Amish Clothes

Amish Men's Clothing

For everyday clothing, the men wear denin trousers with suspenders (usually black leather) and broadcloth long-sleeve shirts. The mens' broadfall trousers have buttons to attach the suspenders and front flap. However, no buttons are allowed on shirts. No zippers are allowed. Their everyday and work jackets are denim. Shoes are old-fashioned lace-up black leather boots. They usually have an everyday pair and a Sunday pair. In the winter, they wear buckle-up galoshes over their boots. For winter, they sometimes bundle up with two coats. Their Sunday coats are made of a Melton wool. For Sunday, men wear black suits and white shirts.

In the summer, men wear straw hats for work. In the fall/winter and always for dress, they wear black felt hats. They usually have a separate one for church and every day wear. In the Amish community I work with, the brims on the hats are 3 1/2" -- however, the ministers and bishops must have brims of 4".

Men follow the laws of the Hebrew Scriptures with regards to beards. They do not have mustaches, supposedly because of the association of mustaches with the military. Although I am not sure the Amish men that I work with know of this reason. Men wear their hair in a bowl cut just above the bottoms of their ears.

Men are allowed to chew tobacco or smoke a pipe (no cigarettes). Women are not allowed to smoke.

Amish Women's Dress

The women wear long dressers with long sleeves as well and aprons. Their dressers are held together with hooks and eyes and safety pins. Acceptable colors for work dresses and shirts are blue, gray, tan, brown. No buttons are allowed on the women's dresses. Their everyday work jackets are the same as for the guys - denim with hooks and eyes. There are also hidden pockets inside. When they go out, women wear black melton coats and black felt shawls. For Sunday, women usually wear black dresses as well. At all times, women must wear a black prayer cap (even while sleeping). A larger black bonnet is worn when they go out. Shoes are black leather oxfords, they are supposed to have at least a little heel but in the summer, girls often wear black tennis shoes with black laces.

Women are not allowed cut their hair. Their hair is rolled up in a bun to fit underneath their black caps. Young girls have long braids which are wrapped around their heads. Neither are they allowed to shave their underarms or legs, use makeup, nail polish, or perfume.

Amish Children's Clothing

Amish children dress almost exactly like their parents. They are miniature versions. The babies all wear dresses -- boys and girls. Boys switch over into pants between 18 months and 2 years of age when they are being potty trained. Little girls (up until age 10) do not have waistbands on their dresses, they are more loose fitting, like smocks.

Bathing

Saturday is bath day. During the summer, sometimes they take baths during the weekdays as well. Children are bathed out of a large laundry tub. Older children and adults just use a pail or large bowl filled with soapy water. It is amazing how the women can wash their long hair out of a little bowl. Water is hand carried in and heated up on the stove so large bathtubs are just not practical.

Monday is wash day. Wash is done by hand and wring dried and hung on the line.