When speaking of attires and associating them with their religious aspects and orientation, we may realize how culture, location, beliefs, and similar factors influence these attires and how they have evolved over the years. They represent more religious symbolism or identification, and each religion has its distinct uniqueness to it that makes them apart from one another.
When attires are considered, we can categorize them into two groups, sacred and secular. What’s deemed sacred may vary according to the thinking and mindset of the society; for example, in a male-dominated community with the belief that women must dress in a specific way, it impacts the way the attire is adorned and implicated. Consider the situation in Afghanistan where the conflation of gendered power and dress is noticeable in the prescription that women were required to wear burkha.
Secular dresses are used in rituals or are worn by certain religious practitioners, such as the church. Ecclesiastical dress; the dresses are worn by certain religious persons on certain spiritual practices are a common scenario we see when religion and attire are contexts. For example, Roman Catholic priests’ dress code resembles the days of the early Christian church. And now we see that not much has changed in the way they dress or adorn themselves. Even though the world of fashion is evolving at quite a rate, we observe that specific dresses or their fashion remain unchanged throughout the years. They were emphasizing its significance and implications in the light of religion.
More often than not, sacred dresses are meant to distinguish different religious groups in a culturally rich society visually. In specific patriarchal religious communities, we often observe the male clergy enforcing a certain dress code on their female members of the society, which is seen as a means to maintain gender imbalance of power.
There are some religions that are seen enforcing sacred undergarments as their commitment to their faith—for example, the Mormons.
More precisely, religious attire codes are seen to focus on defining morality and modesty while also being caught trying to control the sexual aspects of society. Radically, dress codes are more about the control of mind and body, resisting the world’s desires and temptations and the belief that in following specific types of clothing, utmost salvation can be achieved. Frequently it has been at odds with fashion. The very nature of it is dynamic. The technique is often rejected when it comes to attires based on religion as fashion subjects on individuality rather than their salvation.
Considering all of this, the idea that fashion and religion may go hand in hand is not unwelcoming anymore. As the world is evolving, changing its pace, many more people are forthcoming and accepting of changes and experiments. The fashion world has become a great deal today. With it has the thought of men in today’s time. While considering all and everything, acceptance and change are encouraged, and we can see in such cases now both of these aspects are made to work together to serve and fulfill whatever is needed.
