Hello beautiful people,
it was the event of the passed weekend: Pope Francis’ funeral. Fashionably there was a dress code beyond black. Read about the accessory of the event here.
On Saturday, April 26th the late Pope Francis was buried as a result of his sudden death on Easter Monday April 21st. He died at the age of 88 while just one day before he still had a public appearance. Between the celebration of Jesus Christ’s rebirth and the grief on occasion to the remembrance day of the Armenian Genocide the funeral took place in Domus Sanctae Marthae in Vatican City. A gathering of world leaders mostly accompanied by their wives (Prince William attended without his wife Catherine who may be back after her cancer-treatment but understandably still slows down. Here you can read my personal statement on her case). As a social meaningful event the burial could be watched on television aired by national public broadcasters. But even if you did not follow the event from the beginning until the end social media (among others Instagram as leading tool) was full of photos shared for example by royal houses not only on the day of the funeral but also ahead of that on the day of his death honoring the late pope sharing memories.
From Queen Letizia from Spain to Queen Rania of Jordan. One certain detail was not left unseen – at least for me. We all know that black is an unwritten rule shaping a funeral outfit but for this funeral furthermore there was an accessory of the event visible on all the leading women as if Melania Trump, crown princess Mette-Marit or Queen Mary from Denmark had commonly agreed on wearing it: a headscarf made of lace. How can big fashion magazines which usually write about every little single thing miss out this obvious sight, I wonder? Especially because there was a reason why the first ladies and Queens of the world wore this special headpiece. Read about the meaning in the following paragraph.
Accessory of the Event: The Meaning Behind the Lace Scarf
From the Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic church I can confirm that apart from skirts/dresses as well as covered legs and arms a head scarf is an unwritten rule during church visits. Furthermore some women still refuse to go to church even nowadays when they have their period. The reason behind this is that back then people did not have as good protections as we have nowadays to cover traces of the bleeding. So in order to protect the church getting dirty through this it was historically forbidden for women to visit the church that time of the month. Visiting the church is neither a fashion show nor furthermore a competition. You are supposed to smarten up yourself for your church visit as if you were to visit a King or a Queen but within certain boundaries. That is why women wear a scarf – do not mix it with the Islamic duty or wearing a head scarf – in ancient Christian religions (Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic) women are supposed to wear a head scarf at church to cover their beauty as a sign of respect and equality.
This is how it worked for the funeral of the Pope: black shaped on lace especially symbolizes demureness, humility and modesty towards God and the whole event itself. The headpiece takes up the church’s submission to God. In the black color, which fashionably has always stood for mourning in the first place, it serves as counterpart to the white wedding veil. This is why the black head scarf is also known as chapel veil. Such a piece is also used in the Catholic church. So probably and undoubtedly the leading ladies were either given the advice to dress accordingly or have known this before. For what concerns Queen Rania I do very much appreciate her having followed this fashion rule despite her different religious belonging. A welcome moment was definitely the hot burning sun over the rising spirit of the late Pope.
Melania Trump tops the black veil with matching black lace gloves.
Love, Johanna
Strengthen Your Spirit 