the coquettification of catholicism

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Hello sweet angels.

My name is Mina Le and I talk about fashion, culture,

and media commentary here on this channel.

(birds chirp)

(pulleys whir)

(car meows)

So today, I decided I was gonna tackle a video topic

that I actually get a lot of requests for,

which is the appropriation of Catholic symbols

in fashion. (Catholic organ music)

(record player crackles)

The most prominent example I can think of

is the Met Costume Institute's 2018 exhibit,

Heavenly Bodies, which was like heavily covered

by the mainstream media.

Also, the Versace outfit that Zendaya wore

to that event lives rent-free in my mind

and I tried to kinda channel it today,

but you know, we don't have that kind of budget, (laughs)

and we also don't look like Zendaya, so.

And I will be talking about Heavenly Bodies

and the role of Catholicism

in like the high fashion industry,

but also I wanna talk about a phenomenon

that started a couple years ago, which is this trend

of young, cool people flaunting Catholic aesthetics

and even converting to Catholicism.

As an example, a Depop user reached Twitter virality

for selling Catholic confession readings.

Under her product description, she wrote, "I would love

"to help any fellow coquette clean girl aesthetic girlies

"to absolve you of your sins, for a cheap price of $5."

(record scratches) "I would love

"to help any fellow coquette clean girl aesthetic girlies

"to absolve you of your sins."

- [Person] Huh?

- Not only is it crazy to me to charge for confession

because you can literally get that done for free

at your local Catholic church,

but even if you don't agree with the hierarchy

of the church, I think it's common sense to say

that it's probably better if you're going

to get a confession reading to get it done

by someone who's been studying the Bible for years

and has reached some kind of level of certification,

versus getting a reading from a girl on the internet

who is only baptized, allegedly.

Also, the fact that coquette and clean girl aesthetics

are two completely different things

and don't go together, a questionable source.

Do not get your confessions from this person.

But anyway, there's a lot to discuss,

so let's just get started.

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(Catholic organ music)

One Pope ago, Pope Benedict XVI was known

for a number of things.

I'm sure many of those things had to do

with his actual leadership of the Catholic Church,

but the other thing, the arguably more fun thing,

was that he had quite the fashion sense.

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So much so that in 2007, Esquire named him

as one of the best dressed men in America,

which, I know, doesn't even make sense

because he's not in America,

but whatever, the point still stands. (laughs)

♪ You betta work ♪

- And one of the sartorial things he was most known for

were his shoes, a pair of red papal loafers

that actually made headlines

because people initially thought they were Prada.

The Washington Post even addressed the rumors

shortly after his coronation in 2005.

"Whether it's Prada and Gucci

"or just fancy ecclesiastical tailoring,

"Pope Benedict XVI is his own man when it comes to dressing.

"The vintage styles have turned Benedict into something

"of a fashion celebrity."

The shoes were not Prada and were actually made locally

by Roman cobblers, but the rumors probably started

because Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II

who served an almost 30-year term,

opted for a muted burgundy pair instead

when he was in office.

Do they say in office?

When he was reigning?

So in comparison, despite being very on protocol,

Benedict's firetruck red shoes looked a little ostentatious

for office.

With that said,

the Pope was photographed wearing Serengeti sunglasses,

Adidas baseball caps, and allegedly also received,

but was not photographed wearing,

20 pairs of swimming trunks from the company Fallani.

He also owned an iPod Nano given to him

by Vatican Radio on the station's 75th birthday.

(Catholic organ music)

Rocco Palmo, a Vatican watcher and correspondent

for the Catholic newspaper, The Tablet,

gave a possible explanation

for why the two popes differed so much in presentation.

He said, "John Paul shirked many of the ancient trappings

"of the papacy for a handful of reasons.

"He wasn't keen to allow the props to upstage what he saw

"as the main draw, his message and himself.

"Benedict, on the other hand,

"had none of John Paul's charisma,

"and according to Palmo, Benedict was a man

"to whom the constant mass attention

"of the papacy did not come easy

"and who, in consequence, took immense pains

"to get his appearance right."

Honestly, kinda shady for Palmo to say.

Peter Popham offered a nicer explanation

for The Independent, writing that,

"Vanity may have something to do with all this,

"but more likely,

"it is the shy theologian exploring the symbology

"of his church's oldest traditions,

"sending out messages through the items he chooses to use."

The Guardian also contended

that Benedict's papal uniform represented an effort

to revive the Catholic Church's hegemonic heritage

and tradition within visual culture.

