One of you cute people wrote to me recently about a friend heading into ordained ministry who will be required to wear a collar most of the time — but who hopes to still be able to assert her cool individual style. What would I recommend to “jazz up” the collar, reader asks?
I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m afraid one just can’t “jazz up” a collar too much. How far can one spiff up a clerical collar without looking like one is trying, in fact, to rebel against it? A collar says one thing: religious authority and commitment. If we pair it with anything too wild, our clothes will be sending two messages, and I’m not sure how one can do that, or if one would want to.
So I’ll open this to collar-wearing clergy: how zippy can you get? And if you do get zippy with that collar, how do you accomplish that?
Please send photos if you can! Even if I don’t post them I’d at least be able to describe how you accomplished looking both snappy and individual and clerically-serious at the same time.
I have a couple of pictures but I’m not sure how zippy I am – I can’t figure out where your email is.
I mostly wear my “janie” from Woman Spirit under blouses and sweaters. And I wear colors though some people disapprove of that and believe you should only wear black. I can kind of see that POV but I like color so the black janie is my compromise.
Mostly I “zip” things up with my shoes.
Ok, I know I’ll get some flak for this… :o)
For my day-to-day ministry, I’d say most of the time I wear a tab collar with jeans, sometimes corduroys. I always wear a black collar – very recognizable. I have a few pairs of dark jeans with no holes or frays, and I pair them with cute heels or boots, and a structured jacket. I wear silver hoops or non-gaudy dangly earrings.
I’m in Western PA, most people wear jeans to church here, and there’s not many people I ever see actually “dressed up.” However, for Sundays, I do not wear jeans. Instead I have a few great pairs of charcoal and black slacks, and a few patterned skirts that are easy to pair with a black collar and a jacket. I wear an alb during the service, so it’s really just my shoes sticking out underneath. Sunday mornings are almost ALWAYS plain black or grey shoes – mostly because of comfort and also so as not to draw everyones attention away from the worship to my FABULOUS shoes…
Oh, and when I was ordained, I somehow went from not caring at all about purses and bags to needing one in every color. When most of my wardrobe is very basic and very black, I need a little touch of individuality…
I’ll try to send some pictures!
[Sounds great to me! Where the heck are you finding your skirts these days? For the past few years I find that they’re scarce as hen’s teeth, or else super-hideous or super-youth oriented. -PB]
As a twenty-something collar-wearing male pastor, I don’t know how zippy I am. My daily garb is usually a black tab collar shirt with khaki pants. A few years ago as a new intern, I would try to dress it up (or down) with cargo pants and hoodies. Yikes! I remember a resident of our church’s shelter seeing me in blue jeans and a henley-covered collar, and exclaiming, “I didn’t know holy people could be relaxed and cool!â€
Since then, I hope I’ve gained some sartorial street-smarts (from reading this blog). I almost never wear jeans, and often layer the clerical shirt with a sweater or blazer. This fall, I bought a brown Izod fleece jacket that I really like to wear, but think it might sometimes come across as a bit of a let’s-hit-the-slopes attitude. For me as a younger pastor, it’s a fine balance between appearing professional/pastoral and blending in to my more casual South Texas context. Not a native Texan, I don’t know if I’m ready for boots and a hat yet.
For a variety of theological reasons, I prefer black clerical shirts, though I have charcoal gray for hot summer days. I do own one denim shirt, but stopped wearing it after a parishioner said, “Hey, it’s Vicar J Crew, missionary to the Banana Republic.†To complement the black shirt, I favor suits, slacks, and sweaters in non-black colors like browns or even a dark olive green so I don’t totally look like a Johnny Cash impersonator.
Our previous curate who was in her late twenties and very petite had commissioned some jersey tops that were essentially polo necks (UK speak, so not the sports type with collars – I think you might call them turtle or mock turtle necks) with a place to insert the clerical collar.
