Please review these photos.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washingtons-new-episcopal-bishop/2011/11/12/gIQA86W7FN_gallery.html#photo=18
Many of you are dear friends and colleagues of this priest. She is undoubtedly a devoted servant of Christ. She looks very sharp in that last photograph. I am curious to hear your impression of the previous images. And that is all I shall say, except that I have oft recommended that you make the acquaintance of a good tailor for good reason.
P.S. Several of you sent me this link. I have trained you well, my pigeons.
Proportionality would have helped– the mitre is waaay too big and although I like the bold design of the cope – it also seems too big for her. She generally is a sharp dresser – very professional. But at least she does not look like a fugitive from the Sound of Music drapery scene.
LOL! Spare us the Sound of Music drapery scene vestments (and I could send you myriad photos on that, as well!). She is indeed a gifted priest and will be a great gift to the Diocese of Washington as their Bishop. I would work for her in a heartbeat. But oh, my dear baby Jesus, will SOMEONE get that poor woman a tailor and tighten up that chasuble? It is WAY too big.
The vestments are a shame, because every other time I have been in her company, she has been very sharply dressed and would have been a Peacebang Halo of Praise: Cardigan Edition.
Honestly, I wondered if they had ordered the vestments before the consecration, and had predicted a male candidate would win.
She’s a slim, smaller woman, so vestments that are smaller in both size and with proportionally smaller designs will be the way to go for her.
And someone has to say it- a new haircut! Come on, lady Bishops… we have SO MANY PRIESTS in the Episcopal church with great hair. We could totally hook you guys up! (And Bishop Budde is not the only Bishop suffering from blah hair.)
I said privately that if I am ever the central character in a huge service like that, I am hiring a hairdresser for that morning.
I think it would have worked better if the chasuble had been taken in & the vestments were sized better for a petite woman-
She would probably look sharper from a distance (well, up close too) with a richer haircolor.
I really like the way she looks in the last photo. Not a big fan of all the pomp and circumstance stuff. You are all probably familiar with the website “Bad Vestments” where she is the topic today too. http://badvestments.blogspot.com/
Wish her well. So glad she is heading up the National Cathedral. She must be an incredible priest to get that gig.
Oh dear–it’s the one size fits all chasuble. So many of our women clergy find that what’s hanging in the sacristy is much much too big. As for the colors and patterns…. Our Presiding Bishop has set the tone for exuberant vestments, but this is not my taste.
I stopped reading Bad Vestments because the tone is just so nasty most of the time. I got rapidly tired of his take on how artists and women were sending us all to hell. What I like about PB is her focus on honoring the positive and improving the negative.
But- yes. I’m 5’7″ and refuse to wear most church vestments. I’ve found the line of “oh dear, I’m afraid it just doesn’t fit” registers well. Many altar guilds never thought vestments could fit and not fit. I did a show and tell recently with mine and people were amazed at how differently mine were shaped. My parish can now tell immediately my custom stuff from non custom, and recent discussions have included future purchases of two tunicles- one for taller bigger people and one for smaller shorter people.
Honestly, 815 (the Episcopal Church Center) needs a liturgical fashion adviser. As much as I support my presiding Bishop, it would behoove the leadership of the Episcopal church to *not* choose vestments that are earmarked for “badvestments.com”.
These garments do not convey an image of dignified confident leadership. The size of the garments and the scale of the fabric design make both Bishop Jefferts Schori and Bishop Budde look like they’re drowning in their vestments. It visually diminishes their leadership role.
Does the size of the National Cathedral call for such loud fabric? Do the pictures exaggerate?
It saddens me to criticize since I’m a liberal Episcopalian and fully support their ministry. I don’t want to be catty, but the unconscious symbolism reads loud and clear! I’ve wondered before if someone in the liturgical garment industry is trying to undermine the Presiding Bishop’s ministry?
At the very least their make-up needs to be bolder to compete with that fabric!
[This is SPOT ON. Someone needs to deal with this. It looks foolish and ugly and makes an unintentional mockery of the church and the proceedings. – PB]
I cannot remember what his name was (for some reason Jeffrey comes to mind) but the Episcopal bishop of DC in the late 1970s had beautiful travel vestments, including an alb with fitted cuffs and a pleated ruffle on them. He was a fairly small man and they fit him really nicely. He was also a great preacher.
And I have no idea what they might be, but I love the word “tunicles”.
I hate to admit that I sort of love the vestments, but yes, a better haircut would work wonders. And a touch of makeup.
Yes, they are way too large–especially the miter.
This is what I think.
The vestments, in themselves, I could take or leave. Yes they are too large, and the poor lady swims in them. What I do not like is the disparity in the tone of the garments compared to the others participating. The two women in bright vestments are speaking a different liturgical language than the others. [YES. “A different liturgical language.” I am so proud of my pigeons for their astute analysis. – PB]
Whether you consider the vestments ugly or just bold and creative is largely a matter of perspective. Had the event taken place in a large formal space with a modern design and architecture, the vestments might not seem out of place, particularly if many of the particpants had similar garments. But it did not, it was held in a huge old cathedral and everyone else showed up in classic vestments. The guest of honor then seems to have arrived in a patchwork quilt, albeit a silky one. [Right. Very jarring. And I could not agree more with your next remark, either. – PB]
This is what I am afraid of as a woman in ministry, that my ways of being “me” become a distraction, rather than a compliment to the “old boys” way of doing things.
