{"id":2526,"date":"2025-02-06T15:32:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T23:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/arthursattic\/?p=2526"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:41:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:41:51","slug":"her-habits-attire-for-women-religious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/arthursattic\/2025\/02\/06\/her-habits-attire-for-women-religious\/","title":{"rendered":"Her Habits: Attire for Women Religious"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A&SC Women Religious Archives Winter Exhibit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This winter, we are featuring an exhibit drawn from our new Women Religious Archives <\/a>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<\/a>, the Sisters of the Holy Family<\/a> and the California Province of the Jesuits Rare Book Collection<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious Attire<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Caption
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<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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 \u201chabit,” which can refer to any of the clothing pictured in this exhibit, not just more traditional forms of religious garb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019 vocation. Typically, when wearing a habit, the only individualized aspect of a sister\u2019s appearance would be her face. However, that doesn\u2019t mean that all habits look alike, although they may share similar garments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parts of a Habit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"Nun
White habit, Chanoiness Reguliere de Latran<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nun
Black habit, Ancien habillement des Religieuses Ursulines<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Woman
Blue habit, Religieuse Annonciade Celeste<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Traditional habits of women religious from Pierre H\u00e9lyot and Maximilien Bullot’s Histoire des ordres monastiques, religioux et militaires (1714-1719)<\/a>, 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.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n