How to Wear a Master's Hood and Graduation Regalia

Visual guide with macaron characters demonstrating how to wear masters hood: before, placing, and checking the back.

The back of a master's hood is difficult to correct once you are already wearing it.

Everything may look finished from the front while the lining remains twisted behind you. A two-person check matters more than one universal formula.

This guide explains how to wear a master's hood for graduation when candidates arrive already hooded. It also covers onstage hooding.

Identify Every Piece of Your Graduation Regalia

Open the package several days early. Place each item on a clean surface and compare it with your order confirmation.

Cap, gown, hood, tassel, and school-specific items

A typical master's set may include a mortarboard, tassel, gown, and academic hood. School-specific cords, stoles, or medallions may arrive separately.

The outer shell usually matches the gown. Its lining displays institutional colors, while the velvet trim commonly represents the field or degree. UCLA's guide to the academic hood explains these parts.

Back view of a master's hood with key parts like velvet trim and lining labeled. Demonstrates how to wear masters hood.

Find the narrow front, long back, front loop, and any rear fastener. Not every hood has each feature. Confirm the degree, size, trim, and lining before discarding packaging.

Check Your University's Official Instructions First

General instructions can help you understand the garment. They cannot decide what happens at your ceremony.

Degree colors, hood orientation, and ceremony variations

Check the commencement page, graduate school, bookstore, and regalia vendor. Find four answers:

Do you arrive wearing the hood, carry it, or receive it onstage?
Which lining and velvet colors belong to your exact degree?
Where should the tassel begin, and does it move during the ceremony?
Which cords, stoles, fasteners, or alterations are permitted?

These examples were checked on August 27, 2026. The University of Missouri tells master's candidates to wear the hood throughout its ceremony. The University of Texas says a master's hood is often presented during convocation. Columbia's current regalia page lists no hood for its bachelor's and master's recipients at University Commencement.

Snippet from Columbia University Commencement page showing rules for regalia and how to wear masters hood (no hood for Masters).

Use your own institution's most recent directions, even when a general tutorial shows another setup. Save the instructions offline or print one page for your helper.

Put On the Gown and Secure the Hood

Complete these steps only when your university expects you to arrive already hooded. If the hood will be placed onstage, follow the carrying and handoff directions instead.

Neckband, lining, velvet edge, and anchor points

Put on the gown and settle its shoulders before adding the hood.
Hold the hood with the narrow opening in front and the long tail behind you.
Pass it carefully over your head with the velvet edge facing upward near your neck.
Smooth the front across both shoulders without pulling the neck opening tight.
Attach the supplied front cord to the anchor named by your school or vendor.
Ask a helper to center the back and turn out the lining as instructed.

The University of Minnesota's academic hood instructions add a useful back check. The lining should show down the back. An exposed unfinished tail seam means the hood is inside out.

Diagram showing a front check for proper regalia. Part of our how to wear masters hood visual guide.

Front view: a generic setup, not a substitute for school instructions. The tassel side and fastening point may differ.

Diagram demonstrating a critical back check to ensure you know how to wear masters hood perfectly from behind.

Back view: example colors only. A helper should confirm the visible lining, velvet edge, centered tail, and any supplied rear fastener.

Use both original diagrams to check master's hood placement from two angles. Your school's colors and hardware may differ.

Do not create a fastening point near your neck or skin. If the loop has no obvious anchor, ask regalia staff.

Set the Cap, Tassel, and Clothing Underneath

Add the cap after the hood so you do not knock it out of position.

Stability, visibility, comfort, and photographs

When learning how to wear cap and gown for graduation, start with the marked front inside the mortarboard. Center it on your forehead and keep the board level unless instructed otherwise.

Put the tassel on the side named in the ceremony instructions. Carnegie Mellon tells master's graduates to wear it on the left, while other ceremonies direct a move after conferral. Tassel placement is therefore a local rule, not a universal graduate custom.

Check that clothing does not block the hood anchor. The hood should not cover required identification or a microphone. Take front, side, and back photos to reveal a tilted cap or hidden lining.

