https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:18:18 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence/page/2#post-1640050 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 03:37:31 +0000 Anonymous 1640050@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I know what you mean about those '70s habits, Gigi.&nbsp; I'm sure they were a lot more comfortable and practical, but they lacked the power and authority (and drama?) of the traditional habits.&nbsp; I doubt that anyone was influenced by the modern looking habits, they were just kind of meh.&nbsp; Nuns in polyester just seems so -- sacrilegious! I'll tell you one thing for sure:&nbsp; the memory of those starchy habits made me the dedicated ironer that I am today.</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence/page/2#post-1640036 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 03:16:16 +0000 Gigi 1640036@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>When I was in Catholic school, in the seventies, I was taught by some Franciscans who no longer wore a habit but just had a dress code: dark brown skirt and (hideous polyester) blouse. This really soured me on seventies-style clothes for a long time! And yes, they wore "nun shoes," as a previous poster mentioned (I'm sure these are the same shoes, ha ha). </p> <p>I would have loved to have been taught by a nun in a habit. They always do take such care to make sure that everything is pressed and neat.</p> <p>I had a friend some years ago who wore a simiplified habit. She was a member of a missionary order. She told me that back in the day (the sixties, I guess?) that the nuns had so many starched pieces on their habits that they would actually have to take breaks during the day to re-iron things because they were losing their shape. She said that was the reason why they decided to change their habit years later: the habit was getting in the way of doing their actual work.</p> <p>Xtabay, believe it or not, I visited one monastery of nuns where they told me that in the summer, some of them DO shave their head because it is so much cooler that way! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1640031 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 03:03:39 +0000 Anonymous 1640031@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's true, Firecracker.&nbsp; I have seen zero evidence of nun influence, flying or otherwise, in any of the wonderful outfits you've posted.&nbsp; They were such powerful figures to me that I guess it would be strange if they didn't influence me somehow.&nbsp; Ah, if only I could fly! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1640030 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 03:03:29 +0000 barbaraq 1640030@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The nuns who taught me wore what were French widows' weeds from the post French revolutionary war, when the Catholic Church was outlawed. &nbsp;They were in disguise from the authorities. &nbsp;I always admired their &nbsp;black-and-white habits. &nbsp;Our forest green wool uniforms, on the other hand, not so much. &nbsp;To this day I cannot stand even the idea of wearing anything that color.</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1640024 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 02:50:52 +0000 deb 1640024@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>L'Abeille, I&nbsp;remember that article.&nbsp;I think the&nbsp;crispness&nbsp;of the black and white intrigued me. I also saw it as authoritative. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1640011 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 02:23:53 +0000 Firecracker (Sharan) 1640011@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Nope, definitely not. I will admit to wanting to be Sally Field, aka "The Flying Nun," but I don't detect any nun influence on my style. What a fun insight to read about, though, and I'm enjoying this thread a lot! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1640000 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 02:01:49 +0000 L'Abeille 1640000@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This isn't about the nun's habits but back to the idea of school uniforms... </p> <p>Many years ago I read an article in Glamour magazine entitled "I've got that Catholic girls' school look". She was saying that she'd go shopping with her friends for, say, a fancy dress for a party, try on lots of slinky and flirty numbers, and end up with a long tartan skirt and a velvet blazer... it was her default, her comfort zone. The idea appealed to me (although I've never worn a uniform in my life, apart from scrubs and a white coat). But I love the confidence and authority conferred by the blazer, the "third piece", even though it barely fits my actual life...</p> <p>Much later, when we lived in South Africa, our first 2 girls attended a convent school and wore uniforms. Actually all schoolchildren at all schools wore uniforms. Most often involving a blazer. And I found that adult women rarely dressed that way; I think it felt infantilizing to them. Instead, they would dress up with coloured shoes to match a pretty dress, and bling to go along... stuff that a schoolgirl would never get away with. (I never got the memo. My default is the Glamour girl's default.) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639995 Wed, 06 Apr 2016 01:37:54 +0000 rachylou 1639995@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It has occurred to me that the basic witch costume looks a lot like Puritan wear...or what the Welsh wore...jus' sayin'... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639889 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:50:28 +0000 Anonymous 1639889@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So true, JAileen.&nbsp; As much as things are always changing in the world of fashion, some traditions hold fast.&nbsp; </p> <p>Wow, look at all that hair Kathryn Hepburn is showing -- scandalous!&nbsp; But Eleanor of Aquitaine was quite a little spitfire, wasn't she? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639874 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:37:50 +0000 JAileen 1639874@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Rachy mentioning how nuns' habits were just regular clothing for their time (I think of the movie Lion in Winter which takes place in the 12th century), reminds me of wedding gowns. Now they seem so archaic. But back in the day, they were just dresses that women wore. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639870 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:34:19 +0000 Anonymous 1639870@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I remember those shoes, Greyscale.&nbsp; Jolie laide is an excellent way to describe them.&nbsp; They worked quite well with the habit and opaque black stockings, and were comfy for chasing the skirt-hikers down to put in detention! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639862 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:30:21 +0000 Greyscale 1639862@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I grew up Catholic but without many nuns around. I don't think my minimalist aesthetic came from that. But the one connection, for sure, is 'nun shoes.' There are certain styles of clunky shoes that I just can't stop associating with nuns - and I like those styles, in a sort of 'jolie laide' way.</p> <p>My great-aunt Sister Arlene was a nun, but I didn't know her well. She was at family parties when I was really young. Then her order moved her to a retirement home in Quebec, which caused half the family to quit the church permanently. It's a big clannish family and the idea of her being forced to move so far away from her whole family that late in life upset folks, even if they're all from Quebec ancestrally. But anyway, her habit was a light brown that didn't have any of the verve of the black &amp; white version. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639861 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:29:32 +0000 Ginger 1639861@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm not really sure. It's hard to be that specific; they were in existence for over a hundred years and two different continents, and their fashions were by no means static. Wikipedia has lots of portraits - this is a collection of women. Lots of color and a good amount of black; not all of these are English.<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:17th-century_oil_portraits_of_standing_women_at_three-quarter_length" rel="nofollow">https://commons.wikimedia.org/.....t_three-qu</a></p> <p>I have a friend who works at Jamestown; although not it's not Puritan, she is an AMAZING costume historian and has re-created many different periods.&nbsp; Her research is impeccable.&nbsp; If you'd like, I'll ask her. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639854 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:23:28 +0000 Thirkellgirl 1639854@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Most of what I know about nuns came from Rumer Godden's <u>In This House of Brede</u>, about Benedictine nuns. I discovered it in my old town library at just about the time I entered Catholic prep school. As a little Baptist girl, I found it all terribly romantic. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639850 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:20:40 +0000 Ginger 1639850@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ooh, yes, Rachy is right! The habit is a simplified and stylized version of middle period medieval dress. The basic headdress in particular - wimple and veil - are virtually unchanged.&nbsp; I've done it for a Maid Marian costume (a la Olivia de Haviland). These webpages are totally fascinating. I used the double band method from the second page because my fabric was slippery chiffon, and it works perfectly. I doubt that nuns use the bands now, but it does work and is perfectly secure even in the wind.</p> <p><a href="https://cardiffcastlegarrison.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/how-to-wear-fourteenth-century-veils-and-wimples/" rel="nofollow">https://cardiffcastlegarrison......d-wimples/</a><br /><a href="http://www.virtue.to/articles/veils.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.virtue.to/articles/veils.html</a>&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639846 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:19:52 +0000 Anonymous 1639846@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think maybe the Puritans were a little dressier, right?&nbsp; They wore the big pointy hats and the buckled shoes.&nbsp; I think the men were showier than the women (if "showy" is the right word for someone so conservative). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639836 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:12:41 +0000 Ginger 1639836@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think you're right about that.&nbsp; I also think they've been mixed up with the Puritans. The Separatists/Pilgrims were more extreme by virtue of separating from the Church of England, but it's the Puritans who've been painted as the really strict legalists. If anyone did, they were the ones who reacted from the excess in dress in the 17th century - and it WAS really excessive! It wouldn't take black and white to look modest and restrained in comparison. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639825 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 21:02:16 +0000 Anonymous 1639825@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That's interesting about the Pilgrims.&nbsp; I guess the artists who portray them wearing black and white wanted to emphasize the severity of their beliefs and their strict adherence to a moral code.</p> <p>My high school nuns wore cream and deep-red habits.&nbsp; They looked like wild women compared to my grade school nuns.&nbsp; And I remember another order that wore grey and white (someone told me that they were Episcopalian nuns, but I don't know if that's true).&nbsp;</p> <p>Rachylou, that's fascinating about those stylish medieval nuns.&nbsp; It makes my wonder what went on after hours in our nuns' convent!&nbsp; Hair-curling and romantic trysts, maybe?&nbsp; As children, we always thought they were bald under those veils. :)</p> <p></p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639796 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:37:11 +0000 Ginger 1639796@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thirkellgirl, interesting that you'd say that! There is a convent of Carmelite nuns close to my parents' house. I remember they came in to the Joann's when I worked there; they were in light oatmeal colors, like unbleached cotton. If I recall correctly, they were looking for monk's cloth or something along those lines; sturdy but breezy, and not wool. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639791 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:31:40 +0000 deb 1639791@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I did not know that Turkey does not allow religious garb on the&nbsp;streets so nuns wear&nbsp;street clothes. Here is good info on religious habits.</p> </p> <p> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_habit" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_habit</a> </p> <p>ETA - I also did not know the various Catholic orders had different colored habits.</p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639787 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:28:55 +0000 Thirkellgirl 1639787@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The influence the nuns had on my dress was more that it took me years to get over a distaste of plaid (our uniform skirts) and grey blazers. I was able to play Sister Bertha in The Sound of Music in high school, and got to wear an actual nun's habit! It was wool and heavy and hot! