How did the mantilla become popular in the United States?

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phil19034 said:
Today, with the EF; most of the people who attend are not focused on fitting in with American culture. The EF today is very much countercultural. So a Catholic attending the EF mass is most likely to wish to embrace a Catholic Culture vs Secular/ American culture.
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Well, maybe. However, hats aren’t really in accord with American culture, either, these days. I didn’t experience the pre-Vatican-II Church, so of course I missed the influence of Jackie Kennedy as well. I’ve never lived in a culture where hats were common.

In fact, I look quite good in hats, but I almost never wear them (anywhere), because they make more of a counter-cultural statement than I feel like making. The kinds of hats that you’d get at Nordstrom or whatever wouldn’t go with any clothes I could afford or look good in. So, I look good in (for example) a fedora, but I look like a good-looking geek. 😃

In addition, you generally have to worry about whether your hat goes with your outfit, whereas a mantilla is clearly not intended to be outfit-specific, so you can just have one, regardless of what you wear to Mass. Who wants to buy (or store!) hats to go with everything? I’m thinking it made more sense when you were wearing hats in other places as well.

I only wear a mantilla when I attend the EF, which is once every month or two. I’m not looking to stand out. For me personally, that is modesty.

–Jen
 
Thank you all for your answers. Just to be clear, I’m talking about the actual mantilla; the long, lacy, transparent head covering that drapes over the shoulders rather than tied behind the neck or under the chin. I’m not asking about head covering in general, or about “babushka scarves” (not a quote, I just don’t know how else to describe them) as were likely popular in Eastern European and German culture.

The resounding consensus seems to be that Jackie popularized the mantilla in the US, while a handful of answers have alluded to other sources such as the Vatican itself (apparently the Vatican handed out mantillas to pilgrims and tourists who forgot their head covering apparatuses?).

I hope this question hasn’t ruffled any feathers. I notice the thread was given a 2-star rating and I’m not sure why. I’m not asking about the practicality, necessity, prudence, or desirability of women covering their heads in church. I’m asking what I think is a rather to the point, descriptive question about Catholic American history. In any case, thank you to all who have chimed in, and to all those who no doubt will do so. 🙂
 
Brandon_Cal said:
The first time I ever saw a mantilla worn was in 1951 in Spain. Not surprising given that the mantilla is Spanish. I had been to a handful of Catholic nuptial masses in the United States before then and I don’t recall seeing a single mantilla; American women wore hats or head scarves. Now with the resurgence of the E.F. you see more Catholic women reviving the practice of head covering, but curiously it seems the mantilla is now the mode of head covering par excellence. How was the mantilla introduced to the US and how do we account for its popularity?
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It’s pretty. The fact that it’s easy is a bonus.

I think a lot of people are over thinking this.
 
I wore one long before Jackie Kennedy was in the news. It could be because my family’s heritage is Spanish or just because we covered in the 50s and 60s. I still do today. I have several different ones - long to short. I wish they were easier to find since I would like to try on before spending $35-50 for one but usually once a year I get online and look for a new one to add to my collection. I wear one because I feel it is respectful to cover in the Lord’s house and it helps me to stay focused on the Mass. When I was a kid I also had several different hats and my mom didn’t mind what I selected to wear that day, but if I forgot I had the kleenex on my head.
 
For the USA, like others have said, it was Jackie O who made the mantilla popular in the 60’s
She was a huge fashion trend setter here in the USA during tha time.

I remember when I went to Mass as a little girl, women were wearing hats, until she made it popular
 
revert_jen said:
Well, maybe. However, hats aren’t really in accord with American culture, either, these days. I didn’t experience the pre-Vatican-II Church, so of course I missed the influence of Jackie Kennedy as well. I’ve never lived in a culture where hats were common.

In fact, I look quite good in hats, but I almost never wear them (anywhere), because they make more of a counter-cultural statement than I feel like making. The kinds of hats that you’d get at Nordstrom or whatever wouldn’t go with any clothes I could afford or look good in. So, I look good in (for example) a fedora, but I look like a good-looking geek. 😃

In addition, you generally have to worry about whether your hat goes with your outfit, whereas a mantilla is clearly not intended to be outfit-specific, so you can just have one, regardless of what you wear to Mass. Who wants to buy (or store!) hats to go with everything? I’m thinking it made more sense when you were wearing hats in other places as well.

I only wear a mantilla when I attend the EF, which is once every month or two. I’m not looking to stand out. For me personally, that is modesty.

–Jen
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Jen - I wasn’t saying that hats are popular now… they are not. But they were popular before and after World War II.
 
I agree with those who say it was Jackie O. who made the mantilla popular with the general American public.

When I was a little girl in the 1960s, the type of head-covering had a lot to do with one’s ethnic/cultural background. it was not unusual to see Hispanic and Italian women wearing mantillas. But women of more northern European backgrounds generally wore hats or scarves. Now many women wore veils that were lace but they were not as long and neither did they have the fancier patterns that you saw in the mantillas (which were almost always black.) Women of more northern backgrounds seemed more likely to wear lighter colored lace veils.

Young girls usually wore hats or whatever was part of their Catholic school uniform. Teens often wore beanies, berets, or small circular chapel caps.

Chapel caps and shorter veils (not mantillas) were the head-covering of choice for traveling women in my family (if it was a non-holiday occasion.)

Scarves and chapel caps were common at daily Mass and fancier hats were the norm for Sundays.

The choice of head-covering --in the days when head-coverings were required-- had a lot more cultural, social, economic, and age significance than most people today realize.
 
I think mantillas are very beautiful. I always cover my head when our Lord is exposed for any length of time or when I go to TLM. I don’t wear it during the NO because I think it can be a distraction. I do think for some, the veil has become a status symbol–NOT for everyone but for some. I try to keep it simple and not flashy (black, white)…although I do have a blue mantilla for our lady and purple for advent season and the passion.
 
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