What type of clothing do priests wear?
Catholics and Episcopalians are the only two denominations that
call clergy "priests".
Nearly ALL priests can and do wear street clothes when they are
not working. This includes summer attire of shorts, shirt,
sneakers/tennis shoes or sandals; and winter clothing of pants,
shirt, and dress shoes. Episcopalians have female priests, so they
also wear dresses, or skirts and blouses.
When working, priests wear a black shirt, and black pants /
slacks. )Episcopal priests also wear light blue shirts.) The black
or blue shirt can be worn with a full band white collar or others
prefer a tab collar that fits only in the front of the shirt. Over
top of that, Catholic priests may wear a cassock or alb over the
black attire and full collar.
In services, priests wear a variety of different vestments over
their black street clothing. Very colorful and symbolic vestments
are worn for certain church holidays and to match the liturgical
calendar. For example, purple is often worn for Easter.