High School Graduation Gown Colors

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Here's a bit of hood trivia that I learned from an older professor: in earlier times, professors at European universities taught in their academic regalia. When the professor recessed down the aisle following class, students paid the professor by putting money in the pocket at the back of the hood. Academic hoods for professors are still made this way, with a pocket at the bottom. The interior colors indicate the school colors of the university where the doctorate was received, and the velvet signifies the subject area of the degree (light blue = education, kelly green = medicine, etc.)

Some still do! Cambridge/Oxford (St. Andrews? maybe? Violet help me out here?) staff do occasionally teach and/or go about their days in their academic dress.

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

We rented our gowns. Everyone wore blue. I'm really glad we didn't do "boys in one school color, girls in the other" because our other school color was orange and nobody looks good in orange. (Well, at least I don't. LOL)

My high school (public) colors are orange and navy blue. I have to say, the girls looked great in the orange. The guys looked great in the blue. The girls had white collars to attach to the gown. We bought ours. Since I actually graduated from summer school, all the kids wore white gowns with the tassel from their home school. It was a district wide graduation. So, I have two set of gowns.

The honor/CSF (California Scholarship Federation) students got to keep their cords and/or sashes.

For college, I wore black for my Jr. college graduation. We bought them. I know that City College of San Francisco has switched from red to black every now and then. School colors are red and white.

Since my current school (Academy of Art) uses black, I will re-use the one I have from CCSF since we have to buy them.

The universities I attended but transferred out of:
Grambling State: All wear black. School colors are Black and Gold.
SFSU: All wear purple. School colors are Purple and Gold.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by lilykkg

This thread is the first time I ever heard of renting graduation gowns. I wish those were options at the schools my brother and I attended. The only gown my parents didn't have to pay out of pocket for was my high school gown, that was included in our tuition.

I bought my high school gown but rented for college and law school graduation.

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Academic hoods for professors are still made this way, with a pocket at the bottom. The interior colors indicate the school colors of the university where the doctorate was received, and the velvet signifies the subject area of the degree (light blue = education, kelly green = medicine, etc.)

The degree-granting school is actually indicated by the colors and the way those colors are arranged. For example one school may be indicated by red with one white chevron while another is indicated by red and two white chevrons, while yet another might be white with a red chevron. All 3 are red and white, but in different designs.

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

To the best of my knowledge, the reasons for the black gown and hoods was to recall the monastic origins of the education system.

Right; academic dress is derived from medieval clerical dress, since the faculty of European universities were clergy.

I've always preferred the British style of academic dress (and, to bring it back to clergy, the Scottish style of Geneva gown) to the American styles.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

Some still do! Cambridge/Oxford (St. Andrews? maybe? Violet help me out here?) staff do occasionally teach and/or go about their days in their academic dress.

My mother attended St Andrews in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Never mind the professors - students wore academic gowns to class - every day. First-year students were required to wear their gowns buttoned up to the neck line. Second-year students could unbutton the top button. I believe this is still the case. On the up side, it means you didn't really need to own a coat - a nice thick wool robe could get you through a fiercely cold Scottish winter.

[GammaGirl1908]

Originally Posted by JayhawkAOII

What I find fascinating is that at the majority of the private schools here, the girls wear long white ball gowns, almost like debutante dresses. It is apparently a long standing tradition with the majority of schools.

We did this at my private school, BUT it wasn't at graduation. We wore white caps and gowns at graduation, which was on a Sunday, but the day before, on Saturday, we had an elaborate prize ceremony where we wore long white deb-like dresses, carried long-stemmed red roses, and participated in several other traditions.

[Sen's Revenge]

Originally Posted by GammaGirl1908

We did this at my private school, BUT it wasn't at graduation. We wore white caps and gowns at graduation, which was on a Sunday, but the day before, on Saturday, we had an elaborate prize ceremony where we wore long white deb-like dresses, carried long-stemmed red roses, and participated in several other traditions.

Sounds a little like Madeira.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge

Sounds a little like Madeira.

