Epitoge

An epitoge is a garment worn over the left shoulder that sometimes forms part of academic or court dress.

## Background

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The epitoge is descended from the chaperon, a mediaeval hat that descended from a cloak with a hood with the head tucked into the opening of the cowl, so that the long tail or liripipe and the abbreviated cape hung at opposite sides of the head (wearer's right and wearer's left respectively). Over time, the cape portion was reduced to a small pleated flap and the cowl was curled up into a roundel, and it then became the practice to wear the garment over the left shoulder rather than on the head, with the narrow liripipe in front and the wider cape behind.[1]

The garment is commonly used in French universities, where bands of ermine trimming are used to indicate the degree (one band for a bachelor, two for a master, and three for a doctor). In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the garment is more commonly used to indicate diplomas rather than degrees; the Irish variant of the epitoge omits the roundel and has a plain cape rather than pleated. Versions of epitoge are also used by some orders of chivalry and on barristers' gowns in some legal systems.[1]

## Gallery

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Examples of epitoges

* A black AKC epitoge on the left shoulder with gold lion embroidery, accompanying the academic dress of King's College London

* A Swiss barrister wearing an epitoge (in this case, both the liripipe and the cape are hanging behind the shoulder)

## See also

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* Academic dress
* Graduation ceremony

## References

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1. ^ a b Groves 2011, pp. 16–17.

## Bibliography

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* Groves, Nicholas, ed. (2011). Shaw's Academical Dress of Great Britain and Ireland (3rd ed.). Oxford: The Burgon Society. ISBN 978-0-95612723-5.

* v
* t
* e

Academic dress

Components|

| Terminology|

* Groves classification system

|

Headwear|

* Bishop Andrewes cap
* Biretta
* Canterbury cap
* Couleur
* Doctoral hat
* Faluche
* Square academic cap
* Student cap
* Tudor bonnet

Hoods|

* Cowl
* Epitoge
* Hood
* Liripipe
* Stole
* Tippet

Gowns|

* Cope
* Gown
* Khrui

Miscellaneous|

* Bands
* Doctoral ring
* Sub fusc

People|

* Cecil Beaton
* John Burgon
* Charles Franklyn
* Norman Hargreaves-Mawdsley
* George Shaw
* Vivienne Westwood

By country|

| Australia|

* Melbourne
* Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
* Tasmania

|

Canada|

* McGill

Ireland|

* Dublin
* National

Philippines|

* Santo Tomas

Thailand|

* Chulalongkorn

United Kingdom|

| England and Wales|

* Bristol
* Cambridge
* Durham
* Exeter
* Imperial
* Kent
* Leeds
* Liverpool John Moores
* London
* King's
* Manchester
* Nottingham
* Oxford
* Wales
* Warwick

|

Scotland|

* Edinburgh
* Glasgow
* Robert Gordon
* St Andrews
* Undergraduate gowns

United States|

* Columbia
* Harvard
* Stanford

Other countries|

* China
* France
* Spain

See also|

* The Burgon Society
* Academic scarves
* Honor cords
* Legal dress
* Praxe

* Category

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