Why is the mantilla (specifically) so popular among US traditional Catholics?

[ralfyman]

It is still worn by the elderly in some countries, but not because they are traditional. That is, they prefer the OF and the Mass in the vernacular.

Meanwhile, dress codes are still imposed. For example,

Catholic church lays down dress code | Philippines – Gulf News

The general view is that people who attend Mass should wear business or school attire.

 

[IanM]

As an aside, Jacqueline Kennedy was quite taken with Spanish culture and I recall reading that she fluently spoke Spanish with a Castilian accent (the accent found in the area of Madrid, Toledo and up towards Valladolid -which is generally considered the most refined in Spain) This is footage of her wearing a mantilla combined with a peineta (a very traditional Spanish cultural combination) on which it rests, whilst attending a bullfight and wearing a traditional Andalusian woman`s riding outfit on a visit to Seville.

Four guapas with peinetas and mantillas.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Numerous stylish peinetas:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=peineta&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images

 

[DarkLight]

I don’t know why they specifically have become so popular. I wear one because it fits easily in a purse or my pocket, but also because a mantilla is the most common head covering people wear.

I’ve tried wearing scarves but I feel like I need to match those to outfits and I have difficulty figuring out how to tie/wear it.

I’ve wondered if the portability was a part of it, honestly. They’re pretty easy to just grab on your way out the door and go.

I tend to wear a scarf or a kerchief mostly, honestly. I have some fancy ones, but a simple kerchief in a neutral color (mine is a sheer ivory) works very well for most things. Or if you’ll be out and about, an infinity scarf that you can pop up or down like a hood.

I’ve noticed a few more women lately who wear scarves like I do. Honestly for me it was as much an availability thing. You can find cheap scarves in just about any clothing store, and the second hand stores are always brimming with them. No need to order online or find a catholic store that carries them.

That and I have yet to figure out how a polyester mantilla actually stays on your head and not the floor. I tend to keep very short hair so I can’t pin them either.

 

[NeedANap]

I have an alligator clip sewn into mine. It should work with all but the shortest of hair.

 

[pulchraesamicamea]

I have two veils: a long mantilla that I wear for special occasions, and a short mantilla for daily use.

I seriously wish covid is over so I can go to Mass, receive holy communion, and finally go to confession.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

This is just my guess, but in general, hats in a house of worship is viewed as bad manners.

No, not on women. As DarkLight noted, historically most women wore to church whatever head covering they normally would put on to go out in polite society. Prior to the 18th century this was usually some kind of a headscarf or cap. Starting about the 18th century, women who could afford it would wear a fashionable hat or headgear to church instead of an everyday headscarf or cap. As I understand it, the mantilla was fashionable headgear in Spain because hats were hot and the Spanish queens and consorts wore mantillas. In other areas of Europe that had lace-making industries, you would sometimes see lacy head coverings of some type but not necessarily mantillas (could be some kind of a hat with a veil or big lace ribbons hanging from it).

By the time you got to the mid-20th century, Catholic women weren’t always putting on a head covering or a hat to go out (especially if they were just doing some errand like grocery store) but they still needed to cover their head if they went into a church, and Catholics were encouraged to go into church every time they passed it, to “pay a visit” to the Blessed Sacrament and pray for a couple minutes. So in order to be prepared, a lot of women carried a little mantilla or a scarf or a doily in their purse. It didn’t take up much room, it was easy to put on and take off, and by then the lacy headwear was machine-made and much cheaper, and it looked pretty. I think over time in the 20th century the lacy head coverings also got associated with religious usage, which caused more women to choose them for that purpose, although a lot of women still wore hats right up to when the requirement for head covering went away.

It was never considered bad for a woman to have a little hat on rather than a chapel veil or a doily; it only would have been bad manners if the hat had been some outlandish or extreme or super-fashionable one that brought too much attention to the wearer or blocked other people’s view of the sanctuary. Catholic school girls for example were given little uniform beanies to wear in church, not little veils.

 

[Lea101]

what’s the story behind the popularity of the mantilla specifically among US women who wear head coverings?

I think it’s simply because they’re pretty/more on the fashionable side, which is why many opt for them instead of a plain cloth. If one could choose a type of head covering, they would choose the pretty/most flattering one wouldn’t they? (or at least i would if i ever decide to do so) It has also become synonymous with veiling recently, I notice a couple of people here using them as well.

