Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Another Maria Sjöden Update

So, Maria was nice enough to send me a sample shirt as a thank you for the publicity.  I thought I'd take this chance to review it for you.

I still can't afford one until I pay off my epic Lasik bill, but if I had money to burn, I would buy out her inventory.  The shirt is profoundly COMFORTABLE and fits really nicely.  She sent a small, and it fits perfectly, even though almost no other clergy shirt company makes an off-the-rack size that fits me.  (I haven't tried the WomenSpirit small yet.) The fabric on Maria's shirt is really soft and stretchy without feeling artificial.  It's a really nice knit.  It feels like wearing a mock turtleneck.

I don't even mind walking around looking like a Lutheran wearing this shirt. :)  I wish she made some styles compatible with the Episcopal collar, but maybe we'll create such a market for her shirts here, she'll be interested!

10 comments:

Kimberly said...

You could always claim to be following your British colleagues. Here, most episcopal priests wear tab shirts. The only exception is very well dressed men wearing a plain white collarless shirt, with full collar and stock.

Do you like wearing the full collar? I've considered buying a womenspirit shirt, but am not at all convinced the full collar would work on women. (what am I saying? no clergy shirt works on women...)

Sarah K. said...

Kimberly--I don't mind the full collar except when it breaks about 80 degrees. Then it gets a little hot.

Allison said...

Sarah this is so exciting! I can't believe this woman Maria and her shirts really exist. How tight is the shirt? On the website it looks incredibly tight fitting. When do we get a picture???

Sarah K. said...

Allison,

The Small is definitely not skin tight on me. I would describe it as perfectly fitted. Right now the shirt is dirty, but next time it is clean and I wear it, I'll post a pick. Remind me, and I'll bring it to the August trip. I'm assuming this is Allison L. :)

S

Allison said...

That'd be great! I can't wait to see it in person.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah,

We had three Swedish Lutheran pastors visiting our (Presbyterian!) church, and the young female pastor had the Maria Sjodin blouse on. It looked fantastic.
As a Presby, I guess I am supposed to wear the full collar, when I wear one at all, but I'm told on the tab collar. So easy.

I have absolutely NO sewing abilities; do you have a good seamstress? You are in NYC, right? I'd love to do some conversions for the summer, when we don't wear robes on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Hello Sarah, have been browsing around trying to find out how ordained women in other countries manage with the dearth of reasonable things to wear. Haven't read all the posts/comments, but wondered if you'd found Cross Designs based in Derby in the UK. I've got a few of their blouses and they're pretty good- particularly the jersey ones. Their website is www.crossdesigns.ltd.uk

liturgy said...

Love the site!
My solution:
the naked liturgist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgqtebNm3Fg
It is possible to embed this.

Please visit Liturgy
And consider linking as “Liturgy” or “Liturgy (ecumenical).

Blessings

Can Bass 1 said...

My word! The lady vicars on your site do indeed look smart. I wonder if we could do something for the Chapter?

Sarah K. said...

Yikes--I haven't checked the comments in a few weeks. Can you tell?

Sarah MC--I live in Virginia, not NY. I had a great shirtmaker, but he actually died in a car accident. I've just been buying off-the-rack shirts and converting them to clergy shirts myself. It's literally just a matter of sewing two buttons.

Laura B--I had not heard of Cross Designs. Do they have a website?