I am not in a very high church tradition, so I am an outsider looking in. It is a realistic observation that women tend to wear some of the more “creative” vestments. I VALUE creative! I really do, but why do women resist the classic vestements? Honestly, the men’s vestments have probably ALWAYS been a feminine contribution to the church. Items that women have stiched and pressed an pricked their fingers over for YEARS are now not just submitted to the men of the church, but finally now avaialble to us!
It’s such a shame that these vestments don’t look like they were made for Bishop Butte, and they should have been. I’ve been at two consecration services for Bishops, and both of them, the vestments reflected their personality and were custom made for them…
The mitre, IMHO is too big and looks like its swallowing her…which is a terrible shame as mitres are always custom made…might it have been a ‘surprise” gift and thus not measured properly?
Either way, the image she’s portraying unintentionally is that she’s too small for this “job” and we KNOW that is not the case. [YES. Exactly. – PB] She’s an awesome priest with the support of her peers and laity or she would not have been elected. End of.
Katherine Jefferts Schiori is another dynamic woman whose presidential presence is quite subdued. She spoke at Convocation last year and I was impressed at her integrity and depth of presence, while her gestures were very subdued.
I love the excitement and the solemnity of the moment captured, especially the picture in which Bishop Butte has her eyes closed as though she is taking a deep breath and meditating deeply in prayer.
I think bolder makeup would have added some balance to her vibrant vestments…perhaps she will undergo some fashion advice through time, it happened with Bishop Susan Johnson with the ELCIC. She went from dowdy to dramatic and is a hero of mine.
Perhaps our dearly beloved Rev’d Dr. PeaceBang should be hired as consultant to the soon to be ordained and/or consecrated? What say you? [ I would be honored. – PB]
Rev. Budde served for many years in the parish around the corner from my home. She never struck me as a small person until I saw these pictures. She is a powerful personality and I’m delighted that she is now serving in such a visible diocese. But, oh, those vestments make me weep.
Second the shout-out to Susan Johnson of the ELCIC –she is now frump-free.
Oh my! I had exactly the same thought as Andrea the instant I saw this: our dear sister is unwittingly telegraphing that she is not “big” enough for this job. [BINGO. – PB] And what an unfortunate contrast of circus-like materials and solemn context! (I agree that “creative” vestments can be lovely, but they have to be selected carefully for occasion and location.) At first glance, I honestly thought that the photo of all the assembled bishops was a send-up of women in church hierarchy; that is, that it was a cartoon poking fun at women who aspire to the episcopacy. [I felt the same way. It is an error that reflects poorly on all women in ministry, ie, “Girls don’t know how to do this.” – PB] And then I read the accompanying headline and realized the historic event the photo was covering. As I looked at the collection of photos in this link, I couldn’t help but think that they looked like me and my childhood friends who played dress-up priests in our fathers’ white dress shirts (for albs) and mothers’ scarves (for stoles) and garden shed ropes (for cinctures). And yes, Necco wafers for Eucharist to distribute to our dolls and dogs, who dutifully listened to our sermons. All these holy, brilliant and devoted women of God seem to be undermining their sacred authority by their liturgical attire.
Would one of you who knows Bishop Susan Johnson supply us here with a link to a sample of the “before” and “after” versions of her de-frumpification so that we may study and learn from her example? What did she do to transform her public appearance? And did she have help? Our beloved PB, perhaps?
Thanks be to God for the faithful, bold and loving ministry of this new bishop. May she be strengthened by God’s abiding love and by the support of those in her care in all her days.
Agreed that the clothing and miter are both too big. But might we give both women some credit for choosing to separate themselves a bit from traditional symbols of hierarchical power? I’m no theologian who can read the ‘liturgical language’ these garments speak, but for me their colorful choices send a message about power, access and humanity that I find very appealing. Instead of demeaning it as ‘a patchwork quilt’, I prefer to read this as a tribute to women’s creativity.
I thought the vestments were excessive but, in fairness, must say that I have visited the National Cathedral a couple of times and been struck by the modern design of the stained glass windows. As an older and rather conservative Episcopalian I found them to be kind of abstract and rather jarring. (Having one incorporate a moon rock WAS kInda cool, though.) The modern vestments may have gone quite well with them. By the way, the Bad Vestments blog linked to a story about terrible glitches with the sound system, etc., that made me sad.
As per request…here is a link to the ELCIC website, which has flattering and not-so-flattering pics of our beloved Bishop.
http://elcic.ca/From-the-Bishop/Ordination.cfm
Take a peek…
>including an alb with fitted cuffs and a pleated ruffle on them.
Are you sure this wasn’t actually a rochet (the white garment that goes under the sleeveless garment called a chimere; the combination is the bishop’s equivalent of a cassock and surplice)?
I agree that Bishops Budde and Jefferts Schori push the envelope, vestment-wise, and have been enlightened by some of these comments as to exactly what makes me uncomfortable. Being relatively traditional when it comes to vestments, it also just bugs me that these have no recognizable connection to the liturgical colors of the event taking place. Call me old fashioned, but at an ordination/consecration, the predominating colors should be red, white, and gold, not purple/blue/green/brown/orange/Godonlyknowswhat.
As far as my own vestments go, I’m lucky to be the third woman in a row to be rector of my current church, so all the chasubles fit me! It’s amazing!
It’s all about the haircut! I don’t know from vestments (though I thought these were kind of cool, in a playing-priest-in-the-backyard-on-a-summer-afternoon kid of way), but OMG, that haircut sucks.
I’ve always had short hair myself and I know that it can look ultra-chic and stylin’ if you find the right hairdresser. It’s worth the money to get a Really Good haircut every five weeks, whether you need it or not.