Hey Lady Pastors,
A recent comment about wearing clericals under a dress reminded me that I wanted to ask you to send photos of that particular match-up. I have seen so many disastrously frumpy pairings of the two that I seriously think we need to collect an archive of How It Can Be Done.
Please. Help a sister out.
And guys, while we’re at it we may as well solicit photos of you in collars and non-traditional garb. Let’s see what’s going on out there with the dog collars.
Can’t wait to see these! We had a stylin pastor who would wear black trousers, a black clerical shirt and a leopard print cardigan. I realize this doesn’t answer the dress question …
I’m coming to the conclusion that it really only works with black or dark colors, a simple, highish neckline, and a tailored style that is about knee length. It gets messy and confusing really quickly.
http://www.crossdesignsltd.com/images/brochure.pdf
Cross Designs has Lots of clergy dresses …well a couple…. and they look quite nice. They also have clergy shirts that aren’t just mens shirts tailored a little to look like they might fit a woman.
I saw photos somewhere very untraditional fabrics were used but they still looked great!
If I were looking for stuff to wear around clericals (which I’m not, being a first year seminarian in a tradition where the collar is not required) I’d start by seeking out looks that work with a dark-colored turtleneck shirt (or whatever color your clericals are). From a visual-art perspective (and putting together a “look” is a wearable work of art, no?) a clerical shirt fills up the same space as a turtleneck or mock-turtleneck top, so dresses, sweaters, jackets and other outer layers that work over a turtleneck might work with a clerical collar… or vice versa. (I can’t remember what it was I saw on here last winter that made clericals look like something I’d want to wear, but I did it with a navy turtleneck and that worked too.)