Dressing for Diplomacy: Our Guide to MUN Attire

Ayala Gate, Undersecretary General for Community

At Oxford Global, we take dress code very seriously. It might seem frivolous but how you dress is how you present yourself to the world and to each other, and a smart outfit is a sign of respect towards your peers and towards the conference. Our Chairs and Secretariat will be in their best dress, so we expect you to be too!

What should I wear?

  • A formal shirt, e.g. button ups and blouses

  • Smart trousers or skirt 

    • If wearing a skirt, dark tights underneath

  • A jacket or blazer

  • Dress shoes

  • School uniform is appropriate

What shouldn’t I wear?

  • Trainers or other informal shoes

  • Jumpers or hoodies

  • Jeans or other informal trousers

  • Avoid bright colours - jackets, blazers, trousers and skirts should be dark colours like black or navy

In general, dress as if you were at the UN! This helps to create a professional environment in which you can debate without distraction. At Oxford, students are also expected to present themselves in a formal manner. For example, we wear our gowns to dinner and we wear ‘SubFusc’ to exams. Sub Fusc is a sort of uniform consisting of a white shirt, a dark suit and trousers/skirt, black shoes and a gown - it is also traditional to pin a carnation flower to the gown, with different coloured flowers representing different exams (white for first exam, pink for middle exams and red for the last exam). Oxford Global continues this tradition by selling white carnations on the first day, pink on the second and red on the last. Feel free to pin these to your blazers or send them to other delegates!