academic head gear in British or British style academic dress systems. 

At some institutions, as an alternative to a hood (usually for diploma or certificate awards) a strip of cloth, plain or decorated, worn around the neck. Not to be confused with the ecclesiastical vestment of the same name. See Scarf.

Older term for neckband of hood.

Refers to hoods at King’s College London, where, in place of a neckband the front portions continue and hang down in front of the gown. Also a term given to the bands hanging from the shoulders of commoners' gowns at Oxford. 

Two pieces of ribbon, approx. 5 cm. wide and 75 cm. long, one sewn inside the gown at the top of the facing on each side, in certain gowns. They were originally a simple practical way of holding the gown in place, but are now usually indicators of rank, as at Cambridge, where their presence denotes graduate academic status.

A closely-woven, dull black woollen material, originally used for legal and clerical clothing or for mourning.

A direction that dark attire is to be worn beneath a gown, as required on formal occasions, such as graduations. At Oxford it is also stipulated to be worn when sitting examinations. 

This usually refers to a cassock.

A robe or gown worn above the subtunica.

A long but not full coat or jerkin, with free hanging front and back, sometimes with short pointed wing sleeves and sometimes without sleeves. Worn by bachelors of certain Cambridge colleges in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

At Cambridge, this denotes the cape of the hood, part of a full-shaped hood which lies against the back when the hood is worn, over which the cowl hangs open. At Oxford, the tippet is the epitoge worn by the proctors and (formerly) by noblemen in undress.

From the sixteenth century on, the term was used loosely for ‘gown’.

A satin, plain or twill weave in which the pile is produced by a pile warp above a ground weave by the insertion of rods during the weaving. The loops may be left as they are or trimmed to make tufts. This produces a fabric with a short soft, thick pile.

The longitudinal threads of a fabric as arranged on a loom. A single thread of warp is termed an end.

A material which has in it a pattern of irregular wavy lines. It is a distinctive part of the academic dress of the University of Birmingham.

The transverse threads of a textile.

The part of a gown that sits over the upper part of the wearer’s back. covers the shoulders of the wearer. The back and sleeves of the gown are pleated: organ-pipe pleats for clerical style-gowns (generally the standard design nowadays), or gathered as box pleats for a lay gown, onto the yoke.