Cassocks

[childofmary1143]

When did the cassock go out of style? recently I was looking at old photos (1920s-1940s) of New England parishes and none of the priests wore cassocks. It seemed they all had black pants, plack shirt, and black sport coat and almost all had the white collar that went around the entire neck, rather than the little white square in the front. (almost all of the priests were Irish if they helps discerning the reasons for their style of dress).

Like most things traditional it probably went out of style after the the 60s

 

[Caesar]

When did the cassock go out of style? recently I was looking at old photos (1920s-1940s) of New England parishes and none of the priests wore cassocks. It seemed they all had black pants, plack shirt, and black sport coat and almost all had the white collar that went around the entire neck, rather than the little white square in the front. (almost all of the priests were Irish if they helps discerning the reasons for their style of dress).

Strange, that was/is the Anglican style. You sure these were Catholic priests?

 

[Chatter163]

Strange, that was/is the Anglican style. You sure these were Catholic priests?

That was the style for most English-speaking priests, Catholic and Anglican, until the inter-war years. Old photos will bear that out.

 

[lak611]

That was the style for most English-speaking priests, Catholic and Anglican, until the inter-war years. Old photos will bear that out.

Do you have any links to sites with the old photos?

 

[Psalm45_9]

My cassock came in yesterday, I tried it on very excited. It looks beauuuuuutiful! The old priest is probably going to have a heart attack when he sees me, my pastor, and the parochial vicar in our cassocks for stations of the cross.

 

[Chatter163]

Here is a link to a portrait of Newman as a Cardinal:
traditio.com/comment/com0504zm.jpg

Here is Cardinal Manning in the same period:
newmanreader.org/biography/pictures/manning.html

This parish history from Sacred Heart Church in Cicero, Indiana has several photos of parish priests from the period:
sacredheartcicero.org/history.html

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

The wind blowing under their cassocks? Maybe in Texas, but up here you wear pants under your cassock.

Pants under the cassock is an, if not uniquely, at least distinctively American style, one that would have been a giveaway as to one’s nationality while studying in Rome. Kind of like how you can wear underwear under a kilt, but it’s not the “authentic” way to go, you can wear pants under a cassock (and underwear by all means ), but the “real” way to wear it is without. The cassock is, after all, a garment, not an overgarment.

 

[The_Draconarius]

That is a great idea!

Where is a good place to get a gift certificate for a tailored cassock? Maybe the Bible study group at my parish can do this for our visiting priest.

God Bless
Scylla

The best ecclesiastical tailors in the United States are at The House of Hansen in Chicago (thehouseofhansen.com/)).