Part of The PhD Guide Series
It’s time for graduation, and we want to make sure that you wear your beautiful regalia correctly. During my own graduation, I remember searching on Google for videos to try to figure out how to properly wear my gown. And since we often get this question here at PhinisheD Gown, we decided to share the instructions with you.
Under the gown
Most men wear a nice crisp dress shirt with a tie on top. A nice pair of slacks or khakis plus dress shoes complete the look. Ladies usually wear a summer dress and heels or flats. If your ceremony is on a grass field and you want to wear heels, make sure the heel points are wide enough that they don’t sink into the ground.
Graduation gown
Most doctoral graduation gowns are worn closed with a front zipper, except Stanford which has an open style. Your sleeve should sit around your wrists, and the bottom of the gown should be about 8-12" above the floor.
Doctoral Hood
To keep the hood secured in place, loop the string attached to the hood onto the button inside the gown near the top of the front zipper. Alternatively, you can loop the string onto your shirt’s button underneath the gown.
Once you have the hood on, have someone flip the part of the hood on your back inside out starting from the top. This reveals the hood lining color and shows off your school colors. To keep the hood in place, use the string to loosely tie the 2 buttons on the hood that should be sitting on your upper back.
If you are receiving your PhD degree, don’t wear your hood until after the hooding ceremony. During the hooding ceremony, you will be granted the degree and hooded by your department.
Tam
Wear the tam horizontally so that it is parallel to the ground and sits about an inch above the ears. Place the tassel on the left side of the tam (flipping the tassel is only for undergraduate degrees).
Smile
Have fun and celebrate your big day in style with PhinisheD Gown!