Description
The gown, analogous to the Western doctoral robe and similar to American judicial attire, is constructed from heavy material, most appropriately of black color, and usually features double-bell sleeves with a cuff (mimicking the cassock once worn under it) and velvet facings (or panels) running over the neck and down both sides of the front enclosure length-wise, mimicking the ecclesiastical tippet once worn over it.
A minister who has earned an academic doctoral degree in any of the theological disciplines (D.D., D.Min., S.T.D., Th.D.) or in the liberal arts and sciences (Ph.D., D.A.) may adorn each sleeve with three chevrons or bars of velvet cloth in black or scarlet red, signifying senior scholarly credentials. The velvet panels of the gown's facings match the chevrons. Some doctoral gowns also have black velvet chevrons and panels, and adorned with red piping.
Contemporary choir robes and other expressions of lay vesture are inspired by, but remain distinct from, the Geneva gown.
Read more about this topic: Geneva Gown
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“It [Egypt] has more wonders in it than any other country in the world and provides more works that defy description than any other place.”
—Herodotus (c. 484–424 B.C.)
“Once a child has demonstrated his capacity for independent functioning in any area, his lapses into dependent behavior, even though temporary, make the mother feel that she is being taken advantage of....What only yesterday was a description of the child’s stage in life has become an indictment, a judgment.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“An intentional object is given by a word or a phrase which gives a description under which.”
—Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (b. 1919)