Ecclesiastical Use
The chimere is worn by the bishops of the Anglican Communion as a component of their choir habit. It comes in the colours of scarlet, Roman purple, purple, blue purple, and black. The bishop's cassock and the wrist-bands of his rochet typically match his chimere.
For Anglican bishops, the chimere is part of their formal vesture in choir dress — typically the chimere would be worn over a purple cassock and the rochet, and would be accompanied by a black scarf known as a tippet, with an optional academic hood. The chimere may be worn when vested in the cope, but not necessarily. Because of liturgical changes in the later nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it is no longer common for the chimere to be worn when celebrating the Holy Communion, though the practice is still kept up by some low church bishops.
Traditionally, the red chimere was worn only by bishops holding the degree of Doctor of Divinity and the black chimere by the others, arising from the academic history of the garment. However, in recent years this distinction has not always been followed.
On the analogy of the Catholic mantelletta certain Anglican prelates, American and colonial, have from time to time appeared in purple chimeres. As the Rev. N. F. Robinson pointed out (in "The black chimere of Anglican Prelates: a plea for its retention and proper use", in Transactions of the St Pauls Ecciesiological Soc. vol. iv., pp. 181–220, London, 1898), this innovation has no historical justification.
- In some churches the lead singer in the choir is permitted to wear a chimere.
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