Hey gang!
I will be ordained in August as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. I wear petite size 4 and sometimes I can get away with a 6 if it is cut small. I need to buy a black clergy blouse but clergy blouses seem to start at women’s size 6 or size 8. Any tips for where to find smaller sizes?
I knew some of you could answer this. There may be some tips in the archives too, but let’s see what we can come up with for this new deacon. Thanks! MWAH!
Buy collarless shirts off the rack – have the cleaners put a button hole in the back of the neck (or if you are handy do it yourself). Take off the front top button and put a button hole there too – buy collars and studs — looks great – you can get them in your size and colors as well as black.
What Ann said. Or buy shirts with collars and have a dress maker convert them. I’m still wearing shirts I bought at Talbot’s in 2003. Better still, they are all-cotton no-iron. Womenspirit.com sells a size 4, and they run short, so should fit you. Their 3/4 sleeve length fitted shirt is actually fairly attractive, and you can get in in all-cotton. Almay shirts are heinous.
But watch out — black all-cotton never keeps its color. [I have the Woolite for black clothes and it’s quite good at solving this problem. – PB]
Yes, I would try the Women’s Spirit fitted blouse. That’s going to be your easiest option. I wore a size 2 petite on top before I had my son and have some custom made shirts in beautiful fabrics from Creary Shirts in Richmond, VA. The man who owned the shop died but they may still be around and make the shirts. I think they used to make Bishop Lee’s shirts. Anyway, they had a pattern for women’s clergy shirts that a bunch of of from VTS 2005 really liked. Even the cuffs were interesting.
The shirts from Moorhouse run small–they have a
nice blue as well as black.
I recently ordered from Stitches of Ayer and since the seamstress makes them herself, if you send your measurements she may be able to customize. but it will cost you. I only need one shirts, so it was worth the splurge for me.
I was unsure which size to order and sent her an email with my measurements and she confirmed the size for me.
I have the same problem.
The WS tailored shirts are too big, but the necks, almost too small. So I’m being throttled in a “tailored” bag. 🙁
I’m to the point of just finding a good tailor and having shirts made. Clergy shirts are so expensive a tailor made shirt is actually no more expensive and the dang thing will actually fit.
I agree with the Women’s Spirit 3/4 sleeve fitted option. I am usually a 4 or 6 petite and the 6 fits me well. But they are a bit pricey, at least compared to men’s clergy shirts.
I’ve also altered regular shirts myself–cut off the collar and sewed the stud holes. This is a good option since you are petite; I’ve found that petite-size shirts are a little smaller all over, which means that the neck is tight enough not to gape out of the attachable collar. If you want to try a do-it-yourself shirt but you still want the tab look, Almy makes “collarettes” that wrap a black piece around the full white collar. They list them as starting at neck size 15 because they seem to assume only men would wear them, but I special-ordered one in a size 14 for a couple dollars more.
Under no circumstances should you order the “Ideal Collar” shell from Almy with the sewn-in white collar. The black dye will turn the white collar grey the first time you wash it, and you’ll look dingy in your ruined $50 shirt.
Also, my husband’s black Almy shirts faded noticably and quickly. (I swear we wash laundry according to the garment recommendations!) I don’t know if the women’s Almy shirts do the same.
Jc Penney makes a mock neck turtleneck in black in petite. Fold the neck in and tack in four places. Sew a tiny button on the front and back center. Size up a half inch on the collar, and you may have to cut a slit in the clericool to make room for the button. If you find sleeveless black mock necks buy a dozen and then call me and tell me where you found them 😉
At fifteen dollars a pop these are great for everyday and are really comfy. I wouldn’t wear it for a dressy thing or an interview. If they get faded you can re dye them with black rit dye (this works with some cotton shirts too). Good luck!
As mentioned, Women Spirit has some great smaller clerics. I also suggest a Janie from Women Spirit. They are reasonably priced and work well underneath items from your already established wardrobe!
I come from the UK and I love Cross Designs if you’re going to go tailor-made.
http://www.crossdesignsltd.com
They have a huge variety of styles and I love my jersey blouses with princess seams.
One draw-back might be that UK clergy tend to wear “Roman” collars; I don’t know if Cross Designs will do the full traditional collar. On the upside, UK collars tend to be only 1″ high which I find a heck of a lot more comfortable than the US 1 1/2″ collar.
I had several collared shirts modified, but also had a clergy shirt made by a local dressmaker–heavy royal blue silk, and it’s the best $80 I ever spent. Two points here: first, expensive fabric looks better longer than cheaper fabric, as long as you take care of it; second, for shirts made from scratch, dressmakers are often cheaper than tailors.