How to stay cool in your vestments

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KD8TZC

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I apologize if this is not the best place to post this question, but being that wearing vestments for clergy has to do with liturgy, I felt this was fitting.

I’m in my last year of permanent diaconate formation, and one of the things I am finding is that I sweat a lot when I put on my alb, and then a stole and dalmatic, and this is January in Ohio! I’m afraid of what will happen come August. 😮

For the clergy out there, what do you do to try and stay cool? I know there are different types of albs that might be better than others. Currently I have a Holy Rood Guild alb in the Worchester Knit. It is 100% polyester, so I have a feeling that might be part of the problem for me. I got it as it looked nice and well, our Bishop has one and it just does not wrinkle. It looks great and I plan to wear it for ordination (God willing). After ordination though, I will have my dalmatic over it, so if it wrinkles a little, I’m not as concerned.

Anyhow, if anyone can share with me some brands and specific fabrics, I would be very thankful.

God bless!
 
I wear shorts and a t-shirt under a summer weight cassock all the time. Ventilates better than pants, especially under vestments.
 
Thanks @OldCAFMember & @edward_george1… can you recommend any specific ones? I see you state “Summer weight”, but each maker has their own blends and I’m not sure what really is cooler vs lighter in weight.
 
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I have the same problem, so I’ve used Almy, Abbey, and Toomey brand surplices made of a 70/30 brand. For surplices, go with their lightweight lines.
 
Ars Sacra from Poland has cassocks made of a poly-wool blend that are custom tailored, and can be bought unlined as a summer cassock. They last a good while too, I bought one as a deacon that I’m just now wearing out almost five years later. They sell for about $300, including shipping, which is a steal for custom work. Check out www.chasubles.eu
 
Okay, as a deacon though I will not be wearing a cassock. Mostly looking for Albs, and Dalmatics.

Poly-wool sounds like it would be very warm (the wool part that is).
 
It’s actually a very breathable fabric. I’m saying that you can wear it under your vestments. It’s clerical attire, and you’ll be a cleric, so you could make use of it.
 
Well, our Bishop has told us that deacons should only wear the roman collar in certain situation… mainly when you are bringing the Church to people (e.g. sick calls at the hospital, funeral home’s, jails). I do know that there are deacons that wear cassocks, but that is only when they are assisting the Bishop as an emcee.

I like the idea of shorts better, but depending on where I am assigned, that may not work well.
 
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Don’t rule out moisture wicking t-shirts/underwear. I also wear almost exclusively wool/polyester blend socks which wick moisture off your feet and help in keeping them cool (and warm when needed). Cotton retains moisture and is slow to dry.

Wool gets a bad rap. It’s not always heavy and restrictive. It maintains its shape (great for dress pants and sports coats) and as noted above, most likely good for the purpose you’re needing it for.
 
Sorry , I am not clergy, but you may consider a custom sewing company to make something out of a dri-fit or moisture-wicking fabric. There are lots of custom sewing companies online. I would guess that they could compete with pricing and it would be tailored to fit you.
It may be worth a couple emails to different companies and see what they say.

If you decide to try a company, I would consider sending them a garment that fits you the way you like so they can make an accurate pattern or copy from it.
 
oops…I mistakenly clicked on edward ! sorry about that ! This was meant for KD8TCZ
 
I know a priest who orders bamboo fiber when he can because it does not hold heat as bad as wool or acrylic or polyester. Cotton is also going to be cooler.

The biggest thing, let your Sacristan know that you are hot. The temperature in the Church needs to be set so the priest/deacon is comfortable. Adding a fan to the altar area can help you be cooler, even in winter. Parishioners can simply bring a sweater if they are too cool, we don’t need our clergy getting overheated where they drip sweat or have a chance of fainting!
 
@SJstl, interesting. I was always under the impression that the moisture wicking wicked moisture to the outside of the fabric. This is good if you are just wearing a moisture wicking tee-shirt I guess, but if you have a dress short, or alb in this case, that moisture is going to go right into the dress shirt/alb.

I’ll get a few though and give it a try and see what happens. I’m sweating right now in my dress shirt, so it would be easy enough to find out. That was one of the ideas I had was to get some nice “dry fit” type golf shirts and wear them under the alb (in white or black). I figure I could wear them to the church and I wouldn’t have to strip down, but a friend of mine told me that it would just soak my alb. I have never tried it so I don’t know if he is right or not.
 
TheLittleLady said:
I know a priest who orders bamboo fiber when he can because it does not hold heat as bad as wool or acrylic or polyester. Cotton is also going to be cooler.
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I’ve heard that about the bamboo fiber things. I actually have some nice bamboo fiber handkerchiefs. Never looked for Alb’s in that though or tee shirts.

What really puzzles me is when I see “tropical weight wool” I’m assuming this is the wool blend that @edward_george1 and others are talking about maybe. What makes this so hard is most if these are mail order and you can’t see/feel/try on the item in question for the albs AND these things are not cheap. Thank you for the suggestions.
 
I see there is a manufacture of religious vestments that makes a linen alb. Would linen be something that might allow the vestment to release the heat better than cotton? It’s quite expensive is the one downside I see.
 
KD8TZC said:
Well, our Bishop has told us that deacons should only wear the roman collar in certain situation… mainly when you are bringing the Church to people (e.g. sick calls at the hospital, funeral home’s, jails).
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If your bishop says this, then I imagine it would be fine to wear for Mass too, especially since it won’t be visible under your vestments anyway.
 
Well, it specifically only gives certain situations that they can be worn in the clergy handbook, and mass is not one of those.

Just curious though, I would think a cassock would be warm (regardless of the material). Is that not the case? I would think this would just be another layer of clothes to be worn over my street clothes, and just add to the warmth. I’ve never worn a cassock, so maybe I’m just not understanding how this might help.
 
Thanks Emerald… that might be something to think about.

I was actually quite excited last night as I recalled that in my 1st year in formation, the widow of one of the deacons who we (my wife and I) were very good friends with, had given me a number of his old vestments (two albs, some stoles, and a dalmatic). He, the deceased deacon, was about my height (more trim though) so these things will all work well. There was a beautiful (older though) alb from Slabbinck that was 65% poly 35% cotton I believe, that will work well I think. It did not feel as heavy as the one I have.

It has the buttons to close it up, and those may need to be adjusted a little as the chest and wound the shoulders feels a little tight. I’m thinking a good tailor might be able to take the buttons and make them just decorative and make it so that it closes with velcro. This might allow it to not be as restrictive in the shoulders. Or, possible it just needs some adjusting in other ways.

Anyhow, this made me happy as I had forgotten about these, and now I don’t have to invest, hopefully, in new vestments right away. I don’t know much about tailoring and all, but hopefully this can be done. I’d love to be able to wear his alb and he was one of the first deacons that I had known, and was very instrumental when my wife and I first got married and involved in the Church. I also know it would mean the world to his wife to see her husbands vestments being worn again.
 
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