On the second Monday of each month, I’m going to aim to address readers’ questions about the Amish.

Today I’m going to talk a bit about what the Amish wear and why they choose to dress the way they do.

The topic of Amish clothing can be a complicated one. As we’ve discussed before, Plain Amish and Mennonites come from many different sects. Each group has its own patterns and however slight those differences may appear to us, I’ve witnessed time and again how those slight changes in style or fabric are very distinguishing to them. But the similarities can make it difficult to generalize on this topic, so bear in mind that what’s true of the clothing for one group may not be true of another.

Common Items of Dress

Men

Amish men dress for practicality and that primarily includes a button-down, collared shirt of a solid color and a pair of rough (or broadcloth) trousers that are often made from wool, cotton, and in more recent times, polyester. Their pants are held up by suspenders. It wasn’t that many years ago when an Amish man wore a simple black coat unless working. That is not always the case anymore. They almost always wear a hat, and the exact look of the hat is one of the distinguishing features among the various sects of Amish. They do not use buckles on their clothing, but the men have buttons on their shirts and for the men in a more conservative Plain community, they use buttons on their pants instead of zippers. In most Amish sects the men who are married keep a beard, but they do not have a mustache. Single Amish men keep their face shaven until their wedding day.

Women

Amish women dress for modesty above all else, but their clothing is also practical. Their garments cover their bodies without becoming so much of an ornament that they could be deemed non-functional. Typically the females bind their hair in some form of braid or bun and cover it with a black or white cap (prayer Kapp). Their main form of clothing is a cape dress with an apron to cover it. Apron and cap styles vary according to the different Amish groups. Black stockings are usually worn underneath the dress. If cold, women may use a simple black sweater or jacket. If you see an Amish woman in a black cape, she should also have on a black bonnet, but she can wear the black bonnet without the cape. Like the men, women do not use buckles or any other type of ornament on their clothing. Unlike men, women’s dresses and aprons avoid buttons. Their sweaters or overcoats have buttons now, but that was not always the case. They may use one or two very small buttons on their dresses, mostly they use a lot of straight pins in lieu of buttons.

 But why?

This style of clothing is considered outdated by society, but the Amish have held on to this same basic style for a number of reasons. Our clothing, as English, often reflects who we are. We can identify the age, interests, economic status, and/or cultural background of a person just by glancing at his or her clothing. Even more commonly, we use uniforms to identify some professions. Oftentimes an individual’s identity is tied to the way he or she chooses to dress. The Amish use this principle as a way to visually show others their beliefs.

The Amish believe that God has called them to be completely separate from the world and its negative influences. Choosing to wear clothing that sets them apart as different immediately divides them from the English. The choice to dress a certain way strengthens the community’s bonds and declares their commitment to the principles of the Amish church.

In addition, humility is an important and central part of the Amish beliefs. They maintain that dressing as you please creates pride in your appearance or choices. According to the Old Ways,  if one individual stands out within a group, that person tends to develop boastful ideas about his or her success or individuality. Instituting a dress code, then, is meant to keep the Amish away from pride so that they can spend their time focusing on the state of their heart and soul, not the outward appearance.

The Amish style of dress also highly stresses modesty. The women must cover themselves almost completely, down to keeping their hair hidden under a cap. They believe that this type of modesty in dress is necessary to keeping their hearts and bodies pure.

There are numerous things I appreciate about the way Amish women dress:

There is no need to call a friend to find out what is the appropriate attire for an event. (Pants, jeans, business dressy or business casual, formal, heels, flats, tennis shoes) At a fully Amish function, such as a wedding, picnic, or church event, no one has yet had to cringe at how inappropriately dressed someone was. There is no time wasted trying to decide what to wear or if you wore the same thing the last time you went to the same event.

So, what do you think? Would we discover we had more freedom if everyone dressed the same? Could you follow the Amish dress code? Would you want to?

It’s Amish recipe time again! I would love it if you’d post a favorite recipe in the comments segment and so would the thousands of recipe lovers who’ll stop by this blog throughout the week. But you don’t have to post a recipe to enter this week’s giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment so I know you’re interested in participating.

If you are reading this blog post anywhere other than my website (such as through Facebook, an email, or Goodreads), please hop on over to my website to leave a comment. Only comments left on my website will be entered into the giveaway. (It’s just too hard to track down all the comments left in various places, and that means it would be easy to miss someone’s entry.)

This week’s giveaway is an autographed book of the winner’s choice AND the Amish-made cloth doll seen below!  (Winner may choose a book that is not yet in print (i.e. book one of my new series that begins this fall or my third Christmas novella that comes out this November)–as long as she/he is willing to wait until I receive my author copies.)

