Usually gowns are black, although some American and many foreign universities use colors. Bachelors' and masters' gowns are untrimmed. Doctors' gowns are faced down the front with velvet with three velvet bars across the sleeves. The velvet facing and bars may be black or they may be the color of the field of study. Women may wear white collars with a bachelor's gown.
Hoods are also black.
The doctor's hood is four feet in length, the master's three and one-half feet. Colorado School of Mines hoods are lined with silver and blue, the official School colors. The velvet border on the hood, which is three and five inches wide for the master's and the doctor's degrees, respectively, identifies the field of study to which the degree pertains. Colorado School of Mines hoods have yellow velvet borders for Master of Science, orange velvet borders for Master of Engineering, and blue velvet borders for Doctor of Philosophy. The black mortarboard cap is standard in the United States.