Clerical collars

There is a lot of debate over the role of clerical collars. I recognize times when it is important to wear one; -if I'm on 'official business' where it is important that people can recognize that I am acting in the capacity of ordained Christian; a clear and obvious example being hospital visiting. It is also the case that it can be disconcerting or embarrassing for some people to be so clearly marked out as 'consorting' with a clergybeing. And there are also times where it seems to me that it is not really appropriate because I am just one of the crowd and being marked out seems to give signals that somehow by wearing it, I'm claiming something like moral high ground [like when I was harangued by a lesbian in a pub for nothing more than wearing a clerical collar]or some kind of priviledged treatment. So I'm both for and against and depends-on-the-circumstances... There's articles on the 'net, a history lesson from the Banner of Truth [far too prot an organisation for my liking]and radical conguency on church world-inteface, for example

As I'm on sabbatical, yesterday at church [as co-preacher and presider] was the first time I'd worn one for ages. I wore an ordinary button down shirt and put a press-stud wrap-around strip of plastic under the shirt collar, bow-tie style, if you like. And this put me in mind of why thoughts on how to develop the clerical collar further. In putting these thoughts down under creative commons I'm also making it hard for someone [including yours truly] to patent the ideas and make money out of them, since a patent would rely on the idea not having been publically disclosed. So here goes.

One of the difficulties I have with the things is that the shirts are expensive compared with what I normally pay [I sometimes feel unjustifiably so] and so I have been working on all sorts of alternatives. The least radical of which is trying to make the things fit under ordinary-shirt collars. If you've ever tried this you will realize that there can be problems. Many shirts sit lower on the neck than clerical shirts and so trying to insert the long piece of press-studded plastic described earlier can proove hard because it tends to force the shirt collar higer up on the neck than it is designed to be with inelegant results. Also the collar has to be thick enough [not so much of an issue in the 2000's but in the 80's.... and probably thin collars will return to fashion soon. The most notable difficulty in this arrangement comes with polo shirts which have collars that basically sit where your shoulders meet your neck and so the press-studded plastic strip is a write off, really: it pulls the collar up and exposes itself shamelessly, thus frightening the horses.

In offering these ideas I'm basically playing with the idea that the semiotic value of the thing is in the white 'flash' showing up at the throat. I was alerted to this by the way that I have on a number of occasions double checked a passer-by wearing something that gave a flash of white at their neck or just above their sternum. So the idea of 'clergybeing uniform', I contend, is adequately conveyed by this white flash [and who knows, in years to come the developments I mention here may allow some variation to the plain white 'badge'?]provided that on closer inspection it looks deliberate and not simply like a white vest under a shirt or whatever.

First idea then is to have a simple small piece of plastic or cloth or ceramic [go ahead ... experiment with materials] just wide enough to fit between the wings of whichever shirt-collar you're using and also give anchor points for attachment. It needs to be kept in place by cord or chain which is preferably adjustable so that it can be re-lengthened or ~shortened to sit in the right position and so to obtain the desired effect. Experience tells me that it works best if your 'white flash' is slightly curved in the fashion of a shallow "(" -but turned on it's side, smiley fashion. The inside of the curve is to fit against the neck; so facing up. The fastening cord/chain needs to be secured to the 'flash' towards the top on both ends; i.e nearer the top than the bottom, so that the thing can hang somewhat -falling onto the sternum, usually. This can work well with polo shirts.

The second idea is to use those lapel-badges with the backing to secure the pin -you know: the ones that look a bit like they could do duty as ear-lobe piercings. These can anchor the flash to the collar and if you choose suitable motifs can add to the decorative effect [I have used doves and ichthus symbols] by having them on the outside of the collar. The advantage of this arrangement is that the collar can be kept open on warm days.

The third idea is more a cool weather one and arises from the fact that I like polo-neck sweaters, and that should tip you off to what I am going to suggest: the flash should be about 5-7cms [that 3 inches] long, according to taste and secured to the neck of the roll-neck by the lapel badges. simple as that. Various other methods of securing the flash are possible but I suggest you play with threads, loops, velcro etc etc to your heart's content.

The fourth idea is also for a roll-neck using a more conventional plastic insert. simply cut two slashes into the roll-neck at the appropriate point [I suggest that you use some darning wool to tidy up the edges] so that you can insert the flash into the roll. The thing to be careful of here is to remember that the roll-neck often expands when you wear it, so cut the slashes about 2-3 cm apart [1-1.5 inches]. I;ve been thinking of adapting a ski style roll-neck and placing the clerical flash over the logo which is often off-centre .. could look stylish, maybe ....