Rear view of a graduate adjusting a graduation cap, showing a crucial step in how to wear masters hood regalia.

Rehearse Sitting, Walking, and Hooding

Regalia can look correct while you stand still and shift as soon as you move.

Movement, stage order, and helper coordination

Walk, turn, sit, stand, and reach for a diploma cover. Use the footwear, mobility aid, hearing device, or head covering planned for the ceremony.

For onstage hooding, practice which end you hold, where you stop, and who takes the hood. Lower yourself only if comfortable. Ask the accessibility team for another arrangement when needed.

Stage sequence with characters showing the on-stage ceremony steps for how to wear masters hood.

After sitting, ask your helper to recheck the tail, lining, velvet edge, and rear fastener without tightening the neck.

Fix Common Regalia Problems Before the Ceremony

Most problems are easier to solve by resetting the hood than by pulling one side harder.

Twisting, slipping, missing loops, and wrong pieces

Problem

Safer correction

Lining or tail is twisted

Remove the hood, lay it flat, identify the narrow front, and start again.

Hood rides toward the throat

Check the intended front cord and anchor; ask staff if the setup remains tight.

Hood slips from one shoulder

Center the gown first, then check any supplied rear cord or button with a helper.

A loop or button seems missing

Do not puncture the velvet or satin. Take the item and order details to regalia staff.

Hood color or gown style looks wrong

Compare the degree name and order confirmation; request an exchange rather than improvising.

Inspect early enough to request an exchange. Correct sizes and degree colors may be limited during lineup.

Adapt the Setup for Weather and Accessibility

The correct setup still needs to work for the person wearing it.

Heat, rain, mobility aids, and sensory comfort

Check whether the ceremony is indoors, outdoors, or split between locations. Ask how wet-weather changes affect the procession and regalia.

Test the gown around stairs, ramps, wheelchair footplates, crutches, and other mobility aids. Request seated hooding, extra dressing time, another route, or fastener help before ceremony day.

Notice rough trim, neck pressure, heat, and cap tension during rehearsal. Ask staff about approved adjustments. Do not cut, tape, or alter rentals without permission.

FAQ

Can rented academic hoods be steamed without causing damage?

Only when the rental provider permits it. The University of Phoenix allows a steamer on its gown, stole, or hood. That permission does not transfer to another rental. Hang the hood first, then check its label, agreement, and vendor guidance before applying heat.

Do graduates return hood packaging with rented regalia?

That depends on the rental instructions. USC requires rented gowns and hoods to be returned, while Southern Illinois University sends home-delivery orders with a prepaid return label. Neither example creates a rule for another school. Keep the box, garment bag, labels, and packing slip until you know which pieces and materials must go back.

Can universities replace missing regalia on ceremony morning?

Some maintain limited stock, but replacement is not guaranteed. Curry College's current commencement page says its bookstore keeps a small supply for late orders or replacements. Contact your bookstore and commencement office immediately. Bring your order confirmation, degree name, height or size, and the incorrect pieces. Do not borrow a hood for another degree merely because its color looks close.

Are master's hoods allowed in official graduation portraits?

Often, but the photographer, university, and rental schedule control the answer. Northwestern currently allows faculty renting regalia through TGS to keep it for post-ceremony photographs until its stated return cutoff. Confirm when your hood becomes available, whether the portrait session expects full regalia, and when rentals must be returned.

What storage method protects a keepsake hood after graduation?

First confirm that you own the hood. Follow its care label and let it dry completely before storage. Smithsonian textile guidance favors a clean, cool, dry, dark location and warns against sharp folds or airtight plastic that may trap condensation. Store the hood flat when possible, cushioning folds with clean white cotton or unbuffered acid-free tissue.

Conclusion

Knowing how to wear graduation regalia begins with the school, not the garment package. Confirm the ceremony sequence, identify the hood's front and back, use only its intended anchors, and let another person inspect the lining.

The final check is simple: comfortable at the neck, centered at the back, correct for your degree, and ready for the way your ceremony actually works.