We’re a fairly high Anglican church and I think there’s a policy of clergy wearing black when on duty so she’d have them in black and pair them with a black A-line skirt and either some funky knee high boots (think Camper) or cute Mary Jane’s. Sometimes the skirt would have a bit of colour – some embroidery or running stitches or the like. Likewise the shoes/boots. And I think towards the end of her stint she pushed the boundaries to wearing them with actual coloured skirts.
It was a great look on her, though I can’t imagine it working so well on someone more, ahem, amply endowed.
Try this, if you are looking outside the box a bit.
http://www.crossdesignsltd.com
I’m in a parish with a priest who is *always* in clericals. (someone has spotted him cleaning out his gutters in clerical dress.)
So I try to wear a black or white clerical shirt with a black, or black-and-white skirt (I look rubbish in pants.) I have some really pretty patterned skirts in black and white that are feminine, professional (but not overly formal) and cool enough to cope with the revolting weather we’ve been having in Australia.
I also have a quite cute grey suit with a knee-length skirt that I wear with black herringbone stockings and a heeled bootlet in winter. It is my favourite outfit!
I am thrilled to see another posting about dressing up a collar. This and will always be my biggest sartorial challenge so I appreciate any and all tips.
After five years here is what works for me:
– Give up trying to make the collar trendy. It is just not meant to be, as Peacebang said. I don’t wear skirts or dresses, though I know women clergy who do. I save fun dresses for my time off.
– Stick to nice fitting tailored dress pants (I love the Limited’s Travel Pants- no ironing, always sharp) and black or brown shoes with a heel.
– Use tunic length cardigans and a snazzy belt at the waist so you don’t have to tuck in clergy shirt (Favorite belt is a black skinny paten belt from Target.)
– Interesting jackets and sweaters are helpful. I have a pink swing jacket that I love.
– Black polyester clergy shirts “Short Sleeve Shell – Set-In Sleeve†from Women Spirit are best. The advantage is no ironing and they always look nice. One just needs to wear interesting jackets or cardys. I’ve never tried the ones that button down the front.
– The women spirit “Fitted Shirt-Neckband collar†with 3/4 sleeves are great. I have a blue and black one; I do wish they were sized a little longer! Blue one requires ironing.
– Janies, fake collars, do best with roomy crew neck tops, or high vnecks, otherwise they can pop out or lines can show through. I don’t bother with Janies much these days. I take one with me when I’m wearing a non-clergy shirt, in case I need to run to the hospital, and can throw it on. If it’s a collar day, I just go for the clergy shirt.
I found a fitted black button down with French cuffs and princess seams last winter at Express and had it altered for a clergy collar. It is FABULOUS. Looks sharp and I can wear it with an band collar or not.
Echoing Cynthia, the best advice I’ve heard is to focus on cool and interesting jackets that express yourself. Sort of like treating the clergy shirt as the canvas, and the jacket as the art (instead of most fashion, which has it the other way around). My bishop will take jacket-top-thingies from other outfits (sometimes quite feminine) and pair them with a clergy shirt and I never would have guessed it, but they look great.
I’ve found this to work great in winter and cooler spring/fall times, but it can be a challenge in warmer weather to find light layers that do the same thing.
My husband is a pastor and we grew tired of the high price/low quality of clerical shitrs available. Now he has a wardrobe of shirts at a reasonable proce! Here’s how, and it should work for womens shirts, too!
Buy a shirt with a stand collar /collar attached to a band. The shirt must button to the neck!
Use a seam ripper to remove the collar and the collar button – go slowly – once you get started, it’s easy, but go slowly!
Edgestitch the collar band along the upper, now open, edge.
Line up the collar front edges, mark where the buttonhole starts and work a button hole where the button used to be.
Determine the center back of the band and work a button hole in that location (in the center of the band height).
Attach a Clericool collar and viola – a clerical shirt at a far more reasonable price!
You will need a collar, but one will fit many shirts.
My husband has to use 17″ collars on some shirts and 16 1/2″ collar on others, but no big deal.
He has black, french blue, light blue, blue/white stripe, back and blue check, tartans – you name it!
I hope this is helpful!