Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
The cassock, also known as a soutane, is a long, sheath-like, close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by Christian celebrants of various denominations, including Anglicans and Roman Catholics. It is the basic dress of clergy and of altar servers and choristers who assist at services, fastened down the front with a long row of buttons and often worn with a sash or belt called a fascia. This page explains how a cassock is made and worn, what its colors signify, and how it differs from other clerical and academic robes.
The cassock, also known as a soutane, is a long, sheath-like, close fitting, ankle length robe worn by Christian celebrants of various denominations, including Anglicans and Roman Catholics. The cassock derives ultimately from the tunic that was formerly worn underneath the toga in classical antiquity.
It comes in a number of colors, which have traditional meanings.
The ordinary priest's cassock is black. Bishops traditionally wear purple ones; cardinals, of course, get red ones, and the Pope's cassock is white. In tropical climates, ordinary priests frequently wear white cassocks.
The cassock comes in a number of styles, though no particular symbolism attaches to these. A Roman cassock has many buttons down the front; a French cassock has fewer front buttons, but buttons sewn to the sleeves after the manner of a suit, and a broader skirt. A Jesuit cassock has a fly fastened with hooks.
Cassocks are sometimes worn by lay people when they are assisting with the liturgy in church. In most Western countries, the clergy have generally abandoned the cassock as everyday clothing in favour of a clerical suit of more conventional design.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cassock). 12/24/04 |
A traditional cassock buttons from neck to hem with a long row of small buttons — thirty-three in some traditions, said to recall the years of Christ's life — though modern versions often button partway and close the rest with a hidden fastening for practicality. The cut is close but allows walking, with a pleat or vent at the back, and the fascia sash at the waist carries the color coding of rank where local custom uses it.
Beyond clergy, the cassock is the working dress of altar servers and choristers, usually worn with a white surplice over it. Its survival into modern church life, little changed in outline for centuries, makes it one of the most conservative garments in continuous use — a robe whose meaning is carried by color and context rather than by fashion.
The cassock's French name, soutane, comes from its below-the-skirt length, and regional traditions vary its details: the Roman style buttons fully, while some Anglican cassocks are double-breasted. In seminaries and cathedrals the garment remains daily dress, and for many clergy it is simply the uniform of the working day, worn under vestments at services and on its own for everything else.
A cassock is a long, close-fitting, ankle-length robe, traditionally buttoned down the front, worn by Christian clergy and by those who assist in services such as altar servers and choir members. It is also called a soutane, particularly in Roman Catholic use.
Black is the everyday cassock color for most clergy. Colored piping, buttons and sashes — and in the Roman Catholic Church, fully colored cassocks — signal rank: red for cardinals and scarlet-trimmed dress for bishops, for example, with white reserved to the Pope in that tradition.
A cassock is a fitted, everyday garment with sleeves and a full button front, worn as the base layer of clerical dress under surplices and other vestments. Liturgical vestments such as the chasuble are looser ceremonial pieces worn over it only during services.