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Sub-fusc etc

When are we supposed to buy it? I live in Oxford anyway and have an unconditional offer so I may as well get it now as later? And how much is it likely to cost?

Reply 1

Hoofbeat

14

You only need to buy a gown, morter board and a piece of black ribbon. Think gowns somewhere around £20, can't remember mortor board.

You could go and buy it now (Shepherd & Woodward on High St, Varsity Shop on Broad St etc), but some college offer deals on them once you get your fresher packs etc, so you could wait until Sept/Oct and some people even wait til 0th week - you won't need it til Sat of 1st week so there's no real rush.

Reply 2

pease_blossom

Hoofbeat

You only need to buy a gown, morter board and a piece of black ribbon. Think gowns somewhere around £20, can't remember mortor board.

You could go and buy it now (Shepherd & Woodward on High St, Varsity Shop on Broad St etc), but some college offer deals on them once you get your fresher packs etc, so you could wait until Sept/Oct and some people even wait til 0th week - you won't need it til Sat of 1st week so there's no real rush.

Agree, but at some colleges you might need it before then. At Queen's, for example, you need a gown on Tuesday of Oth week for the Dean's allocution.

Reply 3

trina

1

Yeah but colleges make it cheaper and in my year I bought mine through OUSU. It's made of some form of polyester rather than cotton, but its perfectly adequate and distinctly cheaper.
At my college, we were meant to have gowns for the Tuesday, but most people had ordered theirs through OUSU and they hadn't all been delivered yet, so we were let off. You could always borrow one from a 2nd year if you wetre really stuck anyway.

Reply 4

KuinKra

1

Don't get it from the offer in the freshers' pack. Rubbish quality.

Get yours from Ede & Ravenscroft on the high street - slightly more expensive, but worth it :smile:

Reply 5

Nutter

16

K'uin K'ra

Get yours from Ede & Ravenscroft on the high street - slightly more expensive, but worth it :smile:

Will take note, thanks.

Reply 6

Showsni

1

You have to get a suit too. That's the expensive bit.
Our college's second hand stuff was probably the best value for the rest. (My gown has a Shepherd and Woodward label in - are they any good?)

Reply 7

Agrippina

OP

15

Yes, I'll need to get some white shirts and a ball gown too! :eek:

Thanks for the advice everyone. :smile:

Reply 8

Crazy Mongoose

12

Showsni

You have to get a suit too. That's the expensive bit.
Our college's second hand stuff was probably the best value for the rest. (My gown has a Shepherd and Woodward label in - are they any good?)

Is that a run-of-the-mill, ordinary tie, you-can-buy-from-asda-for-about-£15 buisness suit (don't laugh, its a great suit) or a more fancy, dicky-bow-tie, im-not-quite-sure-i-know-where-to-get (pah, Yorkshire) dinner jacket combo?

I wanna try really hard to get me a scholars gown- a little bird (well, wikipedia) tells me they are permissable attire for solicitor advocates...

Reply 9

Showsni

1

It's a just-a-plain suit.
£15 from ASDA!? I was ripped off...

Reply 10

CrystaLite

I heard that parents arent allowed to attend the matriculation ceremony due to lack of space. Is this true? My parents are probably going to come for the sole purpose of embarassing me (oh, and taking loads of pictures..)

Reply 11

KuinKra

1

CrystaLite

I heard that parents arent allowed to attend the matriculation ceremony due to lack of space. Is this true? My parents are probably going to come for the sole purpose of embarassing me (oh, and taking loads of pictures..)

Yeah, it's true. They can't attend the matriculation in the sheldonian; there's barely enough room for the students as it is, but they can certainly attend whatever your college plans (which in most cases, is nothing. Just a photo afterwards). Most people's parents don't come.

Reply 12

Showsni

1

I missed it... Had pneumonia. :frown:

Reply 13

thomasjtl

9

a more fancy, dicky-bow-tie, im-not-quite-sure-i-know-where-to-get (pah, Yorkshire) dinner jacket combo?

Off topic, but if you wanted one of these types of suit (sure to come in handy!) Marks and Spencer or debanhams stock them if you don't have a proper suit shop nearby.

Reply 14

Crazy Mongoose

12

thomasjtl

Off topic, but if you wanted one of these types of suit (sure to come in handy!) Marks and Spencer or debanhams stock them if you don't have a proper suit shop nearby.

Ah! Marks&Sparks! Sure we have one of those in Yorkshire... somewhere.... :redface:

Reply 15

sixthirtythree

Rachel

Yes, I'll need to get some white shirts and a ball gown too! :eek:

Thanks for the advice everyone. :smile:

Don't get a ballgown, get a evening or cocktail dress - ballgowns are strictly white tie and you'll only get like one chance to wear them (depending on how many times you want to buy a 100+ GBP ticket).

Also, I have a spare gown going I am happy to sell for 15 GBP (RRP 30 GBP) - size small. PM for details...

Reply 16

thomasjtl

9

forgive me for being an ignorant straight guy, but what's the difference between an evening dress and ball gown? Are they strictly defined, like black tie and white tie are for guys?

Reply 17

Athena

6

thomasjtl

forgive me for being an ignorant straight guy, but what's the difference between an evening dress and ball gown? Are they strictly defined, like black tie and white tie are for guys?

The difference is generally in length and style (longer and possible more OTT for ball gowns, slinkier and shorter for evening dress, which I'd probably all cocktail dress...). I don't think they put it on invitations though - girls are either expeted to just know, or else they phone round all their friends saying "What are you going to wear?", "Well Sarah said she was going to wear...", etc. It depends on what the men are expected to wear, the setting, and what styles of dress suit us :p:

Reply 18

sixthirtythree

thomasjtl

forgive me for being an ignorant straight guy, but what's the difference between an evening dress and ball gown? Are they strictly defined, like black tie and white tie are for guys?

They're not defined, but if I was expected to wear a puffy ballgown (full skirt), the invitation would say "White tie" whereas Black Tie ranges from cocktail dresses (knee-calf length and up, slinky, shiny) to evening dresses (full length, streamlined)

Reply 19

Patrick7777

6

thomasjtl

forgive me for being an ignorant straight guy, but what's the difference between an evening dress and ball gown? Are they strictly defined, like black tie and white tie are for guys?

Gay men aren't all cross dressers/ball gown experts you know.

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