Uniforms
06/08/13 05:25
Distinctive clothing can identify one as a member of a particular culture or ethnic group. A particular group of people can develop their own sense of fashion and the human tendency to imitate can result in groups of people dressing in similar ways. Part of distinctive clothing comes from available materials and the climate. People who live near to the poles, for example, tend to dress in animal furs. These are practical and available. They would hardly be appropriate dress for the desert regions of Africa or the sun-drenched Pacific islands.
People also wear distinctive clothing to demonstrate membership in a particular profession or sub group. Military uniforms have their origins in the need to be able to quickly and easily identify who is a compatriot and who is an enemy. The precise time and place of the first use of military uniforms is not known, but the practice was well established by Roman times. Around the time of Jesus, segmented armor was beginning to be used throughout the empire. There were considerable differences in detail due to the lack of unified production. The appearance of the armor was in part of product of the particular place where it was manufactured. As a result, different regiments had distinctive armor and those who were familiar with the Roman army learned to identify the regiment to which an individual belonged.
In some cases, ethnic dress evolved into military uniform. The kilts and sporrans of Scottish highland clans became standardized regimental dress when the British Army started to recruit from these groups. The distinctive and colorful clothing of the Hungarian hussars became the model for hussars throughout Europe.
Professions developed distinctive clothing through the unique needs of the occupation and through the dictates of fashion. Surgical scrub clothing became necessary as doctors learned more about germ theory and developed ways to keep medical treatment and surgery rooms sterile. The comfort of clothing that is easily changed resulted in doctors and other medical professionals wearing scrubs outside of the operating room. This led to the manufacture of the clothing in distinctive patterns and colors and now scrubs are worn in a wide variety of settings and locations. A desire to instill confidence in customers and lend an air of professionalism has led to distinctive uniforms in other work settings.
Uniform fashions come and go with changing times.
Over the centuries the church has gone through a wide variety of distinctive clerical clothing. The robes and vestments worn to lead worship and celebrate sacrament have evolved over the centuries. The basic everyday garb of ministers also has gone through many different variations and changes.
Many clerical fashions have their origins in a desire for the clergy to be humble and to focus their attention away from worldly possessions. Monasteries developed simple robes to coincide with the vow of poverty taken by the religious. The distinctive garb was once simply the least expensive clothing available. Habits worn by nuns often were based on the clothing worn by widows who were mourning. The origins of most clerical garb have some roots in the attempt at humility. However, there is something in human nature that makes individuals want to stand out. The clerical collar, sometimes called a “Roman collar,” is seen in many denominations as the mark of an ordained minister. Depending on the denomination, the collar is worn by bishops, priests and deacons. In many traditions it is also worn by seminarians who are preparing to become ordained clergy. The collar probably has its roots in the collar of a cassock, but modern clerical collars are usually simple plastic tabs that attach to the collar of a shirt. Sometimes studs are used to keep the white part of the collar in place and other times the tab is simply slid into channels on the collar. The detachable clerical collar arose in the Church of Scotland as a way to separate clergy from the secular world. The fashion was adopted by Scottish Presbyterians and now has become common in many different denominations.
I obtained my first shirt with a clerical collar as a gift from the widow of a deceased minister. I subsequently bought a second shirt to have one with short sleeves and another with long sleeves. I don’t wear them very often – sometimes during lent and Holy Week, sometimes for funerals of people who come from religious traditions where the use of the collar is more common. There are a few places where the collar is useful to make for an instant identification. Visiting in jails and prisons is simplified by wearing the distinctive shirt collar.
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was a time of rapid change in the Roman Catholic Church and among the changes that grew out of the Council was a relaxing of the rules of distinctive dress among members of religious orders. Many nuns adopted simple secular dress for their work. Religious men also began to wear simple clothing that allowed them to blend in with society rather than stand out. Some of the more elaborate caps and hats, capes and collars have now been mostly relegated to museums while the modern successors of the ancient religious traditions go about their work in clothing from Target and Penney’s.
It might be hard for a modern member of a religious order to realize that it was only 50 years when instructions for clerical dress were inordinately complex and difficult. Just one sentence from the 1960 instructions for the caps and collars worn by the Sisters of Providence serves as example: “The cap should be worn just in front of the serre-tete facing and should fasten or rest about 1/8-inch from the edge of the serre-tete on the sides. The veil covers the tips and fastens beneath them on the serre-tete eyelet.”
If I’ve got my shoes tied, my belt fastened, my zipper up and my shirt buttoned, I figure that I’m dressed for work. On Sundays and when leading worship in other settings I put on a tie and often wear a jacket. We still wear robes and stoles when leading worship, but take a break from them in the summer when life in an un-air-conditioned space is not conducive to too many layers of clothing.
