A Brief History

Gowns and hoods worn at graduation ceremonies stem from a distinctive style of academic dress which emerged in the first universities in Europe in the twelfth century. The style was influenced by the fact that masters and scholars at that time were usually members of the clergy.

For example, in 1222 at the Council of Oxford, the Archbishop of Canterbury ordered English clerics to wear the cappa clausa - a closed, flowing gown based on a lay fashion of the period. As a result, this garment came to be regarded as academic dress for university masters who, as clerics, wore it. Later, the garment was recognized as exclusively academic.

The pileus, a common headdress of medieval laymen, was adopted by the Church at the Synod of Bergamo (1311) and became typical headwear at the universities. The pileus quadralus, square cap, is today's mortarboard worn by most graduates.

The hood as an academic vestment originated from the cowl worn by monks in the Middle Ages as protection against inclement European weather. It was worn over a short cape, known as a tippet, and had a tail, known as a liripipe, which was used to pull the hood over the head and wrapped around the throat to keep the hood in place. Today the tippet remains as part of the hood and, although the hood is never worn on the head, the liripipe is retained as the funnel-shaped hood.

The tradition of wearing the hood hanging down the back is said to be derived from the practice of medieval monks, many of whom were solicitors in the King's Court, who used the bag-like hanging hood as a 'contribution bowl' for clients and well wishers.

European institutions have always had great diversity in their specifications of academic dress causing some confusion. In contrast, American colleges and universities conceived a definite system of academic regalia that all institutions follow.

A significant contributor to the development of the American system was Gardner Cotrell Leonard of Albany, New York. Mr. Leonard designed gowns for his class at Williams College in 1887. He was greatly interested in the subject and, following the 1893 publication of his article on academic dress, he was invited to work with an Intercollegiate Commission to establish a suitable system of academic apparel. The Commission met at Columbia University in 1895 and adopted a code of academic dress that, besides regulating the cut and style and materials of the gowns, prescribed the colors that were to represent the different fields of learning.

In 1932 the American Council on Education authorized the appointment of a committee to review and revise, if necessary, the 1895 code. The committee approved a code for academic costumes that has been in effect since that year, with additional revisions made in 1959 and again in 1986.

Compiled from the American Council on Education and QUT Student Guild websites.

Click here for some examples of how our own students have added ornamentation and/or updated the look of the ‘cap and gown’ for an art institution.