I was thinking the same thing.

I attended a graduation commencement at The Maderia School for the cousin of a good friend. I remember well the full-length white dresses and long-stemmed red roses as the girls walked down into the amphitheatre.

[ASTaulove]

I went to a private boarding school that is co-ed and for graduation the girls also wore white dresses but they didn't have to be long. Most girls wore dresses that were knee length, and basically the only rule we had to follow was they needed to be pure white and not off white. The boys wore white pants, a white dress shirt, a red tie, and a navy blazer (our school colors were red and navy). We didn't have caps, and they just gave us a tassel with our diploma.

[sweetongreek]

I also went to a private high school and the girls also wore white dresses (and carried bouquets) for the commencement ceremony. I wore a long, white lace dress and ordered this lovely arrangement of sweet peas and ivy. The boys wore their dress uniforms.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

Some still do! Cambridge/Oxford (St. Andrews? maybe? Violet help me out here?) staff do occasionally teach and/or go about their days in their academic dress.

Do some faculty and students at Sewanee still wear gowns to class? And do male students still wear coat and tie to class?

[navane]

My high school colors were navy blue and gray, with white used often as an accent. Graduates of both genders wore navy blue robes and caps with navy and gray tassels. Honor roll graduates wore gray robes and caps with gold tassels. The salutatorians and valedictorian wore white robes and caps with gold tassels.


For my bachelor's degree at Cal State Long Beach, we all wore black caps and gowns with the color of the tassel indicating the subject area of the degree.


On an interesting side note, after getting my B.A. and doing postgraduate studies overseas, I went back and completed an Associates Degree in Fire Protection Technology. At the community college, the graduates wore the typical black cap and gown. However, Fire Technology students have a long-standing, special tradition of wearing fire helmets instead of caps! Yes, we hung our tassels right from the side of the fire helmets. We got a lot of attention and the professional photographers had a field day taking pictures of our group.





Those who didn't work for a department yet wore the college's fire helmets which are used during classes and training. Those of us who already work for a fire department wore our own helmets. That's why some have different colored helmets in the photo. The guy in the red helmet is a Captain who went back to get his degree! And, BTW, I am first on the left in the top row, yellow helmet.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I think the young women with gold hoods and tassels graduated with honors because a few of them have white.

I wore black when I graduated from college but now they wear the college's green color.

Something happened here and my comment didn't take. The colors probably refer to their major, rather than honors/not honors. If following academic regalia guidelines, the hood color refers on the front there to the major, and would have the school's colors on the inside. My hood graduating from Gannon was gold on the front referring to my major, maroon and gold on the inside in the back referring to my university. If I were to attend graduation for another college as faculty and dress in regalia, I'd wear the hood/gown appropriate to the university where I obtained my highest degree. Since I didn't attend graduation for my Master's, I don't even know what it looks like, but it's definitely blue and gold on the inside, and longer than the one for my B.A..

For colleges, while some wear other colors (which is great), the typical is black following "accepted" regalia. It's actually pretty rigid.

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

Good question about the online colleges. I imagine that they have colors.

Originally Posted by carnation

They probably have green dollar signs instead of colors.

They wear black, typically, with hoods signifying the type of degree and the university's colors (Maroon for University of Phoenix, etc.). And if you think any of them are making money right now... ha.

[ASTalumna06]

^ Confused. When did I make the comment about online colleges?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

^ Confused. When did I make the comment about online colleges?

Not sure - I quoted it... there was also a photo I quoted but clearly my absence from GC has led me to technological stupidity, as only half of the comments I multi-quoted made it, and only half of my original comment.


Ahhh looks like it was a comment from FSUZeta? Trying to fix now.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by agzg

Not sure - I quoted it... there was also a photo I quoted but clearly my absence from GC has led me to technological stupidity, as only half of the comments I multi-quoted made it, and only half of my original comment.

Hm...

I said this:

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Yes, this is what I assumed, also.

in response to AGDee's comment. I don't know where the online college thing came from! lol