Amish Dress
Old Order Amish women and
girls wear modest dresses made from solid-colored
fabric with long sleeves and a full skirt (not
shorter than half-way between knee and floor).
These dresses are covered with a cape and apron
and are fastened with straight pins or snaps.
They never cut their hair, which they wear in a
bun on the back of the head. On their heads they
wear a white prayer covering if they are married
and a black one if they are single. Amish women
do not wear jewelry.
Men and boys wear dark-colored suits,
straight-cut coats without lapels, broadfall
trousers, suspenders, solid-colored shirts, black
socks and shoes, and black or straw broad-brimmed
hats. Their shirts fasten with conventional
buttons, but their suit coats and vests fasten
with hooks and eyes. They do not have mustaches,
but they grow beards after they marry.
The Amish feel these distinctive clothes
encourage humility and separation from the world.
Their clothing is not a costume; it is an
expression of their faith.
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