Use
The undergraduate gown has lost popularity at different times in the different universities. The requirements of town residence made it impractical, however the more isolated locations of Aberdeen and St Andrews (and by extension, Dundee) ensured a longer heritage.
At present, the gowns are most commonly a feature associated with the University of St Andrews where they are very commonly worn by students to formal events, pier walks and exams. They are only very rarely found in everyday usage at the other institutions, although are still occasionally seen worn by debaters, societies, student representatives, choirs and attendees at formal events and chapel services. It is perhaps most commonly seen at academic ceremonies, particularly in relation to the installation of a new Rector.
The undergraduate style influences several gowns of office, particularly for members of Students' Representative Councils and Rectors.
Read more about this topic: Undergraduate Gowns In Scotland
Famous quotes containing the word use:
“... it is use, and use alone, which leads one of us, tolerably trained to recognize any criterion of grace or any sense of the fitness of things, to tolerate ... the styles of dress to which we are more or less conforming every day of our lives. Fifty years hence they will seem to us as uncultivated as the nose-rings of the Hottentot seem today.”
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844–1911)