Clothing worn during religious services

In some Christian communities, the term "Sunday best" refers to the tradition of saving one's finest clothing for Sunday services. In some communities, churches served as the main social center for local residents. As such, dressing in fine clothing for religious services was often dictated by a need to project status and influence among peers. Church clothes also symbolize cleanliness and pride.

Some Christian holy days incorporate traditional clothing, such as the Easter bonnet

Easter bonnet

An Easter Bonnet represents the tail-end of a tradition of wearing new clothes at Easter, in harmony with the renewal of the year and the promise of spiritual renewal and redemption....

.

In recent decades, some churches have encouraged a more informal dress code. Among the first to adopt this policy were the Calvary Chapel

Calvary Chapel

Calvary Chapel is an evangelical association of Christian churches with over one thousand congregations worldwide. Calvary Chapel also maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs. It presents itself as a "fellowship of...

 associated churches. Many clergy

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

 members, especially those in denominations and religious groups formed in the 20th century, have abandoned the traditional robes and vestments in favor of business casual

Business casual

Business casual is a popular dress code in professional and white-collar workplaces in Western countries. In the United States, 43% of non-self-employed workers commonly wear casual business attire. Casual street wear is the next most common work attire , closely followed by uniforms...

 clothing. This change was made to close the perceived gap between the clergy and laypersons. Some even wear jeans

Jeans

Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...

 and other everyday casual wear

Casual

In the European tradition, casual is the dress code that emphasizes comfort and personal expression over presentation and uniformity. It includes a very wide variety of costume, so it is perhaps better defined by what it isn't than what it is...

 along with the congregation. Though a small minority, Christian naturists

Christian naturism

Christian naturists are Christians found in most branches and denominations of Christianity who practice naturism or nudism. They find no conflict between the teachings of the Bible and living their lives and worshiping God without any clothing, believing that covering the body leads to its...

 take this one step further, and wear no clothing at all.

Some Christian traditions encourage or require adherents to don clothing of religious significance during church services, such as a headcovering

Christian Headcovering

The Christian headcovering is a veiling worn by various Christian women from a variety of traditions. Some cover only in church or while praying; most never cover their heads all the time. They refer to 1 Corinthians 11, or to custom, as the basis for their practice...

 required of women attending services in many modern Anabaptist

Anabaptist

Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....

 sects and some Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 communities.

Non-liturgical clothing

The Latter Day Saint movement instructs adherents to a set of underwear known as temple garment

Temple garment

A Temple garment is a type of underwear worn by members of some denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, after they have taken part in the Endowment ceremony. Garments are worn both day and night and are required for any previously endowed adult to enter a church temple...

s throughout the day and night, with a few exceptions such as while bathing or swimming.

Clothing featuring explicitly Christian themes or content totalled less than 2% of sales Christian retail stores in 2004.

External links

• "A Business of the Cloth Finds a Surge in Demand" by Debra Nussbaum, "The New York Times", January 28, 1996, retrieved September 6, 2009.
• "What Would Jesus Sell?" by Stephanie Simon, "The Los Angeles Times", July 21, 2006, retrieved January 4, 2010.