07 February 2012

Modern habits

Harmony Hood ($208), Alban Cloak ($489), and Agnes Dress ($412). Photo by Julia Sherman.
Modest, natural, and snazzy—those were the three directions Mother Mary Magdalene gave artist Julia Sherman for designing the habits for the Community of Compassion, Mother Mary’s new Anglican Catholic order in Fort Worth, Texas. “You can’t just go to the store and buy a habit,” Mother Mary wrote to me. “Every order has to have a distinct one designed by the foundress, and you’re not supposed to copy anyone else.” The difference between two orders can be as simple as a few extra pleats in the skirt or as noticeable as Mother Teresa’s blue-striped, sari-inspired head covering.

But Sherman’s habits are something entirely new. Moreover, the JF & Son store in New York has partnered with Sherman to produce and sell the habits for secular customers. So while Mother Mary is praying in her peach-colored harem pants in Forth Worth, a young New York woman might be traipsing across Fifth Avenue in the very same design...

Sherman pointed out that the nun’s habit has undergone dramatic changes in the last century. “In the 1960s,” she explained, “feminist nuns lobbied to gain the right to do away with the habit altogether. As a result of their activism, young religious women today have ... reappropriated the symbol, modified it to their liking, and consider it to be an elegant wedding dress to be worn in perpetuity. One order, The Abbey of Regina Laudis, even made an alternate denim habit to be worn when they work, relating their lives to that of the American blue-collar laborer.”
Photo and text from The Paris Review, where there is more information on the components of habits (including "nunderwear") and their growing popularity among lay persons. 

Via The Dish.  (And I don't understand why the photographer had her dangle an ear of wheat from her lips.)

16 comments:

  1. I know I should be saying something a bit more intellectual right now but I swear I thought she was chewing on a piece of straw

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what I thought, too. Isn't it an ear of wheat? Is it a tassel or some part of her habit ???

      Delete
    2. No, I'm fairly sure it's barley.

      Delete
    3. I thought it was rye at first but the awns are definitely too long to be either wheat or rye. Good call Skipweasel, barley it is.

      Delete
  2. That's rather nice. Oddly, our 14 year old son quite fancies one. The cloak, not the nun. Though being 14 I don't suppose he'd object...

    ReplyDelete
  3. The article takes on an interesting twist if you mentally substitute 'burka' throughout.

    I think it's quite lovely. There's something to be said for simple, high quality work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, vanity. Not just to be identified as 'nun' but 'nun of tribe x' because bitches better not be copying us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Boy, everything old really is new again. Looks like something straight out of "The Scarlet Letter". All that's missing are the big-buckled shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. "...Mother Mary’s new Anglican Catholic order". Isn't that an oxymoron?
    Anglican being Protestant and Catholic being...you know...Catholic?!
    And I thought Anglicans in the USA were called Episcopalians?

    ??????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a website called Wikipedia where you can look things up...

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Catholics

      Delete
    2. Hmph. You learn something new every day. Despite being raised as an Anglican (complete with baptism and confirmation) I had never heard of Anglo-Catholicism. Our minister referred to it simply as high church or low church. He jokingly referred to our congregation as 'middlebrow church'! And thx for the (surprisingly, somewhat snarky) Wikipedia referral.

      Delete
    3. Snarkiness in this incident acknowledged. I do tend to be a little less gentle with anons than I am with named commenters. Nothing personal - just having a long day.

      Delete
    4. I hear you. Hope your day had a relaxing end.

      Delete
    5. Bourbon and coke and a movie coming up, right.... now.

      Delete
  7. I hope the nuns don't have to pay the prices listed under the photo. Can I just say "Holy Cow!!!".

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...