A few words on the use of Academical costume, and its connection with the ordinary dress of the Middle Ages, may not be out of place.

In the twelfth century the ordinary gown worn by men was like that of the Lord Mayor of London, and it had a hood attached to it. It came into use after the Norman Conquest. Besides the gown, or cloak, a capa, or cape, was used, consisting of a short hooded cloak, which also came from Normandy; and many out-door garments seem to have been furnished with a hood. In the thirteenth century the hood became a separate article of attire, under the Norman name of chaperon and aumusse, later amess. The latter came to be used as a canonical vestment, though by no means limited to this, for it was worn by women for three centuries, contemporaneously with the chaperon. It went out of fashion in France about 1330, but remained long after that among the lower orders in England.

The chaperon worn by men in the reign of Edward II. was a sort of pointed bag, with an oval opening for the face; the point was sometimes of great length, hanging down behind or wrapped round the head. The tail was called a tippet or liripipes. In the first half of the fourteenth century a great variety of hoods was worn, both by men and women; and it is probable that about this time the dress and hood proper to each degree began to be settled at the Universities.