# How to Wear an Academic Hood?



## mendozar (Dec 13, 2005)

I know trad isn't "traditional" per se, but I thought this would be the best place to find the answer to my question. Institutional colours seem to be the lining and the outside appears to be the colour of the degree. Is this correct? Still, how do you exactly put on an academic hood? Is there a resource out there that details the history of academic regalia? Much appreciated.


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## BobGuam (Jul 1, 2005)

https://capsandgown.com/hoods.html here is a link about the Academic Regalia. Hope it answers your question.


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## cthywd (Jun 6, 2006)

This should start you in the right direction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_regalia

Clarke


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## Hobson (Mar 13, 2007)

Hoods were always tricky. When I was at Vassar, seniors were required to wear gowns at least twice prior to graduation. We always tried to get the lining, which showed the school colors, to show and with someone else to help one usually succeeded. There were two buttons on either side and a cord which required proper rigging in order to technically be worn properly and show the school colors. When in doubt try to experiment with a little help from a classmate, or ask a faculty member for advice.


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## Bog (May 13, 2007)

Hoods in academic dress are not worn as head wear  but have been worn since ancient times for collecting alms given to scholars to support their studies. ie. your own personal walking endowment collection bin. That is why the doctoral hood has a special curve at the bottom, to catch coin.


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## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

I haven't had to wear my hood for quite a while, but here's how you do it. When you put it over your head, the velvet lining indicating your field of study goes on the outside (purple in my case since I'm a lawyer). The silk facing with the school's colors initially faces towards your body. Then, starting at the bottom of the hood you sort of turn it inside out (like opening a popover) so that a portion of the silk school colors is pushed through and is now facing towards the outside (you'll see that there's extra silk, especially at the bottom, so it happens pretty naturally). Near the top there is a cord that goes from one side to the other and goes over a button. When you do that, that keeps the silk part that you have turned inside out showing.

It's easiest to do when you have someone helping you. But what I always did is just turn the whole thing so it's in the front of my body, turned out the silk and arranged it, and then turned the whole thing back around so it's facing the right way. But check with a mirror to make sure you've got it right.

Finally, you will note that you have another short cord on the front part of the hood that can also fit over a button. I used to attach that to a button on my shirt; I think some gowns may also have a button on the inside to hook it (I had a real cheapie gown since they can get expensive, at least beyond my budget at the time). I think the purpose of that is to relieve the pressure of the hood on your neck. Otherwise, after a while it can really become irritating when it is pulling on your neck.

These pictures from the link by another poster demonstrate it pretty well:




























I always thought academic processions were a blast. As a local officer of my college alumni society, I usually did it as a representative of my college at the inauguration of a local college president or other processions to which representatives of other colleges are invited (although I wore my JD hood and gown from another university, since you always wear your highest degree). There is a custom that in the portion of the procession where the representatives of other schools walk, they are always put in the order in which the institution was founded. Thus, the Harvard representative is always first in line, then William & Mary, Yale, Penn, Princeton, etc. (there's some list giving all the dates and precedences of the schools). In terms of guys who show up for such things around here, I (for Williams) usually was after Dartmouth and before Cornell. If you get the chance, you should do it.


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## Bog (May 13, 2007)

The front of the Harvard hood is attached by a string, which goes over a shirt button under the gown. How low you want to wear it, depends on how high you will be fastening the gown.

Here is a nice way to wear the hood.



The Harvard Commencement graduate speaker, a British diplomat graduating with a Master of Public Administration degree.


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## Bog (May 13, 2007)

I suspect that this style of wearing the hood fastening in front under the necktie, and the gown open, seen on more sophisticated dressers at Harvard, is influenced by the English style. Here, subfusc and gown of Cambridge University:



The heat of the season does encourage open gowns.


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