Doll in a habit with a book on a support in the reading room.

Her Habits: Attire for Women Religious

A&SC Women Religious Archives Winter Exhibit

This winter, we are featuring an exhibit drawn from our new Women Religious Archives on the uniforms of various Catholic women religious orders, referred to as their habits. Curated by archivist Bess Pittman, the exhibit highlights materials in SCU Archives & Special Collections from the Holy Union Sisters, the Sisters of the Holy Family and the California Province of the Jesuits Rare Book Collection. The exhibit has several dolls with clothes that were made by the Holy Union Sisters to demonstrate the different types of religious uniform worn by their order. The exhibit will be on display on the 3rd floor of the library until March 21st, 2025.

Religious Attire

Caption in image: Sister Leander, in charge of the nursing program at O'Connor's, speaks to the girls from the hospital prior to their departure for classes at Santa Clara.
The nun in charge of the nursing program at O’Connor Hospital, Sister Leander, wears a traditional habit when speaking to the nursing students enrolled at Santa Clara University in 1957. SCU Digital Collection Link.

The special garments of those with a religious calling serve both as a reflection of their dedication to their faith and as a sign of their vocation to others. Members of their faith communities would be able to determine the wearer’s religious order and their role within it based on the clothing design, color, and presence or absence of adornments. These clothes were meant to illustrate the piety, humility, modesty, and commitment to service of the men and women who had chosen the life they represented. In this exhibit, we highlight the uniforms of various Catholic women religious orders. The generic term for the attire of women religious is “habit,” which can refer to any of the clothing pictured in this exhibit, not just more traditional forms of religious garb. 

The purpose of a habit is to decenter the self and emphasize the work to be done, as well as provide an outward indication of the sisters’ vocation. Typically, when wearing a habit, the only individualized aspect of a sister’s appearance would be her face. However, that doesn’t mean that all habits look alike, although they may share similar garments.

Parts of a Habit

White habit, Chanoiness Reguliere de Latran
Black habit, Ancien habillement des Religieuses Ursulines
Woman religious in traditional blue habit
Blue habit, Religieuse Annonciade Celeste
Traditional habits of women religious from Pierre Hélyot and Maximilien Bullot’s Histoire des ordres monastiques, religioux et militaires (1714-1719), a multivolume rare book set with hand-colored plates that was donated to Santa Clara University by the California Province of the Society of Jesus.

Different groups of women religious use different styles and colors of garments to distinguish themselves from one another and align with the values of their founders. Women religious will also wear different habits depending on their role within their order. For example, a novitiate, who is in training to be a nun but has not yet taken her vows, will wear a different color or style of habit from the fully professed sisters to denote her status. Some of the ceremonial garments worn by nuns historically could be quite elaborate and colorful. A habit typically consists of some combination of the following garments:

  • Blouse: a typically long-sleeved shirt. Can be worn as an undergarment under a tunic or as an outer layer by itself. Usually white or black.
  • Coif, bonnet, or bandeau: worn under the veil, it frames the face, sometimes also covers the neck. Usually white.
  • Guimpe, or collar: A round cloth covering the bottom of the neck, the shoulders, and the chest. Usually white.
  • Scapular: a sleeveless overdress worn over a tunic or blouse and skirt.
  • Skirt: an ankle- or floor-length garment. Can be worn as an undergarment under a tunic or as an outer layer by itself. Usually black, but some orders wear blue or brown.
  • Tunic: a typically long-sleeved dress, often tied at the waist with a rope or belt. Usually black, but some orders wear blue or brown.
  • Veil: covers the head, hair, and sometimes the shoulders. Can be white, black, or both, depending on the order and role of the wearer.
  • Wimple: a head covering concealing the top of the head, hair, neck, and sides of the face. Can be worn alone or under a veil. Usually white.

Credits

For more information about the exhibit or researching women religious at Santa Clara University Archives & Special Collections at the University Library, please contact specialcollections@scu.edu.

Exhibit and blog post by Bess Pittman, Archivist; Monica Keane, Archives & Special Collections Librarian; and Taylor Garvey, Digital Collections Coordinator