doctoral regalia and blazers home page

Doctoral Regalia: Doctoral Gowns
Graduation Hoods - Velvet Tams

email      order form     site map


For Men

Blazers & Sportcoats
Trousers
Tuxedos/Formal Wear
   


For Women

Blazers
Tuxedos
Trousers
 


For Children

Boys' & Girls' Harvard Blazer
 


For everyone

Reunion Outfits
Academic Regalia
Skimmer Hats
Logos & Emblems

Doctoral Regalia page -- including Doctoral and Ph.D. gowns, doctoral tams and academic hoods.

Deluxe, Classic, and Souvenir - Academic Doctoral Regalia

We have three levels of "off the rack" doctoral gowns: Our Deluxe Doctoral gown, our faculty "classic" quality doctoral gown, and our economy doctoral gown. We can also custom make your doctoral robe, hood, and tam.

The Deluxe doctor's gown is essentially a made-to-measure quality gown, but at "off the rack" prices. What we've done is take all of the fancy features of the made to measure gowns, using the most popular fabric, and created a Deluxe gown, but instead of using a separate pattern for each individual to incorporate unusual neck circumference, sleeve length, etc., we use "off the rack" sizes based on the wearer's height and weight. These gowns are generously cut with 7" more fabric woven into the fluting, they have extra plush velvet, bell sleeves, a pocket slit for the hand, braided cording behind the neck, etc. However, because we can make them in multiples (versus one at a time for completely made-to-measure) we were able to knock the price down to $290.00 for the Deluxe gown with either generic black or Ph.D. Blue velvet trim.

We believe this to be the finest off the rack doctoral gown available at any price!

Our most popular, Deluxe Ph.D. blue velvet gown is pictured on our web site, however optional piping is also available on this gown. We can also custom make the Deluxe gown in your choice of fabric colors,  velvet colors and piping to match the regalia of most school requiring specialized regalia.

custom doctoral gowns and regalia

Deluxe Gown Options

On the other extreme is the economy or souvenir gown. This gown is primarily used students by graduating with their doctorate but not going into academa, and who will only be using this gown for one event.

In between the Deluxe and the souvenir, we have the faculty quality gown (also known as the classic doctoral gown). In terms of tailoring, the classic gown is essentially a rental quality gown. It is the ideal gown for the faculty member looking to purchase a good quality gown to last them for years to come, but who does not require the superior tailoring of a Deluxe nor a fully custom made to measure gown. The classic doctor gowns come standard with open sleeves (as opposed to the Deluxe which feature Deluxe bell sleeves), and black-velvet chevrons. However for the fabric, we use the same material as our Deluxe gown, so we consider it "one step above rental quality".

doctoral gowns and tam

.

Classic Faculty quality Black Velvet Doctoral gown shown with Deluxe Ph.D. hood. Fabric of academic hood is same material as Deluxe gown; however velvet is not built up the same, and sleeves are open style.

phd gown hood and tam

.

Deluxe gown with black velvet (shown below) or Ph.D. blue velvet (shown above)
 available IN STOCK for immediate delivery at $290.00

.

doctoral gown

What colors to use for academic regalia:

While some universities have specific regalia requirements unique to their institution (i.e. Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, etc.) MOST schools follow the traditional academic guidelines of a black gown with black or degree velvet, a 6 or 8 sided tam, and degree velvet hood with school colors indicated in the lining.

All others, wanting high quality Deluxe or custom "traditional" regalia, showing their degree and school should keep the following guidelines in mind when ordering:

All doctors, regardless of doctorate (M.D., Ph.D., J.D., Ed.D, etc.) may use black-velvet on their gown.

However when purchasing regalia, many doctors prefer to use their degree velvet color on their gown to match the degree velvet on their hood.

doctoral hood gown and tam

Above, Deluxe Ph.D. blue velvet hood (with optional gold piping added).

Please keep in mind that the dark royal blue is used for all Ph.D. degree hoods, regardless of specialty of discipline.  For that reason, many Ph.D. holders wanting to show their discipline, elect to add "degree color" piping to their hoods or gowns.

The Deluxe Doctoral hood costs $145.00 with optional piping or $130.00 without piping. Either way, this is a truly beautiful hood!  We recommend the Deluxe hood for all Deluxe and classic gowns.

The Economy doctor hood is $80.00

The velvet of the hood indicates the degree (for example dark royal for Ph.D.; light blue for Ed.D; Hunter green for Medicine etc.) and the school colors are indicated on the satin lining.

