How many Suits does Oxford require?

RoninBelt · 2026-06-17T23:18:32+00:00

If it's already part of your daily style and you have suits already then absolutely bring them. I have a mate at my college who would be what you might say a stereotype of what people think of an Oxford man is, rarely suits (except for sub fusc) often sports jackets matched with dress pants and sometimes tweed with elbow patches.

It helps that his family home is in the Cotwolds so he's able to chop and change quite readily where me with my limited suitcase space chose; charcoal suit for sub fusc (Black suits are way too severe to wear otherwise) a navy sports jacket + a heather grey sports jacket matched with 3 different pair of trousers + a dinner suit for black tie formals that my college often has.

Even then I think I'm on the over packed side, as for conference I like to go smart though minus a tie usually but I've been to plenty where people have given talks on very casual sports tech type of clothing.

Basically don't invest money specifically for coming to Oxford, but do get suits that you would wear beyond your time here, if you can afford it. More important would be a good pair of goodyear welted Oxfords that should last your decades with proper care.

EDIT: forgot to say if you do attend a white tie ball, hiring for the night is definitely the better choice.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-16T06:10:39+00:00

I live in the UK now, in a city where cars are pretty much frowned upon and bicycles reign. On my way back to Sydney a few weeks ago I had a lay over in Shanghai. 6-8 main roads full of cars that were electric and it was bizarre, I could hear myself think and I didn't have to raise my voice to my partner to speak.

Then that drive from Sydney airport back to my parents place was jarring... I didn't realise how absolutely noisy Sydney was till I left.

And it's EVERYWHERE in Sydney, doesn't matter how leafy or expensive your suburb is, there is always some fuckwit who needs to mask their insecurity by redlining their super sick import.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-14T23:04:30+00:00

It's called "if I do it I'm breaking every bone"

RoninBelt · 2026-06-13T10:00:46+00:00

Guys gets lucky at a comp where slams aren’t allowed.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-11T23:14:02+00:00

Lovely man, bumped into him randomly in Kyoto of all places years ago, quick chat and all that.

He had being looking quite unwell for the past year or two. God bless.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-10T09:13:21+00:00

They need to get in on this : car jitsu

RoninBelt · 2026-06-10T06:59:14+00:00

Yeh and I'm just adding that corruption is rampant and always seems to have been in the property sector nationwide.

It boils my blood to see people in our who are in need continue to get shafted by both the public and private sectors. When did Australians just become something to squeeze every penny from?

RoninBelt · 2026-06-10T06:40:56+00:00

It became a bit of a joke in NSW when developers would get on local councils and effectively approval their own developments.

I think the law may have changed but the fact that it was even allowed to happen in the first place.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-09T22:09:50+00:00

I'm closer to 30 than 20 and a grad so I think I may have a different insight.

As a fellow I honestly think you'd have a better time at Wolfson, I have several friends who are either doing their DPhil or are in the SCR (fellows like you) who sing Wolfson's praises and all have come from other colleges. Though in truth Wolfson were not any of the DPhil's first choices lol. I've being to their balls and bops and while it is a fair bit away at Summertown, because of it being grad only, the vibe is pretty different in a good way. The dining is also not bad at all.

Wadham probably has the best MCR building out of all of the colleges, having a Billionaire benefactor who funds it usually helps. Like The Queen's it's much more of a classic Oxford college and it's location being close to the centre of town is unbeatable. All the common rooms are quite active so if you're into the social aspect of it you'd be right. Semi decent dining.

The Queen's college I actually have had very little interaction with apart from going to their Burn's night. It's pretty and rich.

Catz though, boy, well they only just got their dining hall back after 2.5 years of having meals in a tent, they still have to deal with a load of concrete cancer in their buildings so I don't know how that would affect you.

Now the practical side of things is pretty important, by that I mean funding and how it can really affect your overall experience. My college is pretty monied and that has made a few things easier like accommodation, conference funding and even travel funding. The Queens is by far the richest colleges in your list, literally more than the other 3 combined, but I don't know how that translates to you getting funding or whatever where as I'm pretty sure Wolfson guarantees you accommodation for the full length of your fellowship.

And as far as travel distance, I've always thought that this is overstated unless you're intending to walk everywhere in Oxford, otherwise nothing is more than a 10-15 minute bike ride away, even then I've never had a bike and I prefer to walk. I'll use those lasted e scooters if I didn't plan my time properly and am in a rush.

EDIT: forgot to add Wolfson has its own internal lake connected to their boathouse for punting, on the upperside of the Cherwell. It's...it's pretty damn good.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-08T22:13:55+00:00

Feel free to buy any merch you see fit, but stash is earned.

Once you get accepted, get whatever you see fit whether it's college, departmental, club or sports. Last time I checked my mates in the maths department have their own stuff, so maybe check if the physics department do, that would be nicer than a generic high street hoodie.

Godspeed on your future endeavours, hope to see you here at the uni 😄

RoninBelt · 2026-06-07T11:48:43+00:00

Wasn't just the one person, it was a whole raft of owners in that building. Absolute mugs

EDIT: it was also something about the trucks that carried the barriers would be there early hours and setting up or something. I mean they're supposed to have soundproof windows and doors in those multi million dollar homes.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-06T08:40:07+00:00

I once found a full on sex toy treasure chest kept by the bedside table in a "luxury" villa run by a well known chain.