Benedict himself even repeated both as cardinal

and as Roman pontiff

that "art and the saints are the greatest apologetic

"for our faith."

But despite all the hoopla,

Benedict was far from the first pope to be fashionable.

Prior to the 1960s, it was actually common for the pope

to wear intricate and decorative clothing,

but in the mid-'60s,

the Catholic clergy convened at the Second Vatican Council

to discuss the modernization of the Church.

Pope Paul VI, who was pope under this phase,

eliminated these more ostentatious robes and accessories,

and even auctioned a papal tiara,

which The New York Times estimated was roughly $80,000

in 1964, (cash register dings)

and then donated those proceeds to charities

and organizations assisting the poor.

As a priest told The Guardian,

"The church processed into the Second Vatican Council

"in cloth of gold and watered silk

"and shambled out the other end in drip-dry horse blankets

"and polyester."

(chuckles) Not polyester.

- Becoming like this big polyester meteor

in our closet, you know.

- However, at a time of global economic uncertainty

and with the Church struggling to retain its members

in an increasingly secular world,

Benedict may have felt that reinforcing tradition

and underlining the continuity of ritual was a bold

and necessary direction.

The result of his dressing meant

that companies were scrambling

to get the pope's endorsement,

which I honestly thought was really dystopian

when researching all this, 'cause I had no idea.

Popham reported in 2006, "Manufacturers of everything

"from luxury cars to loafers are climbing over each other

"to obtain the discreet endorsement

"of a man whose needs are so few

"that everything he lays hands on gets noticed."

John Allert, the chief executive of the British unit

of Interbrand, a global branding consultancy,

even told The Wall Street Journal

that for a product to be associated

with the Pope was at least 100 times better

than being sported by an A-list celebrity,

because his following is more devoted.

Imagine having a parasocial relationship with the pope.

- I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip flops,

so I bought army pants and flip flops.

- In defense of Pope Benedict, I will mention

that Pope John Paul II had his own material vices.

He was known to enjoy a fondness for Rolex watches,

which Teen Vogue cites as an iconic papal fashion moment.

As for our current pope,

Pope Francis has brought back a humble fashion sense.

Yes, sorry to bear the bad news, but the photos

of him wearing a puffer coat were in fact AI-generated.

Francis opts for wool instead of silk,

simple wood or metal crosses instead of gold,

gem-encrusted ones, black shoes instead of red.

Catholic news outlet Crux refers

to his laid back style as papal athleisure. (chuckles)

The most interesting trivia I learned is that his tailor,

Filippo Sorcinelli, who was also Benedict's tailor, is gay,

and in 2013, someone

or some people sent in 2,500 anonymous letters

to newspapers outing Sorcinelli in efforts

to I guess like cancel him,

but I guess the Vatican thought his work was so good

that they continued to work with Sorcinelli anyway.

Though interestingly, TODAY Italy interviewed him

and asked if any priests have ever made advances towards him

and he said, "It happens, but I make it clear

"that it is a mistake."

Sorcinelli also created a room and clothing spray

for the popes, which that inspired him

to open up his own perfume business called Unum,

which includes in their line, a scent that is based

on gay eroticism.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting

to talk about the fashion styles of the popes

because they are arguably the most fashionable members

of the Catholic Church, and also a lot

of their clothing tends to be reappropriated

in the high fashion space.

(Catholic organ music)

I think we should discuss the opulence

of the Catholic Church, because it helps explain

why Catholicism tends to be more appropriated

by the fashion industry than, let's say,

Protestant denominations.

Okay, so to understand the aesthetics of Catholicism,

we have to go way back.

In 311 AD, I wasn't exaggerating, (laughs) way back,

Emperor Constantine established the Christian Church

as a power in the state,

and the result was that they needed to erect institutions

where people could practice this now dominant religion.

The problem was, they couldn't just build Christian churches

on top of the ancient pagan temples

because the functions of these temples differed

from the functions of the church.

Many ancient temples had pretty small interiors

that usually hosted a shrine

to a specific god, while larger processions

and sacrifices took place outside.

In contrast, the church needed a large interior space

because that's where everyone would congregate

for service while the priest read mass.

The church also condemned the worship

of these specific gods, so everything

about these existing temples were like,

giving Christian red flags.

What they ended up doing was model new churches based

on the large assembly halls of the time known as basilicas

or royal halls.

Probably, the architectural styles that many of us associate

with Catholicism the most are the Gothic style

that arose in the 12th and 13th centuries

and the Baroque style that arose in the 17th century.

