Graduation: do the mum's need to wear hats? which type of dress shirt do we wear?

[womble chris]

my mum keeps banging on about this, is it fairly standard for the mums to wear hats?

also, i'm unsure whether i should be wearing a winged dress shirt of a collared dress shirt to go with the white bowtie. any ideas?

what has happened typically in previous years?

also what do us graduates wear at the garden party?

finally, any tips for making sure none of your friends speak to your parents?

many thanks

[exnihilo]

Mums can wear hats, but will probably find them awkward at the graduation ceremony.

The shirt should be an ordinary plain white one - not an evening shirt, not a frilly fronted one, not a wing-collar.

For the garden party, if it's on the day of your graduation, what you graduated in is more than acceptable, if it's on another day then just a suit and tie is fine, or if you've hired the gown/hood for longer stick with the sub fusc.

[womble chris]

Quoting exnihilo from 22:47, 15th Jun 2007
Mums can wear hats, but will probably find them awkward at the graduation ceremony.

The shirt should be an ordinary plain white one - not an evening shirt, not a frilly fronted one, not a wing-collar.

For the garden party, if it's on the day of your graduation, what you graduated in is more than acceptable, if it's on another day then just a suit and tie is fine, or if you've hired the gown/hood for longer stick with the sub fusc.

thanks for the reply.

so it is just a normal white shirt, the type we would of worn to school? like normal buttons showing down the front and a normal collar.

just wearing a bow tie with a normal white shirt is pretty unusual, your always supposed to use a shirt without buttons showing (as obv a tie usually covers any buttons showing).

is this the definitely the case?

many thanks for replies

[Fozzy Bear]

i've not seen anything on the university website saying that you have to wear a shirt with a standard collar, it just says "white shirt".
I would have thought a wing collar would be better as they go with bow ties though.

edit: i doubt they'll turn anyone away for wearing a shirt with the "wrong" type of collar though.

[box_of_delights]

I had heard that it was meant to be a normal plain white school shirt affair, and not a dress shirt. It does seem an odd combo with the bow tie, so if someone else can verify it this would be great.

[exnihilo]

It is emphatically NOT a wing-collar dress shirt, it is an ordinary shirt with the buttons showing. It's not an evening event. If, however, you have an old fashioned day shirt with buttons showing and a detatchable wing collar of the Victorian kind, by all means wear it - but be prepared to have everyone think you're wearing an evening shirt.

They won't turn you away for the wrong kind of shirt, but it really is not an evening shirt, that is just wrong, it's an ordinary white work type shirt. Don't let the bow tie throw you, just because we only really see them nowadays with evening dress, it is perfectly correct to wear white or patterned ones during the day, with a suit, and an ordinary shirt.

[Iain]

I'm going with the "well tough, there's a waistcoat, a jacket and robes over the top of the shirt so if it is a dress shirt, so what" approach.

The university really could do with giving more precise details. I e-mailed them in the end regarding kilts - and cream kilt socks were ok - I know that got discussed on another thread.

[hr]

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~snpsoc

[exnihilo]

But if you have a plain white shirt is it not just as easy to wear it??

[Fozzy Bear]

and if you dont, a white shirt with a wing collar is still a white shirt which is all that is specified.

[exnihilo]

Yes, it's all that's specified. But it's not what should be specified. Still, if people want to wilfully wear the wrong thing full in the knowledge they're doing so, that's their right, and I can't claim to be even slightly surprised.

[womble chris]

i just rang up the office mentioned on the st andrews graduation form if you are in any doubts, and the women said 'you need to wear a white shirt which you can wear a white bow tie with, so usually a winged shirt'

i said 'could i wear a normal white shirt with buttons showing and a normal shirt collar, what do most people wear?' she said 'people wear all different clothing, but you need to wear a shirt with a white bowtie'.


i felt she was mildly clueless to be honest.

i think im going to wear the winged collar as it looks better for me.

i fully understand your reasoning exnihilo, and sure it is correct, just i think given people wear whatever they most prefer, i will do the same.

also when my dad rang up a couple of weeks ago, the reply was that some years more people wear winged shirts, some years more collared shirts.

for me, for the university not to have a set ruling on this is pretty bad.

[Fozzy Bear]

it is not the "wrong" thing since there is no "right" thing other than the shirt being white.

Im going with what is specified rather than what you claim should be specified (but isnt).

[exnihilo]

I claim nothing. I'm right. It's a day function, the collar should be fold down, not wing unless it's a plain day wing shirt. I'm not just making this stuff up, I've worn sub fusc hundreds of times, and I know what I'm talking about.

If you don't believe me, do a quick Google Image search and see what people are wearing. Unsurprisingly the most common image is of Prince William - in standard collar. But you'll also find plenty of pictures of the Chancellor, Principal, other staff, graduates in standard collars too.

[Big X]

i dont understand why everyone seems to be under the impression that to wear a bow tie you need to be wearing a winged shirt?! wings are primarily worn by youngsters when wearing a bow tie, with older gentlemen wearing a standard collar; but there is no reason why a normal collar is not fine - and can sometimes look smarter.

i.e.

http://galleries.lycos.co.uk/d/15338-2/daniel-craig.jpg

[hr]

"Never apologise for showing feeling, in doing so you apologise for truth" Disraeli

[OhhMy]

I would just give up. If people want to look rediculous on their graduation day then let them!

[KayBee]

Gosh. Much easier for us girlies.

I'm pretty sure I remember guys wearing kilts at my graduation. Is that allowed or am mistooken? Can you wear a white bow tie with a kilt?

/heads off to google images for help.

Edit: curiosity now satisfied. Should probably get back to work now. Ho hum.

[Bonnie]

If exnihilo, RJ Covino, Eliot Wilson, (whatever Hugh Martin's name is on this thing), or Anon. tell you what to wear-- that's the right thing to wear!!!!!!!!
There are no other people on the face of this earth who are more expert on these things! It's scary how WELL these guys know those dress codes. The girl working for the University has no clue-- maybe if you spoke to Lorraine Frasier herself she would tell you exactly what to wear, but she's got way bigger fish to fry. She's got to make sure the Principal doesn't fall over drunkenly and that HE'S wearing the right clothes.
So, just to reiterate-- when exnihilo said to wear a normal white shirt, he said that because he's been to more graduations than whatever your age is multiplied by two. He's literally been to hundreds of University events where this type of dress is required.

It was really stupid for the University to think that by cutting the written instructions, the resultant lack of strictness would outweigh the compelte confusion.

White, freakin', plain shirt.

[exnihilo]

Thank you, Miss Ryder!

[Dave the Explosive Newt]

And besides - if you're wearing a clipon bowtie (as the majority of people seem to), a wing collar shows off the clip to the world and rather detracts from the whole thing.

[hr]

Mmmmmmm, cake.
http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37102114

[househunter]

Did anyone notice what type of shirt Brian Lang was wearing on Tuesdays graduation?

A fucking winged shirt!