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Post by frelem on Apr 25, 2009 11:59:37 GMT
We are requested to wear a dark suit and a white shirt.While it is indeed often, if not always the case for masons depicted in watercolours, drawings, photos, etc. in the XX century, I have the impression that it is not a general rule in representations of the XIX century, and even less in the XVIII century.
Does any of you know when the dark suite became the rule ?
I have another related question. We may not work without our gloves and our apron. However, I have seen quite some watercolours where the masons have an apron but no gloves. Any idea when/where the two became compulsory for the first time ?
Thanks for your Help.
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Post by AndyF on Apr 26, 2009 0:23:54 GMT
In my jurisdiction, we wear a black suit in the colder months, and swap the jacket for a lighter mess jacket (also refered to as an Eton Jacket) in the warmer months. This jacket is white. As for the gloves, only the lodge officers wear them on the installation night.
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imakegarb
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Post by imakegarb on Apr 26, 2009 16:43:55 GMT
In my Obedience, the guys wear white suits. All white. The ladies wear white robes. Sometimes/often/all the time, I wish we wore black. I can't even begin to tell you how many bleach sticks I go thru Anyway, I think you might need to check with your Lodge's Secretary, Librarian or someone else who might be in the know as the requirements vary by Obedience. I imagine, though, the answer won't be that a dark suit is required so much as what is considered formal and appropriate for that region is required. I days of yore, the Brethren would wear the the often colorful overcoats and waist coats over linen shirts, often with frills at the neck and colar; Knee-length pants with decorated garters to hold up their silk stockings; and silver, quite often ornate, buckles on their high-healed shoes. Such gatherings, then, were far from dark but, for the time, they were quite formal.
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ricardo
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Australia
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Post by ricardo on Apr 30, 2009 7:43:50 GMT
We are requested to wear a dark suit and a white shirt.While it is indeed often, if not always the case for masons depicted in watercolours, drawings, photos, etc. in the XX century, I have the impression that it is not a general rule in representations of the XIX century, and even less in the XVIII century. Does any of you know when the dark suite became the rule ? WHY THE BLACK AND WHITE CLOTHING?
The following was compiled in response to a question asking why freemasons wear black and white.
This has been the custom for over a hundred years. In the 1700's freemasons did not wear black and white. In an old masonic catechism of that time there is a question asking about the Master's clothing - "yallow jacket and blue breeches" forms part of the answer. This was an allusion to the colours of a pair of compasses and a square, perhaps. There is a painting (below) showing the Scottish poet Robert Burns in Lodge Canongate Kilwinning, Edinburgh (Scotland) on his appointment as lodge poet laureate - members of the lodge wear variously coloured coats, breeches and stockings, not black and white. This event was supposedly on 1 March 1787 ; the painting (by Brother Stewart Watson) was produced in 1846. Blue and Gold were certainly recognised as the official colours of freemasonry in the 1720's - nowadays these colours are used as the edging on aprons of Grand Lodge Officers and on their collars; private lodge officers use light blue collars and have light blue trimmings on their aprons.
It seems that black formal wear was invented by an English writer. The idea of wearing black for evening wear was, according to the English clothing historian James Laver, first introduced by the nineteenth-century British writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton (below), who utilized it "as a romantic gesture to show that he was a 'blighted being' and very, very melancholy." And it was Bulwer-Lytton who gave further impetus to this notion of black as the color for formal wear by writing, in 1828, that "people must be very distinguished to look well in black." Naturally, the moment this statement was noted by would-be dandies, the style became decidedly de rigueur ... or "cool" in modern parlance.
This was probably a reaction to the sartorial excesses of men during the time of the English Prince Regent (later Brother King George IV) when dandies such as Beau Brummell wore more splendid apparel than females.
The original dinner jacket was "invented" by Brother King Edward VII when Prince of Wales. He was also the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England in the last quarter of the 19th Century. He certainly made the dinner jacket fashionable, and no doubt this is why the vast majority of freemasons in Australia and some other countries wear dinner jackets (some WMs and Grand Lodge folk wear white tie and tails).
The tuxedo was "invented" by Pierre Lorillard IV, a wealthy man of Tuxedo Park in New York State, in 1896. His son and friends wore the first tuxedos to a white tie and tails ball. The cummerbund and bow tie (popular with many freemasons in Australia) were later additions to the "tux" outfit.
In the more tropical parts of Australia, masons wear white mess jackets rather than the sombre dinner jacket or tuxedo or tailcoat. Members of daylight lodges here wear day clothes such as a business suit or perhaps a formal sports jacket.
Frequent attenders at lodge take their freemasonry fairly seriously, and wearing formal clothes perhaps helps to set the mood. Furthermore, the "uniform" of black-and-white might mean that we pay more attention to the man than his clothes - the reverse might occur if we wore catwalk "gear" to lodge!