These types of ornate cathedrals were meant to inspire

and show the kind of triumphant power

that the Catholic Church wielded.

As professor of Italian studies Stephen J. Baker explains,

"Ornamentation in Catholic sacred architecture serves

"to increase a building's emotional impact

"upon an individual's transformational process

"during the liturgical ritual."

What also sets the Catholic Church apart

from some other groups of Christians is its emphasis

on religious art.

In the early Constantine days when they were just trying

to figure out what to fill these new churches with,

statues were for sure out of the question.

They reminded everyone of paganism,

and idolatry was also a concern.

The term idolatry means the worship of idols,

and the reason idolatry is prohibited

by the church is because there's a fear

that people will worship the image

and then attach divine attributes

to said image instead of worshiping the one true God.

However, it's unclear what exactly is considered idolatry,

but early Christians could at least agree

that statues were definitely considered,

and so out of the question.

But what about paintings?

There were some Christians

who believed paintings also counted as idolatry,

but Pope Gregory the Great who lived

at the end of the 6th century AD believed

that paintings were integral for religious teaching

and inspiring devotion, especially because many members

of the church could not read or write.

And so artists following his lead painted frescoes

to cover the churches' walls.

Fast forward to 1517,

a German priest named Martin Luther

published the "Ninety-five Theses,"

which challenged almost every aspect

of the Catholic Church,

leading to the Protestant Reformation in which more

and more people found something about the Church to hate on.

Among these complaints was the idea

that the church was encouraging idolatry

with all their religious art.

There was also the idea that the Church was hypocritical

because they were preaching Christian values of poverty,

meanwhile, cathedrals were literally dripping in gold,

silver, and other precious materials.

The pope was also accused of living lavishly.

In retaliation,

the Catholic Church hard-launched the Counter-Reformation

in which they attempted

to strengthen their own doctrines against the Protestants.

When it came to religious art, they decreed

that the Protestants were wrong

because the Old Testament God had requested

that his house be decorated richly.

Elayne Oliphant, NYU Professor

of religious studies, explains,

"While the Protestant Reformation critiqued excesses

"of wealth and opulence in churches and art,

"in many ways, the Catholic Church replied

"by further emphasizing the richness and beauty of art."

The Counter-Reformation movement

inevitably sparked a resurgence

of Catholic fervor throughout Europe

and its cultural manifestation was Baroque art.

Artists like Caravaggio, Reni, Carracci,

and Barocci were recruited to affirm salvation

in the Catholic Church through beauty.

This championing

of more extravagant religious art extended

beyond painting scriptures in architecture

to also include the ceremonial robes

and jewels worn by the clergy.

Oliphant explains, "Just at the point

"when nation-states were taking over the rights

"of taxation, were expropriating church properties

"and capitalism was expanding rapidly throughout Europe,

"the Vatican again sort of doubled down

"in its use of art to celebrate its power."

Today,

the Vatican still wears traditional ecclesiastical clothing

for reasons I mentioned earlier in the video.

In contrast,

many Protestant reformers abandoned ecclesiastical dress

because they wanted

to downplay the visual distinction between church leaders

and the laity.

What that means is that in a very general sense,

Catholics have a clear visual culture

which makes their aesthetics more ripe for the picking.

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High fashion is very elite.

I don't know if you guys knew this. (laughs)

But especially couture, and lots of times,

the luxury industry will seek out codes

to distinguish their expensive garments

from their lesser counterparts.

It therefore makes sense to use Catholic imagery

to convey the sense of expensiveness and eliteness

because of the longstanding history tying elite culture

and Catholicism.

For the Met's Heavenly Bodies Exhibit,

the Sistine Chapel actually loaned several items

of clothing, including the golden cape of Pope Benedict XV

who reigned from 1914 to 1922, the chasuble and mitre

of his successor, Pius XI,

and the 19th century dalmatic of Pius IX,

as well as his heavily jeweled tiara.

All of this is to say, according to Andrew Bolton,

head curator of the Met's Costume Institute,

that "The finest costumes

"in history were always either imperial or ecclesiastical,

"sometimes both."

- Catholics see the world through enchanted eyes.

Catholicism conveys really deep concepts,

but it's reflected in these beautiful stories

that are much more accessible.

- The Met's Costume Institute is co-chaired by Vogue EIC,

Anna Wintour, and the exhibit Heavenly Bodies can be seen

as a continuation of her legacy in the fashion world.

I say that because Wintour's debut Vogue cover

in November, 1988 featured a model in a jacket adorned

with a large cross.

