Clerical Shirts

Since time immemorial, people ordained by religious duties and responsibilities have been distinctly identified by their special appearances in clothing and attire irrespective of religion and/or faiths.

In Christianity too, this has been vividly pronounced amongst the clergy or church personnel. In fact, the verdict from a church council in 1215 required that all the Christian clergy must wear distinctive clothing wherever they go. Attires reserved for clergy varies with rituals and services.

Clerical vestments and attires have undergone many changes over time. Before 19th Century clergy personnel used to wear long frock coats followed by vests and then vest fronts. In 19th Century mostly cassocks and neck cloths used to be worn by church personnel. In 20th Century and onwards, clerical apparels saw modern adaptations into clerical shirts or clergy shirts with a variety of clerical collars.

Today's clergy apparels include a wide range of clothing items like clerical shirts or clergy shirts (sometimes also called priest shirts in general), albs, biretta/zucchettos, bishop apparels, cassocks, clerical collars or priest collars, capes, cinctures, robes, stoles, surplices, mitres, vestments etc. Of all these items, clerical shirts seem to have caught maximum attention in the clerical garments and apparels industry.

A clerical shirt or clergy shirt is usually a black collarless shirt worn with a detachable clergy collar/clerical collar. These may be of different types. Shirt-front, neckband, full collar shirt and cassock, tab-collar, high banded collar are some of the most popular types.

A high banded collar clerical shirt has an arrangement to insert a small white cloth/plastic patch inside the front side of the collar.