The fashion choices Bruins make on graduation can reflect aspects of their identity and college experience.

According to the UCLA Store, all graduating students are required to wear a cap and gown, with additional items like a hood or tassels depending on their degree level. Students, however, may wear whatever they choose underneath the gown for the graduation ceremony.

Despite the lack of an official dress code at UCLA, for at least 140 years, students have traditionally worn white on graduation, Marina Nye, a history doctoral student, said. She added that for women in particular, white holds historical significance, symbolizing new beginnings and often worn to commemorate special occasions.

“We have images of women in graduation gowns dating from the 1870s … which also corresponds with when women started going to college,” Nye said. “Initially, it was required for women to wear white gowns for their graduation, but then as time goes on, it’s more of just now a tradition rather than a requirement.”

Much like the tradition of wearing white, the history of academic regalia at colleges across the nation dates back to the late 19th century.

According to the Intercollegiate Registry of Academic Costume, in 1893, representatives from Princeton University, New York University and other schools created an intercollegiate commission to design a standardized graduation uniform for students to wear nationwide.

In 1935, the American Council on Education adopted the intercollegiate commission’s designs and established an Academic Costume Code, which laid the foundation for the modern day graduation regalia, according to the Registry’s website.

In accordance with the Academic Costume Code, UCLA’s current graduation attire for undergraduates consists of a cap, gown and tassel. This set is called the Bachelor Unit and currently costs $50, according to the UCLA Store.

The Academic Costume Code underwent changes in 1959 when different colored tassels were introduced to highlight a graduate’s academic field of study, according to The Davis Enterprise.

Across the various schools at UCLA, different colors are used to distinguish a student’s academic field of study or degree level.

At the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, undergraduate students wear orange tassels, master’s students wear black tassels and doctoral students wear gold tassels.

Students earning a bachelor’s degree from the School of Theater, Film and Television wear brown tassels. Purple tassels and trims are designated for School of Law graduates, while green tassels and trims are worn by those graduating from the David Geffen School of Medicine. Students receiving a bachelor’s degree from the Herb Alpert School of Music wear pink tassels.

Another distinctive element of the UCLA graduation attire is the satin blue stole. While not mandatory for the ceremony, many students opt to wear one. According to the UCLA Store, it is among the fastest-selling pieces of graduation regalia.

The standard stole sold at the UCLA store only features the name of the school and a student’s graduation class. Bruin Custom Print in Ackerman Union allows students to personalize their sashes with custom text such as majors, honors, club affiliations, national flags and official UCLA patches like Joe Bruin or the UCLA seal, according to their website.

Jessica Lin, a fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, said she decorated her sash to feature clubs on campus that highlighted her cultural identity – including UCLA Wushu, a Chinese martial arts club on campus.

“I have my name embroidered, major and then at the bottom … I have the Wushu emblem, and then on the other side I have the Chinese cultural dance club logo,” Lin said.

Beyond the official regalia and stoles, the absence of a dress code allows students to choose to wear an outfit that honors their heritage and pays tribute to meaningful experiences from their time at UCLA.

For some students, honoring their identity through their clothing choices may also involve making a political statement.

During last year’s College of Letters and Science commencement, some students wore keffiyehs, scarves symbolizing Palestinian solidarity, and raised red-gloved hands during the national anthem to protest the university’s response to campus activism opposing the war in Gaza.

[Related: UCLA College celebrates graduates amid protest at commencement ceremony]

UCLA is not alone as students from schools across the country use their graduation attire as a form of political protest. At Harvard University, over 800 white flowers were distributed amongst graduates. The flowers were then pinned to their gowns to express solidarity with international students, who have been under attack by the Trump administration, according to the Harvard Crimson.

Some students choose to wear cultural attire simply as a way to express their identity, for their own personal reasons.

Alexis Romero, who graduated in 2024 with a degree in education and social transformation and ethnomusicology, wore a blue and gold traje de charro – a traditional Mexican mariachi suit – for both her graduation ceremony and photos.

“I not only chose to wear it as a symbol of my Mexican pride, but also because I spent all four of my years at UCLA in Mariachi de Uclatlán,” Romero said. “Since my first quarter, all the way to my last, they were a family to me,” she added.

When deciding what to wear for graduation, Lin chose to wear attire that her mother passed down to her, as a way to honor her Chinese heritage.

Lin said she plans to wear different dresses for the commencement ceremony and graduation photos. Lin said she will wear a traditional white dress for the ceremony and a red qipao – a traditional Chinese full-body dress made of silk and covered with embroidery – for the photos.

She added that graduation provided an opportunity to celebrate a part of her cultural identity.

“I never got to experience much of my Chinese heritage,” Lin said. “Being able to show that off … such a big milestone and graduating college – I really wanted that. I wanted to show that they were such big building blocks to me.”