Professor of religious studies, Lynn S. Neal,

characterizes this cover as the "transformation

"and decontextualization of religious symbols.

"Using religious symbols in this way corresponds

"with the diminishing role of religious institutions

"and the rise of spirituality

"where people seek authentic inner life

"and personhood rather than group identity

"and social location."

Originally, Heavenly Bodies was conceived as an exhibition

that would actually explore the influence

of religion on fashion more generally, but over time,

the curators realized there was this major imbalance

between designers who are from the Catholic tradition

and those from other faiths.

I mean, I think this really highlights the lack

of diversity in high fashion and fashion in general.

I mean,

the reason fashion designers integrate Catholic aesthetics

obviously varies from designer to designer,

but I think it's important to mention that many

of the successful fashion designers we know today

were either from or trained in France, Italy,

and Spain, which are three countries

in which Catholicism was and still is the dominant religion.

For example, Coco Chanel who grew up in France,

spent her youth in the Aubazine Abbey,

and it was in this orphanage that she learned how to sew

and where she found inspiration.

Fashion writer Eliane Bedu noted

that Chanel ended up reusing the slender in straight cut

of the nuns' dresses in many of her collections,

notably, in her little black dress,

to which she sometimes added a white collar,

also recalling the institution.

This style and color palette,

along with Christian-inspired accessories,

have become a staple of Chanel's brand.

More recently, beginning in the 1990s, Versace

and the controversial Dolce & Gabbana are two brands

that integrate their Italian Catholic heritages.

Versace's 1991 to 1992 ready-to-wear collection,

for example, featured a biker jacket with a bejeweled Mary

and an infant Jesus on the back.

Their Fall 1997 couture show featured cross necklaces,

Byzantine cross embellishments,

and little black dresses with white collars reminiscent

of Chanel's aforementioned homages to the abbey

and its nuns.

For Dolce & Gabbana,

while they've made Christian-themed clothing in the past,

it was their Fall 2013 ready-to-wear collection

that was considered to be the biggest exhibition

of religious accessories in the history of high fashion,

with its incense burner-shaped bags, cross earrings,

crowns, and Baroque shoes.

I believe Kourtney Kardashian

and Travis, Travis Barker, (chuckles)

their wedding, which was I think sponsored

by Dolce & Gabbana because she wears Dolce & Gabbana,

that was also very like Catholic themed.

Other designers who have used Catholic symbols

in at least one collection include Cristobal Balenciaga,

Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano

for Dior, Thom Browne, Alessandro Michele for Gucci,

and Rick Owens.

As we can see, even non-Italians can find inspiration

with Catholicism, and that's probably because

of how culturally pervasive the religion is

in the western world.

(spooky organ music)

Catholicism's material culture and proximity to the mystical

and supernatural also makes it just taboo enough

to be enticing.

In his article, "From Friars to Fornicators:

"The Eroticization of Sacred Dress,"

William Keenan explains, "Part of the lure

"of the religious dress fetish lies

"in the frisson obtained when carnal

"and spiritual bodies juxtapose and commingle,

"when the lusts of the flesh commune

"with the garments of God, when the conventional morality

"of dress is overturned.

"Such challenges to norms produce a pleasurable grinding,

"a sense of edgy rebellion,

"and the possibility of questioning the boundaries

"that separate categories."

In a similar vein, a fascination with Catholicism

and its aesthetics took hold in conjunction

with the Second Vatican Council in the mid 20th century,

exemplified in films like "Rosemary's Baby,"

"The Godfather," and "The Exorcist," among others.

Also just as a sidebar, I grew up around Washington, D.C.

and "The Exorcist" I think takes place in D.C.,

or at least it like takes place on a specific staircase,

like there's a staircase where "The Exorcist" was filmed,

and it's like this really like vertical, steep staircase,

and I remember there was like a rumor

that like the crew team

in my high school would have to like jog up

and down "The Exorcist" stairs for training,

but now that I think about it, I'm like, that can't be real

because I feel like you could actually die

if you fell down those stairs.

Anyway.

Catholicism was especially prominent in the horror genre

and when juxtaposed with sins like sexuality and violence.

Catholic iconography

and religious language also has a long history in music,

specifically for songs with sexual themes

and erotic imagery, and many times,

trends in music lend its way to trends in fashion.

For example, in the 1980s,

pop singer Madonna adopted cross accessories

and used subversive religious imagery

in her music videos and performances.

Many people liked her rebellious stance against conservatism

and her unapologetic female sexuality,

and thus looked to emulate her style.

