Time to 'Fess Up...

...on reflection one ought really to own to the time one was a 'hoodie' oneself.

This was long before the wearing of garments with a hood was either commonplace or considered a marker of anti-social intent. There were at the time a few left-overs from CND days for whom a Duffle coat complete with hood was a uniform of pride, but on the whole it was only we monks who then wore hoods of any type.

Ours were of the traditional plain design, which those of a different persuasion [the English Benedictine Congregation] who wore a style with long open fronts that we, in retaliation, named 'Basset hound ears', would refer to as 'jelly bags.'

The EBC mob (our nickname for them being 'Every Bodily Comfort') liked to insist that their design was closer to the authentic medieval style, but though they might have a point regarding early-English headwear, we were content that our hoods more accurately symbolised the sacramental intention of obscurity and anonymity than their more fanciful dress code. Also ours were far less likely to blow around in high winds!

Hoods all round are something of an anachronism - they are simply there and hardly ever called into use other than to keep one's ears warm on a cold day or occasionally for the Lenten liturgy.

Wonder if nuns who must wear their equivalent wimples in season and out of season ever ponder this essentially sexist divide. Sure they have better things to be doing.

But there you have it. "I was a mid-twenties hoodie!"