Amish Clothing

You may have heard of the Amish being referred to as “Plain People” and a main reason why they are called that is because of the way they dress; very plainly. You will never see patterns on any of their clothing and all of the men’s suits, and the women’s dresses, are all plain colored. The rules require that only solid colors can be used and the colors typically consist of black, blue, burgundy, brown, purple, or green.

Want to learn what clothing Amish men and women wear on a day-to-day basis? Below are short descriptions of what a typical outfit would look like for both men and women.

Amish Men:

In all districts of the Amish community, men wear black colored suits that are fastened with a hook and eye and have no outside pockets. The trousers that the men wear have no zippers and instead have buttons that button up the flap. One or two suspenders also hold up the trousers since no belts are allowed because of the flashy buckle that is present.

For church services, Amish men wear a plain white shirt with a black coat and vest overtop. Some men also wear black bow ties with their church suits. The suit coat has no buttons or collars because these are all reminiscent of military uniforms that represent the war that pacifist Amish reject.

All of the men and boys also wear either straw hats, for the summertime, or black felt hats, for the wintertime or for formal occasions, everyday.

Amish Women:

When it comes to Amish women’s wardrobes, their wardrobes are pretty small. They only believe they need four dresses: One for wash, one for wear, one for dress, and one for spare.

A married woman wears a black cape and apron to church, with a plain colored dress underneath, and a single woman wears a white cape and apron to church, again, with a plain colored dress underneath. For working around the family farm, women typically wear a gray apron. A woman’s cape and apron are fastened with straight pins at the waist, in the front of their dress, to attach the two together.

Women typically go barefoot around the farm, and house, and wear black shoes and stockings for church services. Women also always wear prayer caps, or head coverings, on their heads, so that if they ever feel the need to pray, throughout the day, their heads are covered and sacred to the Lord.

Want to learn more about Amish clothing? Visit The Amish Village property and pick up the book Amish: The Old Order in Words and Photos, written by Lucy Hanley, in our Village Store or Gift Shop.