- She gets what she wants

and she does it the way she dresses

and the way she acts. - Is that good?

- It is, of course.

- Of course,

some conservative Christians found Madonna's wearing

of these religious symbols trivializing

and even blasphemous.

- I am aware that the Vatican

and certain Catholic communities are accusing my show

of being sinful and blasphemous.

If you are sure that I am a sinner, then let he

who has not sinned cast the first stone.

- Another artist, a more recent artist that is often tied

to the Catholic aesthetic, is Lana del Rey.

A young writer for Teen Ink explained the phenomenon.

"Del Rey's religious imagery in her lyrics has appeared

"in the #catholicaesthetic,

"which features Virgin Mary statues, wooden crosses,

"and young girls dressed in white nightgowns locked

"in simple bedrooms and looking longingly out of windows.

"Her music encapsulates the mood of this aesthetic

"and cements its undertone of docility.

"In short, the #catholicaesthetic is about three things,

"softness, sexiness and submission."

So yeah, in case you missed it, beginning around 2021,

there was a rise

in the Catholic aesthetic among young people.

I would personally describe the Catholic aesthetic

as a subset of the coquette subculture.

Its use of Catholic symbols is definitely not as opulent

as in Versace's couture collections.

It's like more of an accessible style that integrates a lot

of pastel blues and pinks, lace, slip dresses,

cross necklaces, Catholic school girl uniforms,

rosary beads, ribbons, and baby tees

with religious idioms on them.

The brand Praying is actually a good example,

and I actually think that this brand is partly responsible

for the larger trend of memifying Catholic culture,

but what I also think is really weird

is that this brand is run by two men

and the clothes are clearly meant to like sexualize women

but also like sexualize women's innocence.

It's a very weird brand.

They sell a viral Holy Trinity bikini

and a Hail Mary dress as a few examples.

Their designs generally follow a Dadaist tradition

in street fashion made popular by ironic brands, VETEMENTS

and Off-White, though I think they border

on the more offensive just because

of the religious connotations.

Rebecca Jennings wrote about the memification of Catholicism

and interviewed Kyle Hide who runs the Catholic meme page,

ineedgodineverymomentofmylife, on Instagram.

Hide attributes his follower growth to quarantine,

saying that "Being home alone

"without your routine makes you confront your faith

"or other deeper things that society isn't dealing with."

Last December, Eliza McLamb wrote an essay on her experience

at a Catholic church with her extended family

in West Virginia, and in it,

she talks about how young people, including herself,

feel a pull towards meaning-making and ritual to deal

with the trials and tribulations of modern society.

And I think she's absolutely right.

I also think

that there's just so much fear nowadays towards AI

and social media

and other like "Black Mirror"-coded technology

that sometimes reverting back to a traditional belief

that has lasted like 2,000 years can feel comforting,

especially for those of us who grew up in a religion

but have since stopped practicing.

So revisiting that religion

can feel like revisiting our youth in some way

which we might see through like nostalgic,

rose-colored glasses.

I mean in my case, I've yet to romanticize this part

of my life.

All I remember is like dingy church basements,

boring services, and not being able to go to sleepovers

on Saturday nights because I had CCD the next morning.

There's also of course people who adopt Catholic fashion

and culture as more of a vibe (laughs)

than a sincere gesture.

Writer Biz Sherbert wrote in 2021

about how Catholic aesthetic reclamation could be a result

of public reckonings towards cultural appropriation,

because by the late 2010s, it was generally understood

that a white person should not wear a feather headdress

or a bindi.

So Sherbert writes, "Alternative white kids have had

"to adapt and look for new ways

"to differentiate themselves from the sea

"of normies and basics.

"Trendsetters began to avoid ripping off styles

"from people of color.

"Their pursuit of otherness now took place

"within the strict limits of familiar, quaint horizons."

Sherbert also interviewed artist Samuel Marion for i-D

who added, "Tastemaking habits have become magnetized

"towards forms of appropriation

"that have no overt racial ties."

Hence the blue collar Dickies fascination, normcore,

cowboy LARPing, Walden cosplay.

While most Christians worldwide practice Catholicism,

most Christian Americans belong

to a Protestant denomination.

Protestant rhetoric has imbued itself culturally here

in the US from views towards marriage to legal laws

to like the Hollywood formula of good triumphs over evil,

and so contextually, Catholicism seems like the edgier,

more alternative branch of Christianity,

on top of just being a more aesthetically inclined religion

in general.

I will add though that last year,