From the Guardian:
The devil may wear Prada, but a Sicilian bishop has set out to show Satan does not have a stranglehold on designer clothing by ordering new vestments from Giorgio Armani.
Bishop Domenico Mogavero drew compliments from churchgoers when he turned out for mass on Monday on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria in green silk vestments designed by Armani and decorated with symbols of vines, wheat, shells and starfish.
The bishop insists that his vestments are not part of a fashion show, that their beauty is for the glory of God. I'm willing to cut the bishop slack because of his delicious sense of humor.
Most recently he [Bp. Morovero] penned the preface to a book that details the financial scandals at the Vatican during John Paul II's papacy and was published on the eve of the Polish pontiff's beatification.
Another view of the vestments from Corriere del Mezzogiorno.
So. What do you think? Thumbs up, or thumbs down on the Armani vestments?
UPDATE: Of the rumors that the pope has a weakness for Prada shoes, L'Osservatore Romano says that the pope's shoes are are made "by an Italian artisan". Further:
"The Pope is not dressed by Prada but by Christ," the newspaper stated.
All right, then.
Well, I thought green was for ordinary time. . . is the Easter Season ordinary time?
ReplyDeletesusan, in the top picture, the vestments hardly look green, though more so in the lower picture. Perhaps they fall into a gray area, neither white nor green, but not gray, either, really.
ReplyDeleteLet us be thankful that he & the Holy Father are not dressed by The Emperor's New Clothes.
ReplyDeleteThe design of those vestments is thoroughgoing "Sixties Tacky".
wv "mince", is quite appropriate.
For myself, I do not favor a vestment that hangs like, looks like, or feels like a nightgown.
ReplyDeleteOr even a smoking jacket.
Robin
What will Armani say?!!
ReplyDeleteLapin, since you're something of an expert on liturgical vestments, more so than I, anyway, I defer to your opinion.
Robin, the silk is a bit thin for a vestment. I'm afraid it does have the look of a nightgown - but not of a smoking jacket. Even a smoking jacket would have more weight.
"The Pope is not dressed by Prada, but by Christ..."
ReplyDeleteJesus wept.
And I believe all Prada shoes are made by Italian artisans.
Bex, yes and yes. I read somewhere that the pope's personal cobbler makes his shoes.
ReplyDelete"The Pope is not dressed by Prada but by Christ," the newspaper stated.
ReplyDeletePardon me while I puke.
I used to wear an alb with no cassock underneath when I preached. The Vicar said to me, "You need to wear a cassock; that alb makes you look like a sack of potatoes without one." I suspect that the drape of an all-silk chasuble would be unfortunate, so I would be surprised if there were not some sort of heavier lining covered with silk.
ReplyDeleteAt my birth parish we had a set of very lightweight vestments made for summertime wear, since the church was not air conditioned, and they looked terrible. They clung to the body, perhaps because of static electricity.
That first picture looks positively Satanic, by the way.
I think those transition lenses make him look even worse in the second picture, Chris. . . Considering the Sicilian connection, I'd say really Godfather-like!
ReplyDeleteIf Jesus were physically present today he might be preaching dressed in a pair of jeans, polo shirt and sneakers. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a RC school kid, we kids would regularly be asked to bring in a dime a week - it was our own RC version of the "March of Dimes" - so father could have a new suit or new shoes or - whatever father needed.
ReplyDeleteWe were told that the money would go to God the Father who would give it to the son who dresses "father".
It's all so sick now, looking back on it.
JCF, the barf bag is definitely a necessity upon reading that bit.
ReplyDeleteI'd say really Godfather-like!
susan, you took the words right off my keyboard, before I could type them.
whiteycat, to be perfectly honest the silk and embroidered vestments seem more like an anachronism with each day that passes. I seem to be turning Protestant.
It's all so sick now, looking back on it.
Elizabeth, as though the priests were hurting. We grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood, and the monsignor appeared to live more prosperously than most folks in the parish. A car dealer donated a fancy car every year or every couple of years, so he drove around in comfort. Why did he need the little kids' dimes?
Doesn't Father Guido Sarducci work for him?
ReplyDeleteWhy does that first picture want me to think of "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee..."
ReplyDeletewv = bargo
v.i.
To frequent a place at which alcoholic beverages are served in individual portions, together with mixed drinks and "cocktails" (q.v.)
PS. Christ has better taste than to wear a dress like that.
ReplyDeletewv = LAULL
Acronym for "Laughing At Unstylish Lateran Latins"
Chris! I didn't respond to to your comment. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteMy rector does not wear a cassock under the alb. In the summer heat here and with us trying to save energy by not having the thermostat set low, that would be asking too much of our priest - too many layers. Even lay ministers don't wear cassocks under the alb, which is fine by me.
I was disappointed with Armani's design. I thought he could have done better than the droopy item he produced.
Counterlight, I believe that Fr Guido Sarducci may work for the bishop. Of course, we could both be wrong.
Tobias, you ask why. Because you have a wicked mind, that's why. You hang around here too much, and I am a bad influence. Don't you know that women are occasions of sin? Yes, even for gay men. It's not all about sex, you know.
I agree. Jesus wouldn't wear such a outfit. Do I detect seams? Jesus wore a seamless robe.
I deleted my previous comment, because I had my priest wearing a cassock under the other vestments, and he does not.
Re Elizabeth's post, in my Sunday school days we sang a child's hymn that went, in part, "Dropping, dropping, pennies dropping, listen while they fall. Everyone for Jesus, He shall have them all." Not on YouTube, sadly. Leonard Rossiter sang a snatch of it in The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin, which is the last time I heard it.
ReplyDeleteLapin, the song covers things up rather nicely, I'd say.
ReplyDelete