In 1890 the seniors adopted the wearing of high silk hats (and grew moustaches) as their “class distinction,” while the juniors wore derbies. In 1892 class buttons were in use; the senior button was square with “’93” on a background of yellow and orange; the junior button was in the shape of a star with alternate points of orange and white. In 1894 the juniors adopted canes, and the coeds adopted caps and gowns. In 1895 the junior men had a distinctive cap. In 1896 male students adopted a special, all college hat—“pearl-colored with a black band.” The 1897 college hat was white flannel, trimmed in orange, and was called the University Hat. In 1899 the junior men again had a class pin. In 1904 the men of the junior law class adopted a distinctive hat. The senior men adopted canes and mustaches from 1914 to 1915 and canes from 1916 to 1918 and in 1921.
In 1922 seniors in the Military Department adopted a special uniform—leather puttees; service stripes diagonally across the blouse sleeve indicating the number of years of service in ROTC; on the right shoulder of the blouse, a white shoulder pad with a large orange T; and the belt part of the Sam Brown officer’s belt. In 1924 orange sweaters “with a tinge” of white were adopted as the class distinction for both men and women, and in March the senior men also adopted the wearing of burlap vests. The vests were made by cutting burlap, which was a distinctive shade of brown, in the shape of the wearer’s regular vest, and then sewing the burlap onto the regular vest. The numbers ’24 or the degree for which the wearer was studying was applied to the vests in flannel letters. (The student newspaper reported that the seniors were excellent tailors until it came to the buttonholes.) The sophomores of 1924 adopted black derbies for the men and orange and white gardenias for the women. The class of 1925 adopted an orange and white hatband with the numerals 25 on the front of the band. Freshmen caps in 1927 were green with an orange T and white numerals 31 on the front. Freshman caps persisted until World War II.