You don't have to signal a social conscience by looking like a frump. Lace knickers won't hasten the holocaust, you can ban the bomb in a feather boa just as well as without, and a mild interest in the length of hemlines doesn't necessarily disqualify you from reading Das Kapital and agreeing with every word. --Elizabeth Bibesco

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Headcoverings, again!

So, I've been covering my head most of the time lately. Saturday evening, though, I curled my hair for a 50's-themed party and it held so well through Sunday that I thought I'd go with my head uncovered. Well, I was fine with it teaching Sunday School, but when it came time to go into the sanctuary, I just really felt much better with my head covered, so I threw a scarf over it.

Later that evening, I went to my other church with my head uncovered and, while I managed, I really would have felt much more comfortable covered. This has little to do with my church community-- no one in my later church covers for sure and I'm reasonably certain no one in my early church covers either.

My rationale is not the typical reason Christian women cover their hair-- as a sign of submission to men as the head of the church/household/relationship with God/etc. My motivation is similar, I think, to why Orthodox Jewish men cover their heads-- I want a reminder that God is always above me. God is in control.

Now, I have a pretty decent collection of scarves and a hat or two, but I want a default one for church-- so if I don't have a scarf that "goes" with my outfit for the day, I can just grab my default scarf and not get caught up in the fashion-craziness of it. (But I don't plan on restricting myself to just my default scarf, so if I do have that perfect one that "goes," I can wear that too.)

The question is: what should my default church covering look like?

Initially, I thought basic would be good, since it is my "default" covering.
Like the chapel veils that some of the more orthodox Catholic women wear.  The one to the right here is by Lady in Blue on Etsy. However, my Woman is a recovering ex-Catholic and I don't want my "default" to be something that freaks the daylights out of her...

Another good basic would be like this one to the left. I don't know who wears these, but I do see girls around campus wearing them (or ones like them) occasionally. Anyone know? This one in particular is from christiancoverings.com. Also, how do these stay on? I don't know what they're called, so I can't google it.

On the other hand, since my whole life seems to shock people (it seems lesbians can't be religious, let alone as theologically conservative as I am), I'm tempted to make my "basic" something with a giant rainbow on it. The one below is from Total Thread Head on Etsy.
Now, part of me says, "Wow. That's way too ostentatious" and you might agree with me. On the other hand, you must remember: I'm Episcopalian. The head of our church, Katherine Jefferts Schori (who by the way, is a really awesome person and Presiding Bishop) wears things like this:
Courtesy of badvestments.blogspot.com
Obviously, you can't look too ostentatious for an Episcopalian church. Obviously.

Anyway, so the rainbow headcovering is not out of the picture, but I'm trying to find the one, you know? Suggestions are encouraged.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi love! Okay, as much as I love GIANT RAINBOWS, I'm personally a fan of the more basic ones on that Garlands of Grace place...and a basic one that will go with many of your church clothes so you don't end up always having to wear 2 colors to church all the time.

twistedapple said...

I think they're called "veils" and maybe have snaps? I looked into this once.

Have you considered a tichel?

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