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Cape dress

Anabaptist women wearing cape dresses and headcoverings

A cape dress describes a woman's dress that combines features of the cape and the dress. Either a cape-like garment is attached to the dress, pinned or sewn on,[1] and integrated into its construction, or the dress and cape are made to coordinate in fabric and/or color.[2]

Cape dresses provide a modest double layer in the bodice area. They also provide a long, full, skirt that conceals the form and falls at least below the knee and sometimes down to the ankle, depending upon the Christian denomination. In Christianity, this practice has been followed since the times of the Early Church, immediately after the New Testament time period.[3][4][5] Cape dresses are traditionally worn by female Anabaptist Christian church members, such as Mennonite, Brethren, Amish and Charity women.[6][7] Along with the adjective kosmios (κόσμιος) meaning "modest", 1 Timothy 2:9–10 uses the Greek word catastola katastolé (καταστολῇ) for the apparel suitable for Christian females, and for this reason, women belonging to traditional Anabaptist denominations often wear a cape dress; for example, members of the Charity Christian Fellowship (an Anabaptist denomination) wear the cape dress as the denomination teaches that "the sisters are to wear a double layered garment as the Greek word 'catastola' describes."[7] Cape dresses have additionally been worn by traditional Christians of the Quaker and Shaker denominations, among others.[8]

Each local church group has its own regulations and basic pattern, so that when meeting each other, members of plain churches can generally recognize each other's specific congregations. Many churches have a dress pattern where the cape is attached at the waist. Others, especially among the Brethren churches, have maintained a dress pattern where the cape is loose at the bottom edge. Additionally the cape dress, in extreme forms, has become a part of fashion vocabulary.

The cape dress is worn with a headcovering, often in the form of a kapp or an opaque hanging veil.[6]

  1. ^ Epp, Marlene (2008). Mennonite women in Canada a history. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. pp. 184–187. ISBN 9780887554100.
  2. ^ Picken, Mary Brooks (1957). A dictionary of costume and fashion : historic and modern. Courier Dover Publications (2013 reprint). p. 53. ISBN 9780486141602.
  3. ^ Steinberg, Aliza (7 February 2020). Weaving in Stones: Garments and Their Accessories in the Mosaic Art of Eretz Israel in Late Antiquity. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-78969-322-5.
  4. ^ Winger, Otho (1919). History and Doctrines of the Church of the Brethren. Brethren Publishing House. p. 218. I. We examined prayerfully the scriptural grounds of Christian attire, and found that Jesus and the apostles taught modesty and simplicity of life and modesty in dress and manners. The scriptures bearing on the subject of dress and adornment are of several classes: First. Jesus condemned anxious thought for raiment (Matt. 6: 25-33; Luke 12:22-31). Second. The direct teachings, such as 1 Tim. 2:9, 10; 1 Peter 3:3-5. Third. Teachings on nonconformity to the world in general, and that apply to dress on general principles, such as Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Peter 1:14-15; 1 John 2:15-17. II. Investigation shows that the early church fathers and our own church fathers taught strongly and uniformly against pride and superfluity in dress, and constantly in favor of gospel plainness.
  5. ^ Clement of Alexandria Collection [3 Books]. Aeterna Press. As, then, in the fashioning of our clothes, we must keep clear of all strangeness, so in the use of them we must beware of extravagance. For neither is it seemly for the clothes to be above the knee, as they say was the case with the Lacedaemonian virgins; nor is it becoming for any part of a woman to be exposed. Though you may with great propriety use the language addressed to him who said, "Your arm is beautiful; yes, but it is not for the public gaze. Your thighs are beautiful but, was the reply, for my husband alone. And your face is comely. Yes; but only for him who has married me." But I do not wish chaste women to afford cause for such praises to those who, by praises, hunt after grounds of censure; and not only because it is prohibited to expose the ankle, but because it has been enjoined that the head should be veiled and the face covered; for it is a wicked thing for beauty to be a snare to men.
  6. ^ a b Keller, Rosemary Skinner; Ruether, Rosemary Radford; Cantlon, Marie (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Indiana University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-253-34685-8.
  7. ^ a b Scott, Stephen (1 January 1996). Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups: People's Place Book No. 12. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68099-243-4.
  8. ^ "Q: So what about the funny clothes? Do you dress like the Amish?". Stillwater Monthly Meeting of Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2022. Women usually wear long-sleeved, long dresses, and a head-covering such as a scarf, bonnet, or cap.
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