How to wear your graduation hat
When the time finally arrives for you to get dressed in graduation hat and gown, you will undoubtedly be full of excitement. Catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror in all your graduation attire is a sight that it is sure to make you smile.
You cannot help but feel special wearing the distinctive graduation hat and gown. Not too dissimilar from putting on your wedding suit or gown on your big day, getting into your graduation clothing is an awesome feeling.
Not to alarm you but it’s not a case of throw on the gown, stick the hat on your hat and away you go. Not only is there a certain state of dress for graduation ceremonies, but your gowns and hats need to be work a certain way. People tend to struggle most with grasping how they should wear their graduation hat. The result is nervous glances around the room at the ceremony and desperate attempts to reposition or “fix” how they are wearing their hat.
To help, we’ve put together a quick lowdown on how to wear your graduation hat, including what to do with your tassel and charms.
First things first, ensure you get a hat that fits
The last thing you want is to be sitting at your graduation ceremony with your hat consistently slipping off or with it too tight for your head. It will take away from the day and will also take away from how you look and feel when the time for those all-important grad photographs comes around.
The standard mortarboard graduation hats can be purchased in adjustable sizing, which is your safest bet in terms of ensuring you buy a hat that is the right fit. However, don’t wait until the day itself to try it on. Just like any big event, you should always try on your attire far in advance of graduation so you can be assured you’ve got the perfect hit for your big moment.
Scrap the up-do
Graduation hats are not so accommodating of ponytails or any kind of upstyle or up-do. So when planning your graduation look, you’ll need to plan to wear your hair down. The cap covers a lot of your head so it’s worth researching hair styles that look good under your grad hat.
Position it correctly
To position your hat correctly, you should ensure that the pointed tip of your graduation hat sits at the front of your head while the elastic band should go behind. If in doubt, check the underside of the hat as it may include instructions to indicate which side should point where. Generally the lowest part of the front side will sit about an inch above your eyebrows.
A key thing to note is that the hat should sit on your head and not be tilted back – many grads make the mistake of tilting the hat to the side or back.
Positioning the tassel and charm
This part is pretty simple yet it’s the tassel which causes the most confusion and hassle! Your tassel is easily looped onto your graduation hat. Tassels should be worn on the right side of your hat before the ceremony. Then you move it to the opposite side after you have received your conferring parchment or when directed to do so by your graduation speaker. If you want to add a decorative or commemorative charm to the tassel on your hat, you will usually latch it on to the top of the tassel so it hangs neatly or you can purchase a tassel with a pre-attached charm.
That’s all you need to do! No need to panic, you’ve now got all the information you need to ensure you wear your hat with pride on graduation day and have all the picture perfect photographs taken before you throw it in the air with celebration alongside your classmates!