How old is the practice of wearing your "Sunday Best" to church?
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The Oxford English Dictionary (OED2) lists Sunday best and Sunday's best under the lemma Sunday, but does not provide literary citations for these terms. The oldest instance I could find dates to the late 18th century (my bolding):
The Political Magazine and Parliamentary, Naval, Military, and Literary Journal, For the Year M,DCC,LXXXXI. Volume II. London: J. Bew 1781, p. 424:
House of Lords
Wednesday May, 30.
[...]
Bill for preventing certain abuses and Profanation on the Lord's Day
On the order of the day for committing this Bill.
Lord Abingdon opposed it in the following curious speech.
[...]
Sunday being in this country, as in all other Christian countries, the day of otium cum dignitate, the day of rest, the day when people wash and clean themselves, and as the saying is, put on their Sunday's best; and their being in this metropolis, some who having washed and cleaned themselves, and put on their Sunday's best, are willing to enjoy this otium cum dignitate, not by walking al fresco on a Sunday evening, lest their Sundays best be spoiled by the rain, but under cover [...]
But the concept of a special set of clothes set aside for use on Sundays and religious holidays is certainly older. Searching for Sunday's clothes and Sunday clothes one can trace it back in English-language publications for another century (my bolding):
Jeremiah Burroughs, Four Books On the Eleventh of Matthew, London: Peter Cole 1659, p. 667:
As suppose you have been the last week drunk, or have been committing uncleanness, or have been in Company, and you can come to the Sacrament on the Lord's day, and joyne with the Minister when at prayer, you can come and put on your sunday clothes (as you cal them) and sit at the word and it is as easy to you as any other thing, [...]"
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (tr. John Phillips), The History of the Most Renowned Don Quixote of Mancha, and His Trusty Squire, Sancho Pancha, London: Thomas Hodgkin 1687, p. 142:
"Well — at length I discover'd the Cause of my Grief to a young Shepherd that serv'd my Father: I desir'd him to lend me his Sunday's Clothes, and to go along with me to the Village where I knew D. Ferdinand was."
According to Wikipedia which cites Samuel Putnam, Phillips's translation is not faithful to the original work. I tracked down the original sentence in the 1605 edition of Don Quixote, and it simply speaks of a shepherd boy's clothing (my bolding):
Que fue, ponerme en este habito, que me dio uno de los que llaman çagales en casa de los labradores, que era criado de mi padre, al qual descubri toda mi defuentura, y le rogue me acompañasse hasta la Ciudad, donde entendi que mi enemigo estava.
Upvote:0
This is probably a better question to ask in the Christianity SE site, as the readers there would be more familiar with the relevant historical books on the subject.
The phrase itself was most likely connected with how the early American African American community dressing up for church was a way of making a statement. Aaron Howard wrote an article There’s a deep tradition behind wearing your Sunday best, in which he stated, in part:
African-Americans presented themselves in their finest and connected themselves to the divine,” said Pinn. “The suits and the dresses become a visual statement similar to the verbal statement, ‘G-d made me, and G-d doesn’t make junk.’ Such an explicit connection was spoken about as early as the development of the African Methodist Episcopal Church under the leadership of Richard Allen.
That being said, among the non clergy in the beginning of Christianity, there was an encouragement to dress down in worship. For example, the writer of 1 Timothy states:
"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes." (1 Timothy 2:9)
The early church appears to have had various traditions on what was appropriate when attending church gatherings, depending on the context. For example, on the austere side, Clement of Alexandria in the late 2nd century wrote:
Neither is it seemly for the clothes to be above the knee. (2.266)
Those who glory in their looks—not in their hearts—dress to please others...Let a woman wear a plain and becoming dress, but softer than what is suitable for a man. "Yet, it should not be immodest or entirely steeped in luxury. And let the garments be suited to age, person, figure, nature, and pursuits. (2.285)
Woman and man are to go to church decently attired, with natural step, embracing silence. . . . Let the woman observe this, further: Let her be entirely covered, unless she happens to be at home. For that style of dress is serious and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty and her veil. Nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled. (2.290)
But times change. In the medieval times churches had decorated glass windows that sometimes reflected a state of au naturale innocence whereby church goers wearing shabby clothing might even feel at ease with. For example, see this medieval (black and white) picture:
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