A graduation ceremony is one of the major milestones in one’s life and is seen as a very important event. Therefore, whether it is PhD regalia, doctoral regalia or faculty regalia then one can not compromise on the looks on that great day. This means that the quality of a doctoral gown should be very high so that you can look good on your graduation, putting into mind the photos that you take during this occasion you may never be able to take them again.

When looking for quality doctoral regalia, it is important to window shop widely before settling on a supplier for the gowns. There are different types of faculty regalia; this can be classic, deluxe or custom. Classic faculty regalia are the normal ordinary gowns that have been used since time immemorial for graduation ceremonies. These faculty regalia resemble choir robes of the traditional kind. They are long lengthwise and normally up to the ankle. They also come in one size that fits all, although one can make special requests to the suppliers to have different lengths for different people. Unlike choral robes, classic faculty regalia come with graduations caps, tassels and honor chords.

Another type of faculty regalia is the deluxe gown. These are modern contemporary graduation gowns that are made to be fashionable and trendy in style. They are made for those who do not want to go the classic way and want to make a fashion statement on their graduation ceremony. This is because when one wears a graduation gown longer in size than whatever other clothing you are wearing this may not be visible and the faculty regalia is your only channel to make a fashion statement. These deluxe gowns come with trendy graduation caps. The honor cords and tassels are made to match the doctoral gown or doctoral regalia, these tassels and honor chords are made with different materials to accessorize the gowns. The stoles that come with the graduation gowns are also tailored in different designs and according to the latest fashion trends and the colors used too.

The last but not least type of faculty regalia is the custom graduation gowns. This simply means that they are made according to the specifications and taste of whoever is ordering for them. Many universities pride themselves in having unique graduation gowns for their graduating members. This is such that some universities are known by particular custom made faculty regalia. These are requested custom made from the graduation caps, to the honor cords, to the stoles and finally to the tassels. This is also useful when the university wants to distinguish between different faculties, for example the faculty of law may have different PhD regalia from those graduating in other faculties such as medicine, science or education. This will ensure that the graduates can identify themselves. Therefore when ordering for sitting arrangement during the graduation ceremony, the graduates from the different faculties sit together and will create a beautiful pattern due to the matching of their gowns.

Shuang Yan is the author of this article on Phd regalia. Find more information on Academic regalia here.