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639783 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 20:25:35 +0000 Carla 1639783@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Not so much influenced by what the nuns outfits, since many were in civies at the boarding school I attended.&nbsp; Uniform dressing-that's another thing.&nbsp; Black Watch tunics over turtlenecks was the uniform.&nbsp; Any colour turtleneck and short sleeved mock turtlenecks for warm weather.&nbsp; White turtlenecks for dress.&nbsp; Today I am an avid turtleneck wearer and I do have a sugar eye for BW plaid! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639773 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:59:00 +0000 rabbit 1639773@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>thanks for the clarification, Ginger, quite appreciated </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639770 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:53:16 +0000 Ginger 1639770@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Just a point - The Quakers mostly wore gray or grayish tawny colors (there are a lot of 18th and early 19th century gowns in Pennsylvania and mid-Atlantic collections), and the Puritans and Separatists both fairly ordinary clothing for their respective classes.&nbsp; The Pilgrims in black with big white collars is kind of mythical. There are a lot of portraits showing men in black with white collars, but it's a fairly common style of the time and by no means limited to Puritans or Separtists or clergy. The interpreters at Plimoth do a pretty good job.<br /><a href="http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/17th-century-english-village" rel="nofollow">http://www.plimoth.org/what-se.....sh-village</a></p> <p>/note from historical costume nerd </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639764 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:44:27 +0000 Anonymous 1639764@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh my goodness, yes, the Flying Nun!&nbsp; That was such a sensation, and I don't know how Sally Field ever lived that down.&nbsp; Do I remember a little forbidden magnetism between the nun and the Ricardo Montalban character?&nbsp; None of my K-12 schools had AC, and in the hotter months, it wasn't uncommon for those nuns to drop like flies from the heat.&nbsp; One of them fell off a stool in mid-sentence.&nbsp; Those habits were downright life-threatening in our subtropical climate, but decorum had to be maintained!</p> <p>Thanks for the tip on that show, JAileen, I'm going to check it out (part of my research, you know).</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639747 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:19:22 +0000 JAileen 1639747@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've started watching a show called Death in Paradise, taking place on a Caribbean island. The last one had nuns in it. I was interested in how their habits are put together. I don't know if they used authentic ones in the show, but in one scene you could see ties at the back of the neck, under the veil. They had two styles, and I guess one if them was for a new nun. The funny thing is, the nuns always looked cool, whereas the detective was always kind of sweaty looking. Obviously I'm not Catholic, but I always been fascinated by nuns habits, especially The Flying Nun! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639736 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 18:53:52 +0000 rachylou 1639736@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, gosh, I'm sure I have the nun effect going on and have to be careful not to fall back on dressing like one, in case I'm mistaken for a nun groupie, lol. My spiritual director - her nickname was 'the flirt,' lol. She had so much elan, I cannot tell you.</p> <p>ETA: A link to a book about the habit - <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/habit-elizabeth-kuhns/1101092202" rel="nofollow">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.....1101092202</a></p> <p>ETA: Btw, in the history of my ultra liberal school, the length of girls' skirts was also measured. Skirts had to touch the floor when you kneeled. That was a widespread cultural thing.</p> <p>ETA: One more - <a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2011/06/04/medieval-nuns-knew-their-fashion-historian-finds/" rel="nofollow">http://www.medievalists.net/20.....ian-finds/</a></p> <p>I was always told that the habits that are traditional today were basically according to the fashion of the day when they were invented. That is, all women used to wear veils... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639723 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 18:39:28 +0000 Anonymous 1639723@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Rabbit, I know!&nbsp; I feel rather naughty and less inhibited when I wear red or really anything colorful.&nbsp; Aquamarine, it took awhile for the influence to take hold.&nbsp; I was one of those rebellious skirt-hikers, but now I want the knees covered.&nbsp; BC, I was talking more about how I dress now.&nbsp; I wasn't a Wednesday Addams child, wearing black! :)&nbsp; My mother thought that was too outrageous. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639713 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 18:25:01 +0000 rabbit 1639713@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's so interesting how individual taste develops, how much is nurture? How much nature? &nbsp;Severe black and white has been used by nuns but also Puritans, Quakers, and it shows up in menswear at least during various different eras. &nbsp; It's graphically pretty wonderful to my eye, but I can see how it was intended to be repressive of sensuality too.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/nuns-as-a-fashion-influence#post-1639710 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 18:20:09 +0000 Aquamarine 1639710@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Funny. Years of Catholic school here, mostly taught by nuns. I remember a classmate getting chastised for wearing "rouge" when we all knew her cheeks were flushed because we just came in from recess. I guess I am a modest dresser but I am not sure I can attribute that to the nuns. And I do like black and white, but I have very dark hair so it's easy for me to default to that color scheme.</p> <p>And, there are a couple of Catholic schools around here, and when they have a half day and the girls head out for lunch before going home, it's quite obvious they have hiked up the waistband of their uniform skirts ;-)<br /> So I'm not sure the school is having ANY effect on their fashion sense or inhibitions. Society/culture is probably a stronger factor. </p>