Each year students graduate with advanced degrees and faculty are required to attend those graduations. Thus students and faculty need a graduate robe, otherwise known as academic regalia. These regalia can be quite expensive. In fact at my alma mater, Penn State, the regalia costs $699. That is usually quite expensive for a student. It is also expensive for faculty who usually do not have nice plush salaries (who am I kidding none do). But there are cheaper options out there. There are tons of sites that offer them for $300 or so. But again, I felt this was too expensive for a piece of cloth that I felt I could sew together if I was motivated enough. So after an exhaustive search, I found a company that sells them for $100-$200 depending on what you want. I believe I got mine for a total of $150 with shipping and that included the gown, hat, and hood. It is really nice quality too and came with 3-4 days of ordering. I usually do not promote a brand or website but figured this was useful for faculty. I thought it was a scam at first because it was so much cheaper than other sites but after doing a google search found out they were legit and now can confirm that they are as I have my gown in hand. Well here is the site: http://www.economycapandgown.com/