Doctors in Cambridge have two forms of academic dress: undress and full dress (or scarlet). Scarlet is worn on formal college and university occasions, and so-called Scarlet Days (mostly Church of England festivals such as Easter and Christmas).
The undress gown or black gown is similar to the MA gown (for PhD, LittD, ScD and in practice DD) or is a 'lay-type' gown similar to that worn by Queen's Counsel (LLD, MD, MusD). Different doctorates are distinguished from each other and from the plain MA gown by different arrangements of lace on the sleeves, facings or flap collar. The DD traditionally had a gown with sleeves like that on American gowns being gathered at the wrists which are called 'bishop's sleeves' or 'pudding sleeves'.
Undress gowns may be made of silk or stuff. The gown may be worn with a doctor's hood. The PhD hood, the one most commonly seen, is made of black corded silk lined with scarlet cloth; the hoods of higher doctors are made of red cloth and lined with silk in the faculty colour (scarlet for letters, pink shot light blue for science, light-cherry for laws, mid-cherry for medicine, dove grey for divinity). The MusD hood is of cream damask lined with dark cherry satin.
The full dress or scarlet gown differs for each doctorate, but uses the same material and colours as the hood. For PhDs, there are two versions of the scarlet gown. The traditional version is the same as the MA gown (in theory, though not in practice, the silk version), with the addition of a broad red cloth stripe down each side at the front. The alternative version (authorised in 2006[7][8] but commonly used without authorisation before then) uses detachable facings on an undress PhD gown, which is distinguished from the MA gown by doctors' lace on the sleeves that is not found on the traditional festal PhD gown. For the higher doctorates, such as LLD or ScD, the scarlet gown is a more impressive affair, being brightly coloured and voluminous, with open sleeves that hang long at the back, at the sleeve front, the lining is turned outwards and is fixed in position by a twisted cord and button. The linings of the sleeves and the facings are in silk of the colour of the hood lining.