 

[Fauken]

It was never considered bad for a woman to have a little hat on rather than a chapel veil or a doily; it only would have been bad manners if the hat had been some outlandish or extreme or super-fashionable one that brought too much attention to the wearer or blocked other people’s view of the sanctuary. Catholic school girls for example were given little uniform beanies to wear in church, not little veils.

I’m not referring to the past, I’m referring to today. Today wearing hats to church is not nearly as common.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

While most women who cover their head nowadays, will choose a veil or a headscarf, some do still wear a modest hat. I see them at church.

Any sort of attitude that “hats aren’t appropriate for church” is revisionist baloney and has zero basis in tradition.

It’s also pretty difficult nowadays to find a hat appropriate for church, unless maybe you frequent vintage stores or inherited one from your grandma.

 

[Fauken]

While most women who cover their head nowadays, will choose a veil or a headscarf, some do still wear a modest hat. I see them at church.

Any sort of attitude that “hats aren’t appropriate for church” is revisionist baloney and has zero basis in tradition.

That’s not what I mean. I know some wear hats and it’s fine. I was referring to the general attitude in the United States in the present time, the majority of which isn’t Catholic.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Now I’m really baffled. I live next door to an African-American Protestant Church and the ladies there all wear hats to services every Sunday. Pretty sure I have seen ladies in hats at some of the other Protestant churches in town also, although many of them are “come as you are” type places with no dress code so people are just as likely to wear their jeans.

I don’t think there’s any sort of US consensus on this issue at all.

Church hats an expression of faith, identity

 

[DaveBj]

I live next door to an African-American Protestant Church and the ladies there all wear hats to services every Sunday.

In the African-American culture (expecially among Protestant African-Americans), hats in church are definitely much more of a Thing than among white American Protestants. Every Sunday is an Easter parade.

D

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Yes, for sure. Their hats are also way more elaborate than anything my mother ever wore in the days of Catholic church hats.

I do see a few white ladies of various Christian faiths still wearing hats to church but they tend to be much more simple - usually a little pill box or beret, or a straw or navy or khaki hat with a small brim in the summer.

 

[bluerose]

I started veiling a few years ago and I found this website that specializes in mantilla style chapel veils. They have one called an infinity veil because it’s basically a loop that you can put around your neck like a scarf necklace and then pull it up when entering the church. My 30 year old niece got one because she has three little ones and she likes the idea that, if the veil slips off, it won’t fall to the floor.

Veils by Lily - Mantilla Style Chapel Veils

 

[Fauken]

I don’t think there’s any sort of US consensus on this issue at all.

Hence why I said it was my guess.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Regarding making head coverings stay on without hairpins, anything like a doily or little polyester chapel veil is not going to stay on unless you pin it or have it attached to a comb or clip, all of which require that you have enough hair to hold the pin, comb or clip.

If your hair is too short or fine to work with a pin, comb or clip, then the best option for headcovering is the scarf type that ties firmly under the chin or loops around the neck and over the shoulder.

You may also be able to either sew yourself, or find already sewn, a polyester chapel veil attached to a hair band of some sort that stays on without a pin, comb or clip.

 

[DarkLight]

I have an alligator clip sewn into mine. It should work with all but the shortest of hair.

I actually fall into the “shortest of hair” category. I really am not a morning person, so I started shaving it all off so I don’t have to actually do my hair in the morning.

I think it’s simply because they’re pretty/more on the fashionable side, which is why many opt for them instead of a plain cloth. If one could choose a type of head covering, they would choose the pretty/most flattering one wouldn’t they? (or at least i would if i ever decide to do so) It has also become synonymous with veiling recently, I notice a couple of people here using them as well.

Could be. I wonder if people also just feel they’re the sort of neutral item you don’t have to match to your clothing? I often wear printed or patterned scarves, but then the majority of my clothes are solid black. So they match everything.

 

[Sarcelle]

I think Jackie Kennedy popularized it.

Plus there’s a large Hispanic population here so it may not as unfamiliar to us.

 

[Sarcelle]

If your hair is too short or fine to work with a pin, comb or clip, then the best option for headcovering is the scarf type that ties firmly under the chin or loops around the neck and over the shoulder.

I prefer this headcovering to mantillas. My grandma on the other hand prefers mantillas.

 

[Pattylt]

Then there’s the Anglican royalty with their Fascinators! Talk about an Easter parade!