[gutenberg]

(Original post by hobnob)
Even so, I doubt any university would actually carry out the threat of not letting you graduate for having turned up in the wrong type of gown, to the extent of telling the chancellor not to read out your name from the list...
For what it's worth, though, I agree with you: there's little point in attending the ceremony in the first place if you're not going to play along with its rules, I'm only saying that if the OP did turn up in the wrong gown he'd still get away with it - especially if he pleaded ignorance and said 'I'm so sorry, we don't usually have gowns in my home country and I got confused'.

At my upcoming ceremony at Cambridge, we are 'inspected' beforehand to make sure we are appropriately dressed for the ceremony, and apparently there have been cases of people not being allowed to attend the ceremony for being improperly dressed (I don't know whether it was the gown, hood, or outfit that was wrong). I'm not sure how it would affect your degree being conferred though, as Cam is another of those odd unis which sees the cert bestowed on you during the ceremony, but certainly you would be stopped from attending the ceremony itself.

[hobnob]

(Original post by gutenberg)
Is there much of a market for second-hand gowns and random hoods?

Probably not because there are too many different types and very few people wear theirs more than once, so it makes sense just to rent them for the day.

[hobnob]

(Original post by gutenberg)
At my upcoming ceremony at Cambridge, we are 'inspected' beforehand to make sure we are appropriately dressed for the ceremony, and apparently there have been cases of people not being allowed to attend the ceremony for being improperly dressed (I don't know whether it was the gown, hood, or outfit that was wrong). I think your name would still be read out as, because you say, it would be difficult to remove you at the last minute, but you would be stopped from going to the ceremony itself.

I stand corrected. Though 'improperly dressed' sounds more like swimsuit than wrong type of gown to me...

[gutenberg]

(Original post by hobnob)
I stand corrected. Though 'improperly dressed' sounds more like swimsuit than wrong type of gown to me...

Hahahaha! I know, it's ridiculous. Cambridge have a very strict set of rules of what you can wear underneath the gown, as well as rules on gowns/hoods etc. I can assure you that a swimsuit would contravene those rules

[sj27]

(Original post by hobnob)
Probably not because there are too many different types and very few people wear theirs more than once, so it makes sense just to rent them for the day.

Indeed, and this is probably exactly why they are so cheap on eBay (especially the American style one).... Which also makes me think the OP may not find it so easy to sell after the ceremony after all and therefore the "saving" may not be much of a saving either .

[dbmag9]

This thread is confusing me. Yes, you might be able to get in to the ceremony wearing the academic dress of a different degree and university, but you will be dressed wrong, and surely the point of a graduation ceremony involving silly things like academic dress is that you feel a connection to the institution, to the people who have come before you and who will come after. Different gowns/hoods sometimes differ in very minor details, but unless you're buying the correct one for your degree it's still entirely plausible that people will notice you are wearing something different to your classmates next to you. As others have said this doesn't even seem to be a significant saving of money either.

(Original post by gutenberg)
Hahahaha! I know, it's ridiculous. Cambridge have a very strict set of rules of what you can wear underneath the gown, as well as rules on gowns/hoods etc. I can assure you that a swimsuit would contravene those rules

Try having the same rules for when you sit exams too. And we get through two gowns for the graduation ceremony.

[gutenberg]

(Original post by dbmag9)
This thread is confusing me. Yes, you might be able to get in to the ceremony wearing the academic dress of a different degree and university, but you will be dressed wrong, and surely the point of a graduation ceremony involving silly things like academic dress is that you feel a connection to the institution, to the people who have come before you and who will come after. Different gowns/hoods sometimes differ in very minor details, but unless you're buying the correct one for your degree it's still entirely plausible that people will notice you are wearing something different to your classmates next to you. As others have said this doesn't even seem to be a significant saving of money either.

Yes exactly, and as you say because you are dressed incorrectly, then the university can refuse you admission to the ceremony, depending on how strict they are.

Try having the same rules for when you sit exams too. And we get through two gowns for the graduation ceremony.

Thank god for a thesis-based degree with no exams

[nulli tertius]

(Original post by gutenberg)

Is there much of a market for second-hand gowns and random hoods?

There are collectors, some of whom will go weak at the knees for a hood from an obscure music college. For some reason, music colleges are obsessed with fancy academic dress.

http://www.mcom.org.uk/robe

http://www.nmsm.musicnw.co.uk/gowns_and_hoods.php

[dbmag9]

(Original post by gutenberg)
Thank god for a thesis-based degree with no exams

No viva?

[gutenberg]

(Original post by dbmag9)
No viva?

Not for the MPhil, no (could just be my course though, I know friends on other MPhils had a viva). We only had a viva if there was a danger of us failing

[dbmag9]

(Original post by gutenberg)
Not for the MPhil, no (could just be my course though, I know friends on other MPhils had a viva). We only had a viva if there was a danger of us failing

Ah, fair enough. I quite enjoyed academic dress for my exams, if I'm honest. Plus I get to wear it stress-free for the Time Ceremony.