Fashion Rules: To the Country That Never Waits, We’re Off to The United States!
The Amish originated in Europe and migrated to the U.S. over two centuries ago (in the 1730s), maintaining their values of a peaceful existence as they escaped persecution [1]. I’m sure you are all wondering- why the Amish? Do the Amish represent all of America? No, they do not; I am merely providing a diverse perspective on traditional American Protestant fashion. America is known as the melting pot; we represent a multitude of cultures, races, and religions. It is important to provide a different perspective, one out of the norm. When we think of western or American fashion, a lot of people generally picture basic jeans, tees, summer dresses, crop tops, leisurewear, streetwear, etc. However, this does not represent all of America. The Amish are a community-centered group with a strong religious faith influencing their way of life [1]. They encourage self-help among the community and do not use state benefits in any way, maintaining a separate way of life in their work, travel, education, fashion, and language [1]. They live within their community but keep outside contacts with the ‘English’ while still being fully independent and following the Old Order [1]. They live by unwritten rules called Ordnung without any central authority; morals and values are important to them [1]. These include simplicity, humility, harmony with nature, avoiding technology to prevent damage to the community, non-confrontation, discipline, language, family, and education [1]. As Baptists, they follow strict church rules and discipline accordingly. This also means they do not divorce, they marry within the community, and have large families [1]. With majority living in Pennsylvania since the beginning, they speak a form of German called Pennsylvania Dutch and speak a High German during religious ceremonies. Being Christians, they celebrate the same holidays as any other Christian would. As for education, children attend Amish school up to 14 years old then move on to learn technical skills at work [1]. Once they reach 16 years of age, they can experience life outside the community for a few years and make their own decision for their life; will they become full Baptists or remain in the outside world? 90% choose to stay in the community with their family [1]. A major part of the Amish’s way of life is their resourceful nature. They do not use technology that damages the environment, they make their own food from farm to table, and they raise their kids to value VALUES! …what an interesting concept (sarcasm included). The Amish fund their way of life through farming, owning shops, factory work, handy work, making clothes, tourism, and construction [2]. In addition to making their own food, they make their own clothing and houses! They use what they have to its fullest potential, not wasting a thing. It begs the question- to truly be sustainable, does fashion need to look to the Amish?
As we ponder this question, let’s first dive into Amish fashion. How did it all start? Why do they wear what they wear? The clothing came from the attire they wore when living in Europe. They are traditionalists and styled themselves with common rural clothing [3]. Women dress modestly in plain attire with muted tones. They do not adopt the latest trends or follow pop culture. They rarely wear printed fabrics, jewelry, ribbons, or hardware on the shoes [3]. Since women cook over open fires and are constantly busy throughout the day, they wear plain calf-length petticoats with a front-pinned bodice, a shift dress underneath for sleeping in, an apron over the entire outfit, a Halsduch (neck cloth) covering the bust and neck, plain shoes, and pantyhose. Their hair is tied up in a bun with a Haube (fabric cap) covering their hair [3]. Men dress very colonial with long linen shirts (for sleep and day wear), waistcoats, knee breeches, and plain shoes. Dress coats were worn by men for formal events or church [3]. After getting married, Amish men must grow a beard to show they are a man of God [3]. During warmer weather, women wore low-crowned straw hats over their Haube; they would tie cording around the crown and under their chin to cover their ears with the brims, calling these straw hats “scoops” due to their shape [3]. They never waste any materials and use what they have, making it work in any way they can. A night gown also acts as a slip or underwear for colder seasons, an old cord acts as ribbon to tie their hats down, etc. Both men and women would also wear Flamma deckle (black beaver hats) during colder seasons, tying them down into scoops as well. In the mid 1800s, women were finally allowed to adopt bonnets for their hair coverings [3]. This was a major controversy as the Amish do not adopt outsider clothing, but bonnets are a major accessory for Amish women today. Traditional clothing acted as a symbol for the Amish community. Once in the U.S., it became obvious that Amish dressing was different, and they stood out to other communities. Now, it acts as a symbol of their culture and tradition. It keeps their community living on as they hang on to their threads. Surely not all Amish dress exactly alike; it tends to vary by region like any other culture. Amish people who live in Nebraska did not adopt bonnets, but those in Pennsylvania did/do [4].