In many parts of the world, at least a portion of the lodge floor is black and white. As to how long these chequered or black-and-white mosaic pavements have existed in lodge, maybe someone else can answer that question. I would suspect that these pavements became fashionable in permanent lodge rooms, when chalk marks on the floor or floor coverings were no longer required to be laid out by the tyler in temporary accommodation such as taverns and hostelries. As an aside, there is a vogue in Australia for some new lodges to meet in temporary accomodation such as clubs, so the rolled up masonic carpet (afghan) is making a comeback. Such carpets are mainly comprised of black and white squares arranged in a mosaic pattern. from www.ohiolodge199masons.org/index.php?page=SHORT24&title=Why%20The%20Black%20and%20White%20Clothing?
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Post by maat on Apr 30, 2009 23:58:22 GMT
In my Obedience, the guys wear white suits. All white. The ladies wear white robes. Where the heck do men go to buy white suits? Does your obedience attach any importance to the colour itself apart from 'tradition'? I am aware that colours produce different affects on people in a manner similar to musical notes. I'm into mystical stuff, but I have to admit that I would be put off more than a bit by a roomfull of people clad in white suits and gowns... too sectish looking for my liking. That would also go for those organisations that wear Egyptian headdresses etc. My lodge did wear long white dresses/skirts but we changed it to black and white similar to the men... purely practical reasons. Works well (we all look slimmer ;D ) - and if we have to stop for fuel we are not mistaken for nuns. Happened once to me. Down on his knees he went, grabbed my hand and thanked me for all the great works all nuns throughout the world had done down through the ages. When he stopped for breath I said "Bless you, my son" paid the bill in a real hurry and scooted out of there. He was slightly inebriated ;D Maat
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imakegarb
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Post by imakegarb on May 1, 2009 5:10:45 GMT
I don't actually know where the guys get their suits. I have heard that, until a decade or so back, they had to wear the same white robes the ladies do. I've also seen pictures of Lodge Brothers very early in my Order's history and they're all in white robes with impossibly wide sleeves. I wonder how they kept their sleeves out of the candle flames Anyway, the guys apparently never liked the white robes so it was changed to white suits. I periodically suggest letting the women wear black. I usually pitch in with some good, esoteric reasons for doing so but, fact is . . . yeah buddy, it's slimming. I look so much better in black than I do white and I don't have to futz so much about the charcoal. But I can't seem to convince anyone else. So, for the time being, the ladies are in white robes and they guys are in white suits and we're all thinking we should buy shares in Procter and Gamble When I was in Paris last year, I attended a Lodge meeting in a Lodge that works under the Grand Lodge Feminine. I was the only one there in white. I felt like a lightning bug but one of the Brothers told me I looked like an angel Y'know, some Egyptian head dresses would be very cool. *I* think. And feathers. Lots and lots of feathers.
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ricardo
Member
Australia
Posts: 161
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Post by ricardo on May 2, 2009 7:55:26 GMT
And feathers. Lots and lots of feathers. What about this? ... (OK egyptian style, but where are the feathers?) this? ... or this? ... ... perhaps fur is more "esoteric" ... from the sublime to ... the Master of the Launderers' Company with the Lord Mayor of London (grin) S&F
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Post by windtimber on May 3, 2009 3:12:27 GMT
In my Obedience, the guys wear white suits. All white. The ladies wear white robes. Where the heck do men go to buy white suits? www.cheaptux.com Best place I've found to by formalwear.
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Post by windtimber on May 3, 2009 3:14:40 GMT
Oops. That's to "BUY" formalwear!
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imakegarb
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Post by imakegarb on May 3, 2009 7:06:04 GMT
Ricardo . . . k, I wanta hat just like the Lord Mayor of London. Very cool!!
And, yes, that's plenty of feathers ;D
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ricardo
Member
Australia
Posts: 161
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Post by ricardo on May 4, 2009 8:01:48 GMT
Yes Bro Karen, I think better to wear a Lord Mayor's hat than that of Master of the Wpl Company of Launderers. The photo was taken on the day of the 2008 Inter-Livery Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race, organised by the Wpl Company of Poulters so perhaps the Master was wearing a chef's hat? I found an interesting site on [url=http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/headdress.htm ]headdresses of the ancient Egyptian dieties[/url] - interesting to read about the use of Ma'at's feather ("in the underworld, the heart of the deceased was weighed by Anubis against Maat's feather. If the heart was heavy with wicked deeds, it would outweigh the feather .."). S&F
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imakegarb
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Post by imakegarb on May 4, 2009 13:07:14 GMT
Yup, our own Bro. Ma'at holds that feather here at MFOL. Good thing I'm a mouse of very small heart
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ricardo
Member
Australia
Posts: 161
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Post by ricardo on May 4, 2009 14:17:55 GMT
Feathers, fur, scales and skin. Are there any correspondences to the four elements of the ancients? Is it possible to have feathers and fur without skin? Some creatures have their skeletons on the outside - exoskeletons. The tortoise has both an exoskeleton and an endoskeleton!
