Hogwarts uniform

Warning!

Some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and, as such, spoilers will be present.
Keep calm and keep the secrets!

The Hogwarts uniform is the clothing that students attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are required to wear; the uniform must be worn during all of their lessons, whilst having meals in the Great Hall and studying in their spare time in the Study Hall, Common Room or Library. The uniform is washed in the laundry, which is located somewhere in Hogwarts Castle and presumably operated by house-elves.

Uniform

The uniform consists of a plain black work robe and a black pointed hat. The hat is rarely worn. There are no marks, colours or crests determining between houses; students wear their own socks and shoes and do not wear any clothing beneath their robes except their underwear. During the cold seasons, an additional winter cloak with silver fastenings and name tags is required to be worn.

Behind the scenes

Harry in Robe with Wand (Painting) - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™

In the films, students wear normal Muggle clothing on their free time or outside of their lessons. This appears to be true in the books as well. Ron Weasley and his siblings typically receive sweaters from Mrs Weasley as Christmas presents, despite still having six more months of school left. In the sixth book, Draco Malfoy shops for new robes even though the school year is about to begin. Also in the sixth book, Lavender Brown asks Harry about Ron's - her boyfriend at the time - true opinion of her new dress robes.
In the movies (and the American illustrations of the books), the uniforms have colours distinguishing between houses, and have clothing underneath, changing over the years. For example, in the early twentieth century, there was a white buttoned shirt, house tie, grey v-neck jumper, trousers or breeches (for males) and gymslip with skirt (for females). According to the films, by the time Harry got to school, a blazer was no longer required.

Uniform design in the film adaptations

The uniform design changed in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, due to the change of over a long period of time. The house colours that are designed into the uniform never vary, Gryffindor's colours being scarlet and gold; Slytherin's colours being green and silver; Hufflepuff's colours being yellow and black, and Ravenclaw's colours being blue and bronze (blue and silver in the film adaptations).

Uniform design, 1938–1945

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Hogwarts uniform consisted of a plain white buttoned shirt, a house tie (red, green, yellow or blue according to House), a thick grey knitted v-neck jumper (with a black neckline), grey trousers or breeches (for males) or gymslip with pleated skirt (for females), plain black shoes, an additional grey pocketed blazer (for males) or with an emblem varying according to which House the student was in and an open grey buttoned robe with the school crest on the chest. In the second and sixth films, Tom Riddle, Rubeus Hagrid and Myrtle Warren are seen wearing this uniform.

Uniform design, 1971–1978

During the 1970s, the Hogwarts uniform was relatively similar to Tom Riddle's era. The Hogwarts uniform consisted of a plain white buttoned shirt, a house tie (thin stripes) (red and gold, green and silver, yellow and black or blue and bronze, according to House) a thick grey knitted v-neck jumper (with a house coloured neckline), grey trousers (for males) or pleated skirt (for females), plain black shoes and an open black tied robe with the student's house emblem. Males also wore grey blazers under their robes and over their jumpers (there is no citation that females also had this included in their required uniform). Students seen wearing these uniforms are, Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape and Lily Evans, all of them in the fifth film adaptation.

Uniform design, 1991–1993

During the early 1990s the Hogwarts uniform was changed quite a bit since the 1970s. The uniform no longer had a blazer and it now consisted of a plain white buttoned shirt, a house tie (thick stripes) (red and gold, green and silver, yellow and black or blue and bronze, according to House), a grey knitted v-neck jumper (with a house-coloured neckline), grey trousers (for males) or pleated skirt (for females), plain black shoes, grey socks, and an open black buttoned robe with the student's house emblem on. Hogwarts students are seen wearing this uniform in the first two film adaptations. This uniform design was used until the third film.

Uniform design, 1993–1998

File:HBP-Photoshoots-hermione-granger-22934574-1400-1868.jpg

In the third film, the uniform would undergo a re-design again. This time the uniform consisted of a plain white buttoned shirt, a house tie (thin stripes) (red and gold, green and silver, yellow and black or blue and bronze, according to House), a charcoal grey knitted v-neck jumper, a cardigan or a sleeveless jumper (with cuffs and waist House-coloured), for boys, charcoal grey trousers were worn and for girls, a skirt (around knee-length) or charcoal grey trousers (as seen on Ginnifer Weasley) . Girls also had to wear black tights or stockings. Charcoal grey socks were worn by boys. Students of both genders were required to wear plain black shoes and an open black silver fastened robe with the student's House emblem on and respective coloured lining. Some students wore accessories on top of their uniform (Draco Malfoy wore a snake badge on his tie and Parvati Patil and her sister Padma both wear necklaces with the letter "P" over their ties. Luna Lovegood, also, wore various accessories, ranging from a butterbeer bottle necklace to dirigible plum earrings). Also, in 1996 a select group of students, the Inquisitorial Squad, wore silver medals on their robes. As it has always been, prefects, Head Boys and Quidditch captains also wear a badge.

Uniform design in the stage play adaptation

Scorpius Malfoy (Anthony Boyle) wearing the Slytherin uniform.

In the stage play of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the uniform design changes with respect to the film's design. The story of Cursed Child takes place between 2017 and 2021, and Hogwarts uniforms have changed over previous years. Hogwarts students wear knitted v-neck jumper of different colours, depending of their house, with two stripes around the waist and the neck. The Gryffindor jumper is red with yellow stripes in the waist and the neck, the Slytherin jumper is green with grey stripes, the Ravenclaw jumper is dark blue with light blue stripes and the Hufflepuff jumper is light brown with dark brown stripes. Ties use the same colour palette, with one main colour and two stripes on the secondary colour. Perhaps the most important change is the robes, which have been completely redesigned. The robes used in Cursed Child can be seen in the following early sketch do it by Katrina Lindsay, costume designer of the play.

Hogwarts Robes Cursed Child — • Top left: Traditional Cloak • Top second from left: Hogwarts First Year • Top third from left: Hogwarts Emoji Robe • Top fourth from left: Hogwarts Ceremonial Surcote Robe • Top fourth from right: Ceremonial Surcote Over Hogwarts Robe • Top third from right: Hogwarts Mid-School Robe • Top second from right: Hogwarts Sixth Form Robe • Top right: Sixth Form Robe, Prefect Surcote

Appearances