What to wear, what to wear...?
It's a problem many clergy face, especially those who are expected to dress the part. Sundays might not be too difficult, especially in churches where you're expected to wear a cassock, but what about during the week? Ministers might have to wear their collars as a badge of office, but the kind of clerical wear that's available doesn't always lend themselves to looking good and feeling confident.
Methodist minister Rev Mandy Briggs tells Christian Today: "When I first started in circuit ministry in 2002 I wore clerical shirts designed for women but I never felt entirely comfortable in them – as a curvy woman, the shirts tended to gape and pull even when they were made-to-measure.
"Since then I've graduated to wearing jersey crop-top styles which fit under my own tops and jumpers and makes me feel much more 'me'."
Step forward Swedish designer Maria Sjodin, whose Casual Priest website has been set up to meet the needs of fashion-conscious clergy. It all started when a friend asked her to make her a clerical shirt. "She wasn't happy with the shirts on the market that seemed to be adapted for men," Maria explains. So she made her first top for women clergy.
She tells Christian Today: "When I´m designing the garments I strive to make them good looking whilst mediating dignity and confidence."
Her business took off in 2002 with a viewing for students at the Pastoral Institute in Uppsala. She now has customers throughout Scandinavia and in Europe, North America and Australia. While many of her garments are made for women, she also has a range for men. Her clothes are manufactured mainly in Portugal, though some are created in Stockholm allowing her to customise garments. She writes: "Since I started out I have learnt a lot and realised the extent of demand for clerical attire for the modern priest. Clothing represents who you are and it is therefore important to feel well-dressed, proud and confident in your role."
Maria is also working on a project she's calling "Casual Priest stories", taking pictures of priests around the world wearing her clothes and collecting stories about what wearing them feels like. "I want to show the modern priest in a modern world and therefore mostly take the pictures outside the church," she says.
In February she visited Britain, touring Oxford, Cambridge and London, and tells Christian Today that there was a great demand for her products. "It is really exciting and the next step is to find a retailer for my collections," she said.
And Mandy Briggs' verdict? "I really like the Casual Priest brand because it means that clothing for women priests and ministers is continuing to evolve. However it's also important to keep items affordable – this site is fairly pricey."