We humans who generally have thin, bare skins have adopted clothing for purposes of shelter, protection and, ahem, modesty. Furs and feathers can be expensive. As Masons we lay stress on equality, and, being sociable and (often) followers of fashion, have taken to standardised modes of dress, aprons and regalia. Hence the dark suit. The dinner jacket or tux and the little black dress have become classics ... perhaps the quintessence of western good taste?
S&F
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ricardo
Member
Australia
Posts: 161
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Post by ricardo on May 4, 2009 14:39:38 GMT
I have another related question. We may not work without our gloves and our apron. However, I have seen quite some watercolours where the masons have an apron but no gloves. Any idea when/where the two became compulsory for the first time ? Thanks for your Help. Mackey wrote about gloves in " The Symbolism of Freemasonry". It would also be worthwhile seeing what Harry Carr has to say about gloves. From Mackey: "The apron evidently owes its adoption in Freemasonry to the use of that necessary garment by the operative masons of the middle ages. It is one of the most positive evidences--indeed we may say, absolutely, the most tangible evidence--of the derivation of our speculative science from an operative art. The builders, who associated in companies, who traversed Europe, and were engaged in the construction of palaces and cathedrals, have left to us, as their descendants, their name, their technical language, and that distinctive piece of clothing by which they protected their garments from the pollutions of their laborious employment. Did they also bequeath to us their gloves? This is a question which some modern discoveries will at last enable us to solve.
"M. Didron, in his "Annales Archeologiques", presents us with an engraving, copied from the painted glass of a window in the cathedral of Chartres, in France. The painting was executed in the thirteenth century, and represents a number of operative masons at work. ... All of the Masons wear gloves. M. Didron remarks that in the old documents which he has examined, mention is often made of gloves which are intended to be presented to masons and stone-cutters. In a subsequent number of the "Annales", he gives the following three examples of this fact:--
"In the year 1331, the Chatelan of Villaines, in Duemois, bought a considerable quantity of gloves, to be given to the workmen, in order, as it is said, "to shield their hands from the stone and lime."
"In October, 1383, as he learns from a document of that period, three dozen pairs of gloves were bought and distributed to the masons when they commenced the buildings at the Chartreuse of Dijon.
"And, lastly, in 1486 or 1487, twenty-two pair of gloves were given to the masons and stone-cutters who were engaged in work at the city of Amiens.
"It is thus evident that the builders--the operative masons--of the middle ages wore gloves to protect their hands from the effects of their work. It is equally evident that the speculative masons have received from their operative predecessors the gloves as well as the apron, both of which, being used by the latter for practical uses, have been, in the spirit of symbolism, appropriated by the former to "a more noble and glorious purpose."" from www.sacred-texts.com/mas/sof/sof22.htmFurther reading:
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Post by leonardo on May 28, 2009 22:15:14 GMT
In our lodge women wear white and me black or dark suits. The contrast although not appreciated by all does seem to blend nicely. Not sure if this is intentional but it appears to work.
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Post by magusmasonica on May 29, 2009 0:03:39 GMT
In our lodge it is men in black suit, black shirt, black tie, black gloves (Apprentice and Companions wear white gloves). 18th century style lambskin plain white aprons.
Women have a choice of a black pantsuit in the same style as the men or a black dress as long as it is full length and has full length sleeves. The pantsuit seems to be the most popular choice. black gloves.
We have robes too but I am not going to spill the details on those ;D.
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Post by paulh on May 29, 2009 0:28:11 GMT
Where the heck do men go to buy white suits? Where lodge membership is older, quite a lot of the men already have white trousers for bowls.
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Post by leonardo on May 29, 2009 6:25:12 GMT
Where the heck do men go to buy white suits? Where lodge membership is older, quite a lot of the men already have white trousers for bowls. That's fortunate, but surely all the older membership isn't into bowls or is being a fan of the game a prerequisite for joining your lodge ;d
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Post by leonardo on May 29, 2009 6:42:34 GMT
Women have a choice of a black pantsuit in the same style as the men or a black dress as long as it is full length and has full length sleeves. The pantsuit seems to be the most popular choice. black gloves. I personally feel it works better when there's a choice; some women simply prefer one style over the other so having the opportunity to choose, even to a limited extent can make for a more harmonious lodge meeting.
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