I find that, in general, the older I become the less concerned about clothing I am. It never has been what I wear that makes me a minister. It is who I am that speaks of my vocation.
People also wear distinctive clothing to demonstrate membership in a particular profession or sub group. Military uniforms have their origins in the need to be able to quickly and easily identify who is a compatriot and who is an enemy. The precise time and place of the first use of military uniforms is not known, but the practice was well established by Roman times. Around the time of Jesus, segmented armor was beginning to be used throughout the empire. There were considerable differences in detail due to the lack of unified production. The appearance of the armor was in part of product of the particular place where it was manufactured. As a result, different regiments had distinctive armor and those who were familiar with the Roman army learned to identify the regiment to which an individual belonged.
In some cases, ethnic dress evolved into military uniform. The kilts and sporrans of Scottish highland clans became standardized regimental dress when the British Army started to recruit from these groups. The distinctive and colorful clothing of the Hungarian hussars became the model for hussars throughout Europe.
Professions developed distinctive clothing through the unique needs of the occupation and through the dictates of fashion. Surgical scrub clothing became necessary as doctors learned more about germ theory and developed ways to keep medical treatment and surgery rooms sterile. The comfort of clothing that is easily changed resulted in doctors and other medical professionals wearing scrubs outside of the operating room. This led to the manufacture of the clothing in distinctive patterns and colors and now scrubs are worn in a wide variety of settings and locations. A desire to instill confidence in customers and lend an air of professionalism has led to distinctive uniforms in other work settings.
Uniform fashions come and go with changing times.
Over the centuries the church has gone through a wide variety of distinctive clerical clothing. The robes and vestments worn to lead worship and celebrate sacrament have evolved over the centuries. The basic everyday garb of ministers also has gone through many different variations and changes.
Many clerical fashions have their origins in a desire for the clergy to be humble and to focus their attention away from worldly possessions. Monasteries developed simple robes to coincide with the vow of poverty taken by the religious. The distinctive garb was once simply the least expensive clothing available. Habits worn by nuns often were based on the clothing worn by widows who were mourning. The origins of most clerical garb have some roots in the attempt at humility. However, there is something in human nature that makes individuals want to stand out. The clerical collar, sometimes called a “Roman collar,” is seen in many denominations as the mark of an ordained minister. Depending on the denomination, the collar is worn by bishops, priests and deacons. In many traditions it is also worn by seminarians who are preparing to become ordained clergy. The collar probably has its roots in the collar of a cassock, but modern clerical collars are usually simple plastic tabs that attach to the collar of a shirt. Sometimes studs are used to keep the white part of the collar in place and other times the tab is simply slid into channels on the collar. The detachable clerical collar arose in the Church of Scotland as a way to separate clergy from the secular world. The fashion was adopted by Scottish Presbyterians and now has become common in many different denominations.
I obtained my first shirt with a clerical collar as a gift from the widow of a deceased minister. I subsequently bought a second shirt to have one with short sleeves and another with long sleeves. I don’t wear them very often – sometimes during lent and Holy Week, sometimes for funerals of people who come from religious traditions where the use of the collar is more common. There are a few places where the collar is useful to make for an instant identification. Visiting in jails and prisons is simplified by wearing the distinctive shirt collar.
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was a time of rapid change in the Roman Catholic Church and among the changes that grew out of the Council was a relaxing of the rules of distinctive dress among members of religious orders. Many nuns adopted simple secular dress for their work. Religious men also began to wear simple clothing that allowed them to blend in with society rather than stand out. Some of the more elaborate caps and hats, capes and collars have now been mostly relegated to museums while the modern successors of the ancient religious traditions go about their work in clothing from Target and Penney’s.
It might be hard for a modern member of a religious order to realize that it was only 50 years when instructions for clerical dress were inordinately complex and difficult. Just one sentence from the 1960 instructions for the caps and collars worn by the Sisters of Providence serves as example: “The cap should be worn just in front of the serre-tete facing and should fasten or rest about 1/8-inch from the edge of the serre-tete on the sides. The veil covers the tips and fastens beneath them on the serre-tete eyelet.”
If I’ve got my shoes tied, my belt fastened, my zipper up and my shirt buttoned, I figure that I’m dressed for work. On Sundays and when leading worship in other settings I put on a tie and often wear a jacket. We still wear robes and stoles when leading worship, but take a break from them in the summer when life in an un-air-conditioned space is not conducive to too many layers of clothing.
I find that, in general, the older I become the less concerned about clothing I am. It never has been what I wear that makes me a minister. It is who I am that speaks of my vocation.