Hood of the Month
PhD, Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes obtained the rank of University in 1992, having grown from beginnings in the Oxford School of Art, founded in 1865, and joining with other colleges to become the Oxford Polytechnic in 1970. Though the younger body alongside its ancient progenitor, Oxford Brookes has conformed to a long-lasting tradition of academical dress. It has shown caution by innovating within an established practice and avoiding rash adventure. Its doctoral gowns are of Oxford shape in a dark red (called ‘maroon’); with blue silk for facings and lower sleeves, following the Oxford University pattern.
The Ph.D. hood is in the Cambridge shape [f1], of the same maroon cloth as that of the gown. A distinguishing addition is an inch-wide cream-coloured edging throughout. The hood is fully-lined with blue Oxford Brookes dark blue silk brocade and edged throughout with one-inch cream silk. The M.Phil. and higher doctors’ hoods are the same, but with edging of different widths.
[i] Oxford Brookes maroon (from the French marron for ‘chestnut’) is darker than Oxford’s red and sometimes called ‘brownish crimson’. About sixteen other British universities also use this or a similar red, but with confusingly varying names. The colour gained a niche when chosen for the berets of airborne forces by General Frederick Browning, at the suggestion of his wife Daphne du Maurier.
[ii] Oxford Brookes royal blue is a dark shade of azure-blue, deriving from the invention of the original dye by a consortium of clothiers at Rode in Somerset. It is said that with it they won a competition to make a dress for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III.
[iii] The cream-coloured, silk edging to the gown facings and hood add a distinction, but in some lights it appears white.
[iv] Uncluttered simplicity maintains the elegance of British dress, but the recent multiplication of British universities seems to have prompted some robe-makers to innovate by special motifs woven into the cloth. The Brookes blue brocade has the repeating motif of a small stylized oak with branches, leaves and acorns in a lighter blue.This may have been inspired by the1976 regrant of arms to Oxfordshire County Council, in which the charge was redrawn with fresh heraldic simplicity. But fussy ornament in the silk seems to add nothing of value to the overall fine design.
Further Reading: Harding, J. J. A Guide to the Academic Robes of Oxford Brookes University. The Burgon Society (2022)
Photograph courtesy of the author.
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