The University of the Mountains. A Historical Comparative Analysis to the Academic Attire of Beira Interior

The present article was extracted from the master’s dissertation in fashion design titled “Uma análise sobre o Traje Acadêmico Português – Um desenvolvimento Projetual,” which focuses on the academic attire of the University of Beira Interior-UBI. The overall objective is to compose a sequence of three articles, with two already published. The first article addressed the history of the attire at the University of Aveiro-UA, and the second article discussed the project that resulted in the creation of an informal summer attire for performances by the members of the Tuna of Aveiro, which was the outcome of the master’s dissertation. The specific objective of this third article was to provide the historical background of the UBI attire through oral accounts and to draw a brief comparison between the design of the UBI attire and the design of the UC attire, using Peirce’s semiotics as a tool for analysis and understanding of the causality behind the conception of these attires. The methodology for this research consisted of: 1) a literature review, 2) a semi-structured interview, 3) consultation of ethnographic resources for support, and 4) the use of Charles S. Peirce’s semiotics, which brings the viewer closer to interpreting the meanings in fashion and tradition.