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This page concerns the Academic dress of Cambridge University.
As is natural in the second oldest university in the United Kingdom, the University of Cambridge has a long tradition of academic dress.
When academic dress is worn
Academic dress is still worn quite often in Cambridge. Many undergraduates in their first week at Cambridge buy (or borrow) a gown for the purpose of enrolment in the University (known as matriculation). It is more common to buy a gown, especially at the more traditional colleges, as the number of occasions on which it is worn quickly repays the investment; gowns are often recycled between 'generations', as new graduate students in turn need to upgrade their gowns at the start of the year.
In some colleges, gowns are worn to Formal Hall (formal dinner, held almost every night in some colleges, once a term in others) and to Chapel. Various College events also demand academic dress; for example, in the Trinity College statutes, it specifies that certain senior members of College (such as the Dean) prefer students to wear academic dress when addressing them in their official capacity. In practice, this is not rigidly adhered to.
Gowns are also worn, with a hood, to graduation ceremonies. There are strict rules regarding which gown and hood a graduand (one graduating) should wear.
Components of Cambridge academic dress
Gowns
The gowns in use in Cambridge, like those generally used throughout the UK but not the US, are open-fronted. The main types are the undergraduate gown, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) gown, Master of Arts (M.A.) gown and doctoral gown.
Hoods
In general, the holders of a degree will wear the hood (and gown) of the most senior degree that they currently possess. However, at graduation, if a graduand does not possess a degree (i.e. is graduating for the first time), he or she wears the hood of the degree about to be awarded (usually the B.A.) along with the gown to which he or she is currently entitled (usually the undergraduate gown).
Academic caps
A form of a black cap known as a mortarboard (or square) may be worn or carried. Properly, it is worn outdoors and carried indoors, except by people acting in an official capacity who may continue to wear it indoors. In practice, few people wear (or even carry) a cap nowadays; caps ceased to be compulsary for undergraduates in the 1950s after a shortage but are nominally still required for graduates.
With their festal gowns, Doctors wear Tudor bonnets, which are round and made of velvet, with gold string and tassels, except that Doctors of Divinity wear a black velvet cap.
Sub-fusc
Sub-fusc means "of a dark/dusky colour", and refers to the clothes
worn with full academic dress in Cambridge. Generally, this involves a dark suit and white shirt, collar, bands and bow tie for men, and a dark suit and white blouse for women. The rules for dress on graduation for women also specify that women's attire must have long sleeves and, if a skirt is worn, it must be knee-length or longer and worn with tights.
In place of sub-fusc, members of Her Majesty's Forces may wear their service uniform, persons in holy orders may wear their clerical dress, and national dress may also be worn, together with the appropriate gown and hood.
The Cambridge form of sub-fusc is usually not as strict as that at Oxford, and gowns are often worn with less formal attire (particularly by undergraduates who are required to wear gowns to hall). However, the rules are enforced strictly at formal graduation ceremonies, and persons who are incorrectly dressed may be prevented from graduating in person and their Praelector or Presenter may be fined.
Student dress
Undergraduates
All undergraduate gowns resemble knee-length versions of the B.A. gown, but many colleges at Cambridge have gowns that differ slightly from the main pattern. The standard gown is black, and most colleges' gowns include minor variations such as sleeve decoration. The most distinct differences are the blue colour of the undergraduate gowns of Trinity and Caius and the blue facings of Selwyn.
B.A. and M.A.
The two most common graduate gowns in Cambridge are the B.A. gown and the M.A. gown. Unlike in most other universities, except the University of Oxford, all undergraduates at Cambridge traditionally graduated with a B.A. degree after 3 years, although, these days, many graduates also obtain a master's degree, such as an M.Eng or M.Sci., after a further year of study, and graduate from both degrees at once.
As in Oxford, the degree of Masters of Arts in Cambridge is granted automatically to B.A.s seven years after matriculation (three years after graduating).
The B.A. gown is a long black stuff (cloth) gown with long bell-shaped sleeves to the wrists. The gown is gathered at the back in a yoke, and falls down to between the knees and the ankles. The B.A. hood is of black cloth, bound and half-lined in white rabbit fur.
The M.A. gown is similar to the B.A. gown, except that the sleeves are long, rectangular and closed at the ends, with a crescent cut out of each sleeve-end, and a horizontal arm-slit just above the elbow. The M.A. hood is black cloth bound and lined in white silk. Other Masters' gowns vary from subject to subject at Cambridge; for example, the Master of Engineering (MEng) gown is the standard M.A. gown but has an embroidered wheel on each sleeve, and the corresponding hood is worn.
Persons without a Cambridge degree (including those with a degree from another university) wear a "B.A. status" or "M.A. status" gown, which is identical to a B.A. or M.A. gown but with the "strings" (black ribbons attached inside the shoulder) removed. The B.A. status gown is for those aged under twenty-four while the MA gown is for those aged twenty-four or over. (The rationale is that Cambridge students would usually join the university at 18, obtain their B.A. after 3 years, at 21, and their M.A. 3 year after a further 3 years, at 24.)
Doctors
Doctors in Cambridge have two forms of academic dress: undress and full dress (or scarlet). Scarlet is worn on formal college and university occasions, and so-called Scarlet Days (mostly Church of England festivals such as Easter and Christmas).
The undress gown is similar to an M.A. gown (for Ph.D, Litt.D, Sc.D and in practice D.D.) or is a 'lay-type' gown similar to that worn by Queen's Counsel (LL.D., M.D., Mus.D.). Different doctorates are distinguished by different arrangements of lace on the sleeves, facings or flap collar. The gown may be worn with a doctor's hood. The Ph.D. hood, the one most commonly seen, is made of black silk lined with scarlet cloth; the hoods of higher doctors are made of red cloth and lined with silk in the faculty colour (scarlet for letters, pink shot light blue for science, light cherry for laws, mid cherry for silk, dove grey for divinity). The Mus.D. hood is of cream damask lined with dark cherry satin.
The full dress or scarlet gown differs for each doctorate, but uses the same material and colours as the hood. For Ph.D.s, the scarlet gown is the same as the M.A. gown, with the addition of a broad red cloth stripe down each side at the front; a common but unauthorised variation uses detachable facings on an undress Ph.D. gown, which is distinguished from the M.A. gown by doctors' lace on the sleeves that is not found on the proper festal Ph.D. gown. For the higher doctorates, such as LL.D. or Sc.D., the scarlet gown is a more impressive affair, being brightly coloured and voluminous, with open bell-shaped sleeves and gathered at the yoke. The linings of the sleeves and the facings are in silk of the faculty colour.
University officials
The Chancellor
The Chancellor of the University wears on ceremonial occasions a black silk gown with a long train, decorated with gold lace, similar to the gown of the Lord Chancellor.
Proctors
The Proctors in Cambridge are formally responsible for the discipline of junior members of the university. In addition, they have various ceremonial and administrative roles, which they are, in practice, mainly occupied with.
In both Oxford and Cambridge, the Proctors could formerly be seen patrolling the streets after dark with the university police, or bulldogs, who wore top hats in Cambridge and bowler hats in Oxford. These traditions have now ceased, although the Proctors are still responsible for posting various disciplinary notices (e.g. highlighting the University-wide ban on undergraduates' possession of motor cars) around the Colleges.
The Proctors wear the academic dress of a Master of Arts, but with a distinctive 'ruff' at the neck.
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