So for example while an Ed.D receives light blue signifying education, a Ph.D. in Education uses the darker Ph.D. blue velvet.  A doctor of divinity or theology would use scarlet velvet, but a Ph.D. in divinity/theology would use Ph.D. blue velvet.

For that reason, many Ph.D. holders wanting to show their discipline, elect to add "degree color" piping to their hoods or gowns.

For example, many people with a Ph.D. in Science <who must use Ph.D. Blue Velvet on their hood --not gold, since their degree is a doctor of philosophy>  elect to add gold piping to their hood or gown,  just as a Ph.D. in Education may elect to add Light Blue piping to his/her hood.

 
phd gown phd hood doctoral tam
Above Deluxe Doctoral gown with black velvet and gold piping added to both academic gown and hood.  
Above Deluxe Ph.D. blue velvet doctoral gown and graduation hood with gold piping added to both academic gown and hood.

Both the Deluxe Doctoral gown with black velvet & gold piping; and the Deluxe Doctoral gown with Ph.D. royal blue velvet & gold piping are normally kept IN STOCK in most sizes. Price is $365.00, representing $290.00 for the Deluxe robe plus $75.00 for the piping.

.

Velvet tams can be purchased for ANY of the gowns.

doctoral graduation tam

.

Tams are available in four, six or eight sided models, with your choice of traditional (silky) rayon two-button gold tassel @ $78.50 or with a gold bullion two-button metallic tassel @ $92.00

Wardrobe consultant Morté says:

    Most average to tall men prefer the eight sided model tam. This is the most round looking tam, and is the best looking on large individuals of physical prowess.
  • Most average sized women and short to average size men tend to look best in the six sided model. The six sided tam is the most popular style, since it looks the best on most people.
  • Most short & stocky women tend to look best in the four sided tams, since it looks the least round.
Velvet tams are usually made in black-velvet, and are ordinarily kept in-stock.

If you like, we can also special make your tam in another color for $20.00 extra. Please allow 4 - 6 weeks, for all "other than black" tams.

To order, we would need

Part one

  • Name of person ordering
  • Bill-to address with city, state and zip code
  • Shipping address if different
  • Home phone
  • Work or cell phone

Part two
Gown

  • Quality of gown (Deluxe; faculty/classic; econo/souvenir)
  • Height of each person receiving regalia
  • Weight of each person receiving regalia
  • Velvet color (Black, Ph.D. blue or other)

Optional (Deluxe Only): Other than black gown fabric (+ $75.00) If so, which color?

Optional (Deluxe Only): Piping on Gown (+ $75.00), if so which color? If so, would you like the piping around the velvet chevrons (sleeve bars), and also around the front velvet panels, or only around the chevrons?

Part three
Hood

  • Quality of hood (Deluxe with piping; Deluxe; econo/souvenir)
  • School and City you graduated from (some universities have several campuses. We need to know which campus you graduated from, as often the colors vary from one to another). If you know your school colors, please write them here.
  • Exact degree (Ph.D., or Doctor of...,) Remember that all Ph.D. holders receive the dark Ph.D. blue velvet regardless of the discipline/specialty of their Ph.D. whereas bachelors/masters/doctors (non Ph.D.) would receive their degree color.
  • Velvet color
  • Optional for Deluxe only. Piping on hood? What color?
Part four
Tam
  • Four, six or eight sided model
  • Gold buillion or rayon (silky) tassel
  • Head size or cap size
  • Note: If you do not purchase a tam, and would like a mortarboard sent to you at no charge, simply indicate so here.  We do not require your head size for mortarboards, as we use a one size fits all elastic cap that tends to fit most people much better than the old "sized" caps. However most faculty members feel most comfortable in a tam.
  • Normal (black-velvet) tam or optional "other than black" tam. If so, what color?
Part five
Date Needed
If you require custom items, and you do not have eight weeks to wait, would you like us to send you free loaner regalia, while your customized regalia is being made?

Part six

SPECIAL REQUESTS, confirmations, etc. If there is anything different or special about this order (such as optional piping on gown) we need to know about, be sure to let us know. We will contact you if we have questions about your order.

If you have any questions about ordering doctoral regalia, such as having a gown made in a special fabric such (other than black) or need information about school colors, etc., please contact our doctoral regalia sales department

.

CapandGown Home page

Back to BlazerDepot home page

indiana university

Have a college emblem crest or logo -- we'll be happy to sew it on your doctoral gown or blazer

  college emblems college  
       
     

.