One must now ask the curious questions. Will the Amish dress code ever phase out of existence? If they eventually accepted the bonnet, will newer generations slowly move away from tradition? Is that a bad thing- to lose the values from previous elders? When does it go too far? Or not far enough? Without history or tradition, do people lack identity? The world follows trends as we all attempt to keep up with the latest looks, be in the in-group, and, honestly, the trending clothes are available in malls, boutiques, online stores, etc. which makes them the easy buy. Amish people make their own clothing most of the time, refraining from outside influences. In Ohio during the 1700s, a man wore a red Mutza (coat common in the Old World but not in the New World) to church [4]. This red coat caused so much disruption in the church that they had to work together as a community to solve the issue prior to moving forward with life. In the 21st century in Iowa, boys in the community are now allowed to use wool caps during winter for warmth, as opposed to the traditional black hat [4]. These decisions to adopt outside things are made extremely cautiously. What about non-people, outside influences? They adopted the bonnet and wool hats due to extreme weather conditions; could this continue? How far will it go? As climate change affects our planet, causing flash floods, sporadic fires, etc., will the Amish have to adopt western clothing to survive? Or, since they have existed so long, do they have the capabilities available and ready to make their own items? These hat controversies say otherwise. Going with their value of “no waste” would it not make sense to use what is in existence from Americans? Why waste these resources?
The Amish are, and will continue to be, a very interesting community in the U.S. The resilience to stick together is commending. Another valuable practice from the Amish is letting the child decide their life. The Amish present two ways of life to the child: the Amish way up until they are 16 and the outsiders’ way from 16 to 18 years of age. Once the child embarks on their journey, they get to choose to stay with the community they have been with for 16 years or move out to the outside world (where they were only living in for 2 years) to experience a different way of life. The Amish do not force them to stay. This idea should be adopted by all cultures to give people the choice. I digress.
As for the future of fashion in the Amish community, I believe there will be small, incremental changes slowly impacting their way of life. I do not think it will completely change or lose tradition. They do not believe in using technology for fear of social media and other advancements truly ruining their way of life. I do not see them adopting this in any way. With clothing, their fashion pieces represent their religious beliefs, making it very difficult for them to change what they wear [5]. They make their own clothing using dark colored fabrics, their own furniture and interior fabrics, and their own accessories (which are very minimal, if at all) [5]. Amish women do not wear pants, usually seen in long dresses and long sleeves. This is worn regardless of extreme weather, without any major construction details or prints [5]. Men and women in Amish culture should not draw attention to themselves with bright colors, flashy accessories, or eccentric shoes [5]. This ideal truly reminds me of Muslim culture. Women cover themselves in chadors (similar to cloaks for the Amish), do not draw attention to their bodies, cover their hear with scarves (similar to bonnets/caps for the Amish), and are usually in black fabrics (similar to dark tones for the Amish). Their religious traditions and beliefs drive their way of dressing. See my article Fashion Rules: At Dawn, We Head to Iran to read more on Muslim fashion. This will continue into the future of Amish fashion.
As we think of outside influences, it is fascinating to note that the Amish do not follow U.S. fashion trends; however, the U.S. is taking cues from the Amish. Contemporary brands and streetwear styles are slowly taking details from the Amish to use in collections and editorials for simplistic, minimalism [6]. These looks include monochromatic pieces, black and white outfits, “less is more” with no accessories and more attention given to construction, and clean looks with oversized hats [6]. Dior and 1205 have adopted some of these looks for past collections and only more will continue to do so [6].
Fashion is a fundamental thread that consistently touches every religion, culture, community, race, and gender in the world. How we each embody fashion helps form our identity. The Amish live a simple life and dress simply. They make their own fabrics, yarns, threads, clothes, hats, shoes, homes, furniture, food, fires, and values to follow. They use what they have. As the U.S. and other countries adopt Amish fashion for a traditional, minimal look, should we also take note of their way of life? I am not saying to turn everyone in the world Amish or Christian, but should we value resourcefulness in our everyday lives? The show Naked and Afraid has competitors living in the wild without clothing or everyday food/tools for a few weeks. They must use their skills to survive, find food, build shelter, make a fire, and more. This is a game show for us to watch, but what if we take it outside the television? Why not practice “no waste” during non-sustainability months or green holidays? Do the Amish know something we don’t? Only time will tell. Stay tuned for my next blog coming soon…
REFERENCES
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/amish_1.shtml
[2] https://amplifyxl.com/how-do-amish-make-money/
[4] https://amishamerica.com/amish-dress-code/
[5] https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/3389/amish-dress
[6] https://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/amishinspired-fashion