Choir Dress - Anglican Choir Dress or Choir Habit

Anglican Choir Dress or Choir Habit

What is now referred to as choir dress in Anglicanism was the only vesture permitted to the clergy in the 1552 Prayer Book; the Elizabethan Prayer Book of 1559 added the so-called Ornaments Rubric, which in theory permitted the pre-Reformation eucharistic vestments (chasuble, dalmatic, tunicle, alb, amice, and maniple) along with the cope, that had been in use during the reign of Edward VI. By the 18th century the eucharistic vestments were not in general use although the cope was used for coronations and in certain cathedrals. After the Oxford Movement in the mid-19th century they were restored in many cathedrals and parish churches. In many low-church dioceses and parishes the choir dress continued to be the norm, even at the Eucharist.

The cassock is almost invariably black for priests and deacons. A traditional Anglican cassock is double-breasted, being buttoned on the shoulder rather than up the front (there may be a single button sewn to the center of the chest used to fasten the academic hood if worn). Many Anglican clergy, especially (though not exclusively) those within the catholic tradition of Anglicanism, prefer to wear the Latin single-breasted cassock. The cassock is worn with a cincture, which may take the form of a cloth sash resembling a fascia, or a simple rope girdle or leather belt. Over this is worn the surplice, which is longer and fuller than that worn by Roman Catholic clergy, sometimes reaching well below the knees. Traditionally, an academic hood is worn around the shoulders and down the back, along with a black tippet or scarf worn around the nape and hanging straight down in front. The hood and tippet were once a single garment called an almuce. (The tippet is not to be confused with the stole, which is also worn in a similar manner, but is not part of choir dress, being worn at the eucharist and other sacramental services.) Some clergy also wear Geneva bands (or "preaching tabs") from their collars. Though not worn at service-time, the Canterbury cap is the traditional headgear of Church of England clergy; some prefer the biretta (see below) or mortar board. Neither is widely worn, although the cap, with cassock, gown and tippet, is specified in English canon law as part of the "outdoor habit" or "house dress" of the clergy. At some periods of history a black gown, either academical or 'Genevan', was worn for Morning and Evening Prayer instead of the surplice which was reserved for use at the Holy Communion - the cassock, bands, gown, academical hood and tippet still being the normal liturgical costume for ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and other Reformed and Presbyterian churches.

Chaplains in the Armed Forces wear tippets with officially sanctioned badges and any medals which they have achieved. A bishop or priest may wear a tippet with the arms of the seminary from which he received his degree. In England some cathedral clergy wear tippets on which is embroidered the distinctive symbol or cathedral coat of arms. Members of the high church or Anglo-Catholic parts of the church sometimes wear choir dress of a more Roman Catholic style, including a shorter surplice (or cotta), a stole (and sometimes a biretta), excluding hood and tippet.

Readers officiating in the absence of ordained clergy often wear a blue tippet, or, in the United States, a black tippet displaying the arms of the diocese. At the Eucharist, it may be more fitting for readers of Scripture to wear street clothing to emphasize the role of the laity in recent versions of the Prayer Book. However in some parishes readers wear the traditional vestments of the subdeacon at High Mass: alb fastened with a white cincture and a tunicle. In other parishes they wear the cassock and surplice, as do members of the choir.

Anglican bishops usually wear a purple cassock. Over this, instead of the surplice, they wear the rochet with red or black chimere and matching cuffs, black tippet, and sometimes an academic hood. At the Eucharist they typically wear the alb, stole and chasuble if it is the tradition of the parish; or they may wear a cope (a floor-length vestment with a hood) and mitre (a hat often silk and even embroidered, with two ribbons down the back). In evangelical dioceses and parishes they wear the choir dress (rochet, chimere and tippet).

For street wear, an Anglican clergyman in clerical clothing may wear a clergy shirt either with or without a black suit coat. Anglican bishops may wear a purple clergy shirt. Anglican bishops normally wear a pectoral cross, usually on a chain, which may be adorned with jewels, and the episcopal ring.