A Real Coffee Party

(from The Esh Family Cookbook)

By Julius Schorzman (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Arrange flowers, coffee, cookies, and fruit on a pretty tablecloth. Begin by mixing friendship, laughs, understanding, sharing, and caring while placing children beside toy box. Start conversation, get toddler off table, mix children, cookies, fruit, and patience and add a dash of laughs. Set conversation aside while removing flowers from children’s reach. Put pacifier in crying baby’s mouth. Hear children munching loudly while ignoring crumbs and squabbles. Wipe up spilled milk and walk the floor with crying baby.

Forget coffee, cookies, and fruit while scraping up all remaining patience. Send children outside, lay sleeping baby in crib. Place friends around table while ignoring crumbs, spills, and the clock. Pour another cup of coffee and spend rest of the time in meaningful conversation. And look forward to the next time when things will surely go better!!!

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

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By Glenn G [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Mix all ingredients with a wooden or plastic spoon in a nonmetallic bowl. Pour into a zippered plastic bag and continue with the following steps.

 Amish Friendship Bread Instructions

Day 1: Leave alone.
Day 2: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 3: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 4: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 5: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 6: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk; squeeze bag until mixed.
Day 7: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 8: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 9: Squeeze bag several times.
Day 10: Pour the batter into a nonmetallic bowl. Add 1 cup each of flour, sugar, and milk. Mix with a wooden or plastic spoon. Pour four 1-cup starters into gallon-sized, zippered plastic bags. Give to friends along with the instructions, keeping one starter for yourself.

Then mix the following ingredients, and add to your portion of the starter:

1 cup oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk
3 eggs
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding mix

In a separate bowl, mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 4 tablespoons of sugar. Sprinkle into two 8″ x 4″ x 2½” greased bread pans. Pour batter into the pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Chocolate pudding mix may be used instead of vanilla. You may also add chocolate chips, nuts, or raisins.

~ ~ ~

For those of you who’d like an easier recipe, you’ll find one below that is used for Amish weddings. It’s one of the candy dishes passed around during the daylong celebration.

Trail Mix

1 cup M&M’S
1 cup raisins
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup peanuts or assorted nuts
1 cup milk-chocolate chips
1 cup dried fruit of your choice (banana, apricots, etc.), cut into small pieces

Mix all ingredients together, and store in an airtight container.

I used Random.org, and last week’s winner of the blog contest is commenter number 4, Patti! Congratulations! You’ve won an autographed copy of The Hope of Refuge. You should have received an e-mail with instructions, but if you didn’t, please send an e-mail with your postal address and a copy and paste of this section that list your name and the item you’ve won, and send it to cindy@cindywoodsmall.com. Thanks!

From the yard of my closest Old Order Amish friend, I sipped a cup of coffee as I watched sunlight peek over the mountains and fill the valley. Along the creek banks of a nearby pasture, bands of mist rose like dancing trees and then disappeared into nothingness six or so feet from the ground. I’d never seen mist do such a jig. Sunlight sparkled off the dewy grass. The creek had overflowed its usual bounds because of abundant spring rains and ran wildly through the meadow. The steady clop of horses’ hoofs against the asphalt softened as the rigs pulled onto the gravel driveway.

It was a day I’d looked forward to for a year. The annual Amish school sale. It’s a bustling auction with at least four auctioneers selling various goods at different stations, two makeshift kitchens set up on the property, and several commercial-size grills filled with chicken.

The sales from this auction support Amish schools in the surrounding community. So on that beautiful spring day, many districts of Amish people attended the school sale, along with hundreds of English folk (also known as Englischers or non-Amish). A district has between eighteen to twenty-eight families. When the population grows to around twenty-five families, the Amish church leaders start looking into ways to divide that district—which involves several things, one of which is renovating a current structure or building a new one-room Amish schoolhouse.

On the day of this auction, there were probably a thousand people inside the warehouse-type building owned by an Amish family for the purpose of timber framing. This school sale is held each year on the day before Mother’s Day, which lends itself to a great gift-buying opportunity for Amish and English alike.

Most of my family was there, eating and drinking the homemade goods and bidding on things from hand–sewn, faceless dolls to wall hangings to king-size quilts.

I love these auctions!

When I finally tore myself away from my Amish friends a week later, I brought with me a beautiful Amish quilt for a previous year’s quilt contest. I usually purchase the quilt I give away for my annual quilt contest from this auction. If you haven’t entered the Amish quilt contest yet, I encourage you to do so. Click here for more information and to enter.

After the crowds had gone home, the cleanup began. The sun sank behind the mountains, and about the time dark settled over the land, everything was in order enough for supper to begin. About nine o’clock that night, amid soft conversations and bursts of laughter, my husband, youngest son, and I sat at the familiar old oak table and shared a meal with a group of very weary and content Amish folk. It was another great year of earning money to pay the schoolteachers from several districts in the area, and they were pleased.

The aromas, sights, and sounds of an Amish school sale are only one piece of the authentic Amish culture captured in my book, The Hope of Refuge.

