The commencement industry must have taken some cues from the wedding industry, because dear lord, is the PhD graduation get-up expensive! To buy the "official" PhD regalia of my university, which includes the gown, hood, cap and tassel, would cost me close to $900. That's a friggin' wedding dress right there. It's a good thing I may never get married, so I could consider this a one-time purchase. Should I get married someday, I'll likely elope, so perhaps I could consider purchasing the regalia instead of the dress for the wedding of some imaginary life that I have hypothetically rejected. And I suppose it's a more worthy of a purchase than a wedding dress, given that I'll likely wear it more than once if I end up attending my students' commencement ceremonies throughout my imaginary career as a professor. But still... Nine-hundred fucking dollars!
I really should just rent the second-string regalia for $50 instead of humoring the idea of buying the fancy schmancy threads. After all, the Chinese in me likes to be cheap. But on the other hand, the Chinese in me also can't resist material possessions. I want those goddamn robes with their slick chevrons, dammit. So I've been hunting for a company that makes knock-offs for cheaper.
Sure enough, I've found one. Their whole set looks really convincing, and costs $495 for the whole outfit. If I can find 9 other people to order with me, each gown gets knocked down to $395. Naturally, I'm spamming every graduating graduate student I know to see if they want to go in with me.
But I suppose if I were super Chinese, I'd attempt to make the outfit myself.
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