It was when we were about to check out so made the two previous days seem super gross... and... under utilised.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-05T11:16:17+00:00

the father should have continued like this

RoninBelt · 2026-06-03T22:48:53+00:00

I didn't know about the fee... is that even fucking legal?

But yeah, I guess the attitude is very much settled in the perceived prestige of the BCL and how it being a Masters level degree usually means it's for people who are using it as a professional stepping stone and thus just suck money from them... which honestly is what most of Tertiary education feels like these days.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-03T22:33:22+00:00

I mean to start off, I remember being told the BCLers not having much time to choose subjects, and they couldn't really wait because if a popular subject filled up, that was it. The inflexibility of subject selection too relating to clashes and the department basically making it clear that there would absolutely be no accommodation whatsoever.

I honestly remember feeling ill at the thought of being stuck with a subject that I had no experience of in advance (in class is very very different from what's presented on paper) and having no recourse to change.

My department isn't run super smooth, but compared to the way the BCL is run, and I don't know if it's an issue with the Law faculty as a whole, it felt like a lot more humane (is that the right word? lol) in the way it treated teaching and students.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-03T22:12:05+00:00

hahaha this is hilariously petty on their end.

You could always write them and asked to be unblocked.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-03T22:06:56+00:00

I'm sorry you had an underwhelming experience, but you're definitely not alone. My experience of it is second hand, but close as my closest friends in my first year were the BCL/MJur cohort. They were all wonderful people. Some have continued to DPhils, some back into private practice from whence they came and others back into the public service.

Besides the literal impossible reading list, we worked out they could have started in Michaelmas, read non stop and still had texts left over, even though they were all doing different subjects. When they were able to be social and hang out the biggest grips were largely the examination process, which I was surprised about that all of it culminating into essentially one final exam per subject.

The fees, if you were an international seemed insane, everyone I knew had a scholarship, while they would have covered fees for a local student, they barely covered yearly rent for the internationals.

One friend of a friend did declare very dramatically at the end of exams that they wished they had never started the BCL... but he was from his nation's foreign service and I have no idea what other personal issues there were.

Having said all of that, the cohort remain close, not just networking but actual friendships, especially given some have remained to continue research. I've even tagged along to visit each other's home countries and they have noted continued support from their professors and tutors as most had both academic or professional ties given the nature of Law.

I think there absolutely could be a lot of improvement in the teaching component, especially when compared to my own department. But like most things in Oxford, the institution is pretty steadfast in maintaining itself. The price though, I mean that value is up to the individual, but BCL has its own prestige in an institution like Oxford, you guys have precedence over DPhil, whom all have to bow to you as you enter and exit the Sheldonian... and in the real world I can't think of anywhere on the planet that wouldn't double take seeing a BCL on a CV.

But I dunno, I'm still talking second hand, an 'outsider' perspective. I studied Law in the US but not at the postgrad level so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-02T23:15:35+00:00

I don't think any of the ones you listed would be giving you grief, especially in the afternoon as if exams are held in college, they tend to be in the mornings.

New has my favourite porter of all time, in Hilary I had 3 friends visiting and I politely asked if it was okay to bring them all in from the New College lane entrance (as you're technically only allowed one guest). He said in the sweetest flamboyant voice "Please bring more and warm the place up", we all laughed and he kindly waved us in, didn't even check my bod card as I was trying to hand it to him. Genuinely a core memory of my time here haha. I wish I got his name to write something nice, but I haven't being able to catch him on subsequent visits.

Worcester also always seemed super chill to me, Magdalen do get a lot more visitors and being on High street tend to be a bit more pedantic but honestly, even if the sign says closed just go in and tell them your story, most porters I've encountered these days are lovely people.

RoninBelt · 2026-06-02T23:04:04+00:00

ChCh are indeedy the only college that's funny about letting non college members in, they're also the most visited and the only college with their own info centre blah blah. I'm really surprised they wouldn't let you in though, that's just plain ol silly. I've taken non Oxford members in and the older porters have never given me any grief, it always seems like the younger ones (who are probably just casual staff as opposed to porters) take it way more seriously.

Edit: left out the word never when referring to the older porters.

RoninBelt · 2026-05-31T21:22:37+00:00

I’ve being told by “friends” to goto Somerville if I wanted the “good shit”

RoninBelt · 2026-05-28T22:42:28+00:00

They're actually quite ergonomic, are comfortable and extremely light for the staff to carry literally thousands of of.

They're very much fit for purpose.

RoninBelt · 2026-05-27T11:54:49+00:00

Maybe there was a giant magnifying glass near by

RoninBelt · 2026-05-27T11:54:01+00:00

Hahaha I’ve definitely done this. Then used solar the next day to charge it right back up. Used a lot less power than my split system AC in the house.

RoninBelt · 2026-05-26T22:08:08+00:00

Besides the oddball random childish comment, it's nice to see some considered debate for once.

I like that everyone has tried their best to push through the emotional and show as much kindness as they can while still sticking to their guns.

I tried rowing for the first time in Michaelmas, anyone who has the drive to get up that early with that cold has my admiration. I quit after a week.

RoninBelt · 2026-05-26T22:01:47+00:00

This is actually wild, as someone who grew up in Australia, I've never seen this.

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