University Academic mortarboard (Bachelor) - Graduation Cap

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Traditional wear [ edit ] Two British mortarboards; left one is a folding-skull and the right one is a rigid-skull. Top view of an academical mourning cap as used at Cambridge. Left: a female graduate in the Victorian era wearing a modern style mortarboard. Right: honorary graduates at the University of Bologna in Italy, still which still uses a biretta style cap for some graduates. You want to position the tape or string one inch, or 25mm, above your eyebrows, then angle it down to the top of your ears to accurately measure where the cap will sit (see diagram below). At the University of Cambridge, undergraduates by ancient convention used to cut their tassels very short so that the tassel does not extend beyond the edge of the board. After they graduated, they wore the square cap with the tassel at the normal length. [10] This convention has now fallen into disuse; few people now wear headgear with academic dress at any time and undergraduates in particular have no need to wear the cap.

You can only properly wear your Graduation Cap if the size is correct. Trust us, there is nothing less comfortable than squeezing into a tight graduation cap or having it lose and baggy throughout the commencement ceremony. From our perspective as long as your cap is comfortable and can be secured in less than 5 minutes, you have nailed it. If you have bought your graduation cap beforehand, it’s a great idea to practice different hairstyles until you find your ideal graduating look. Nonetheless, there are some basic guidelines you can follow to make sure that you feel comfortable on your big day and you and your classmates wear the traditional cap of academic regalia properly.Looking for something fun for your children to do on the last day of primary school? Then these mortarboard hat template worksheets will be just the thing you need! The mortarboard cap is a worldwide symbol of educational achievement and graduation. No matter where you’re graduating from, a mortarboard cap balanced precariously on your head represents your achievements better than anything. The swotting and the stressing. The time you spent working when you wanted to be doing something else. a b Groves, Nicholas (2011). Shaw's academical dress of Great Britain and Ireland (3rded.). Burgon Society. ISBN 9780956127235. But as a rule of thumb, it’s best to avoid high ponytails, buns or any hairstyle that won’t allow the cap to fit on easily. If it's your first graduation or last, it won’t feel complete without your mortarboard. The moment of achievement is going to last a lifetime with you so why not look the part with a mortarboard hat, once you put the hat on in that hall surrounded by your fellow classmates it will then feel real that you’re graduating from university, all that hard work and effort will never go unnoticed. Our UK Mortarboards are made from a high-quality combination of durable woven polyester which gives it rigidness for the all-important traditional hat throwing photograph but is also great for comfort throughout the long day ahead.

In many European countries, including Spain and Italy, the biretta is still used as an academic cap, as an alternative to the mortarboard that is used in Britain, the USA and elsewhere. The design of the mortarboard itself continues to evolve, with softer caps introduced in recent years to give a more comfortable fit, and the recent introduction of caps designed to fit over a headscarf being offered at some universities. In the mid-1600s, colleges and universities started appearing all over the United States. Once again the entry point for men looking to enter the church was styled on both Oxford and Cambridge University. The precursors to the mortarboard and graduation robes also came over, once again based around the religious dress.Until the second half of the twentieth century, mortarboards were often worn by schoolteachers, and the hat remains an icon of the teaching profession. This article is about the garment. For the honor society, see Mortar Board. For the device used by builders, see Hawk (plasterer's tool). Graduation portrait of Linus Pauling wearing a mortarboard, 1922 Georgiana Simpson in 1921, wearing a mortarboard and academic dress for her graduation from the University of Chicago Make sure that the pointed tip of your cap lies on your forehead and sits about an inch above your eyebrows. When you place it on your head, try to get it as central as possible before securing it on your head. a b Robinson, N F (1905). "The Pileus Quadratus: An enquiry into the relation of the priest's square cap to the common academical catercap and to the judicial corner-cap". Transactions of the St Paul's Ecclesiological Society. 5: 1–16 . Retrieved 14 May 2015. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, as colour photography started to make an introduction into society, universities slowly implemented mortarboards having coloured tassels on top of them. These tassels often showed off the school colours or, later, the course the student had been part of.

Hargreaves-Mawdsley, A History of Academical Dress in Europe Until the End of the Eighteenth Century (1963), p.137

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So, now you know a bit more about the history of the graduation cap, let’s take a look at how to wear one. How to Wear a Graduation Cap In the UK, the tassel is shorter and is gathered at the button at the centre of the board. The U.S. style is slightly longer, gathered at a cord attached to the button.

Misunderstanding over regulations has contributed to the confusion. For example, Open University no longer prescribes headwear for graduation ceremonies. Likewise, others have done away with the cap for socio-political purposes, or due to designer intent, as with Vivienne Westwood’s design for the ceremonies of King’s College London. The cap has been described as a ‘mortarboard’ in recent years owing to its flat shape, which resembles the flat ‘hawk board’ used by builders for holding their plaster or mortar. However, the academic cap actually originates from a different style of cap called a ‘biretta’. The flat board is sometimes called the trencher cap, or trencher. The tassel is made up of many silk threads clustered and fixed together, fastened with a button on the end which is attached to the headpiece’s center. Loose strands may freely fall over the edge of the board, usually to the front left. Strands are often plaited together, forming a cord with end threads untied.Make sure not to pull the measuring tape too tight and, if possible, ask a friend or family member to help measure for you. NB: If you are not sure what size you need (e.g. you land on the boundary), we would recommend going for the larger size, allowing a more comfortable fit. The hat itself is a flat, square hat that includes a tassel, which is suspended from a button located in the top center of the board. The board of the cap is intended to be parallel to the ground when worn properly. Whether you keep up the historic tradition of throwing the cap in the air, as first recognised in 1912 in Annapolis, Maryland, or have a more subdued celebration, we hope you enjoy your day.