Event Notice

Giveaway

If you would like to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of The Hope of Refuge, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this post on my website.

If you are reading this anywhere other than my website, such as on Facebook, in an email, or on Goodreads, please hop on over to my website and leave a comment at the bottom of my post to enter the giveaway. Only comments left on my website will be entered into the giveaway. (It’s just too hard to track down all the comments left in various places, and that means it’s too easy to miss some of the comments.)

The deadline for this contest is Friday, May 4, 2012, at noon. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be contacted privately, as well as announced on next Monday’s post.

Today, I’m going to share something a little special with you! I have the privilege of being a part of a blog hop celebrating the release of Jane Kirkpatrick’s newest novel, Where Lilacs Still Bloom. Each day this week, a different author has posted or will post a story, interview, or other tidbit about this exciting new release. If you would like to see the blog hop from the beginning, please visit the first post on Jane Kirkpatrick’s blog: Words of Encouragement.

 A note from the author…

    Where Lilacs Still Bloom  began with a gracious and persistent descendant. This descendant was a granddaughter-in-law, Betty Mills.  She’d read a number of my books and liked how historical women, ordinary women who lived extraordinary lives, were portrayed.

                “Come to the gardens,” Betty wrote to me. “They’re so lovely in the spring.”  She included copies of an article about Hulda Klager’s Lilac Gardens located in Woodland, Washington, a small town a few miles north of Portland, Oregon.  The article praised this simple housewife’s passion for teaching herself how to hybridize lilacs and for developing individual varieties that she had often just given away to visitors. The piece included lovely photographs in full color that had been published in a 1928 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Although not a gardener myself, I still love to walk in other people’s gardens and marvel at the green thumbs so rampant when mine are just plain purple. I thanked her but declined the four hour trip to the gardens.

                Years passed.  Betty continued to write me, sending snippets about the garden, saying she liked whatever my latest book was, and then always including that gentle invitation at the end. “Come on Mother’s Day,” she encouraged one time. “The lilacs will be in full bloom.”

                One year, on my way to lead a women’s retreat, I realized the route took me right past Hulda’s garden.  My prayer partner was game when I said, “Let’s stop and see this garden I’ve heard so much about.”  The day proved balmy and when we stepped through the white picket fence gate, we entered an enchanted place.  I stood and twirled around like Alice in Wonderland.  I’d told Betty, the descendant, that we might stop by and that I’d be pleased to meet her if she was there. She was, waiting to give us the official tour of the garden and Hulda’s 1890s house and to tell us the amazing story of this remarkable woman.

                By the end of the afternoon, I knew I wanted more people to know about Hulda.  Immigrated from Germany in the 1860s and married at 16, she and Frank had four children together in the next eight years. She was a busy housewife, but she was also a woman who could see the possibilities. She noticed how a certain dahlia was more yellow than another and that if she pollinated it with another deeper golden plant, she’d eventually have  just the color she wanted. She bred plants for color, fragrance, and hardiness. Eventually, following a debilitating illness, she became passionate about lilacs. And that is the rest of the story–How flowers helped heal the losses her family had to deal with. How flowers deepened her faith. How flowers given away as gifts returned many years later to heal her garden and her heart.

                Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a story of encouragement for whatever trials we might face. It’s made me pause much more often and smell the lilacs…appreciating creation in singular and beautiful ways. I hope the story pleases you that way too. 

Jane Kirkpatrick

Giveaway

If you would like to enter for a chance to win a copy of Where Lilacs Still Bloom autographed by Jane Kirkpatrick, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this post on my website.

If you are reading this anywhere other than my website, such as on Facebook, in an email, or on Goodreads, please hop on over to my website and leave a comment at the bottom of my post to enter the giveaway. Only comments left on my website will be entered into the giveaway. (It’s just too hard to track down all the comments left in various places, and that means it’s too easy to miss some of the comments.)

The deadline for this contest is Monday, April 30, 2012, at noon. I will choose a winner using Random.org, and then will pass the winner’s name and email along to my publishing house. If you are chosen, you will be contacted by someone from WaterBrook Press with a request for your address. Once you respond, they will send you an autographed copy of Where Lilacs Still Bloom.

Click here to see Where Lilacs Still Bloom on Goodreads.
Click here to visit Jane Kirkpatrick’s website.

Remember…

I am hosting a giveaway of The Scent of Cherry Blossoms on Goodreads! Don’t forget to enter and to tell all your friends to enter, as well!

I am giving away two autographed copies of The Scent of Cherry Blossoms on Goodreads. Please, spread the word!

If you would like something new and exciting to do while waiting for the results of the giveaway, then maybe you would like to join in a discussion of The Scent of Cherry Blossoms. To see the discussion topics, click here.

The first question is as follows:

• Do you think Aden’s family was right to discourage Aden and Annie’s relationship? Why or why not?