A shopping trip

Yesterday my Pastor took his nephew, father and I on a little trip to Chicago. We went to take his nephew - who is returning to the seminary this fall - to one of my favorite shops, The House of Hansen.

Hansen's, as we usually call it, is an ecclesiastical tailor shop that produces very nice vestments at very reasonable prices. Their friendly and helpful staff is most accomodating and can produce just about anything you have in mind. And if what you have in mind simply won't work they aren't afraid to offer other suggestions.

While there I was able to doublecheck the status of a couple of things they are working on for me, most notably a new surplice (which was being worked on when we were there and will hopefully arrive sometime next week) and a new winter cloak that will reach down to my ankles. They're also working on a few older vestments of mine which are in need of mending.

Their web site is small and only has a small selection of the vestments they can and have produced.

The House of Hansen is even thoughtful enough as to keep the measurements of deacons, priests and bishops "on file" in case we ever want something but can't make the trip up. It also comes in handy if you want to get your bishop or priest or deacon something as a surprise.

If you ever need any vesture, the House of Hansen receives my high regards (and be sure to give my greetings to Jerry).

I mentioned my shopping trip yesterday on Facebook and one of my friends asked what vestment shopping was like. She said,

So I have to ask, do you actually go like real shopping for vestments? Like how I would shop for shirts, seeing what size fits you best. What shade of a particular color looks best on you? Or do you just go pick up generic vestments in whatever size you are?

I suppose the answer to the question would depend on where one went to purchase vestments. There are certainly plenty of suppliers who simply order something out of a catalogue. These usually are made in several sizes and then you would try on a few to see which size fit best; you'd want to remember the size if you wanted to order something else. Even so, some of these companies will also tailor a vestment to you if you give them the proper measurements.

Ecclesiastical tailors, on the other hand, are not as easy to come by but the quality of vestment is usually rather better. These vestments are tailored to fit the individual minister better than would, say, one from a catalogue.

In terms of color, that isn't so much an issue as the Liturgy requires we wear certain colors on certain days, but the particular shade of a color could be chosen. There are, for example, numerous shades of green and some priests prefer one shade over another (I prefer the darker hues).

To sum up, vestment shopping is something like shopping for "normal people" clothes, but not quite; it's a lot more fun.

After shopping there we took a little trip north to Arlington Heights to visit the Design Toscano showroom, another of my favorite companies. I'm happy to say that although they had one of my favorite chairs on display, I resisted the temptation to buy it.

Upon our return to Effingham I was pleased to find the box of goodies I shipped from Australia.