The 33 Buttons on a Cassock, and What Other Counts Mean
The 33-button tradition is a devotional convention, not a rubric. Here is what the documents actually regulate, what the other counts mean, and what makers really do.
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The short answer is that no rubric requires it. If you ask why does a cassock have 33 buttons, the honest reply is that the count is a devotional convention, widely repeated and genuinely meant, associating the buttons with the years of Christ’s earthly life. It has never been prescribed by liturgical law, by the Code of Canon Law, or by any Roman instruction on clerical dress. In practice a great many cassocks simply carry as many buttons as their length and their button spacing require, which for an adult garment usually lands somewhere between 30 and 40.
Why does a cassock have 33 buttons, and who says so?
The association is old enough and widespread enough to be a real part of clerical culture. Seminarians are told it at vesting; makers advertise it; priests repeat it. None of that makes it a rule, and it is worth being precise about the difference, because a reader who has been told it is a rule will eventually meet a cassock with 32 buttons and conclude something is wrong.
Nothing is wrong. The documents that actually govern clerical dress are silent on the point. The USCCB’s complementary norm for canon 284 on clerical garb says only that clerics are to dress in conformity with their sacred calling, that a black suit and Roman collar are usual outside liturgical functions, and that “the use of the cassock is at the discretion of the cleric”. The 1969 Instruction Ut sive sollicite, which is the document that does regulate the dress of cardinals, bishops and lesser prelates in detail, specifies the colour of the cloth, the sash, the piping, the stitching and the buttons — and says nothing whatever about how many buttons there should be.
So the accurate formulation is: 33 buttons is a well-loved piety attached to a garment whose button count is otherwise a tailoring decision. Order 33 if it means something to you. Do not tell a parishioner it is required.
The cassock itself is the base layer of nearly everything else a cleric wears, and our survey of the vestments and who wears each of them sets out where it sits among the rest.
What actually determines the count
Button count is a function of three things: the length of the front opening, the spacing between buttons, and whether the buttons run to the hem or stop above it.
Most Roman cassocks are buttoned the whole way from the collar to the hem. On a garment with a centre-front length of about 56 to 58 inches — normal for a man of average height — buttons spaced at roughly 1½ to 1¾ inches will produce somewhere in the low to mid thirties. That is why 33 is plausible as a natural number, not merely a symbolic one: for a lot of adult cassocks it falls out of the arithmetic anyway. A tall wearer with the same spacing gets 36 or 38. A shorter one gets 29.
A maker who wants exactly 33 has to adjust the spacing to hit it, which is easy enough and costs nothing. A maker who is not thinking about it will space evenly and let the number be what it is. Both are ordinary practice. If you want 33 specifically, say so when you order, because it is not the default at every workroom.
The other counts, and what they are said to mean
| Count | Where | What it is said to signify | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Front opening, collar to hem | The years of Christ’s earthly life | Devotional convention. Widely observed, never prescribed |
| 5 | Each cuff | The five wounds of Christ | Devotional convention. Common on Roman cassocks with a working cuff |
| 8 or 9 | Sleeve or forearm, on some patterns | Variously the Beatitudes (8) or the choirs of angels (9) | Local and maker-specific. No general tradition behind it |
| 14 | Occasionally cited for a front opening | The Stations of the Cross | Rare; a maker’s flourish rather than a received custom |
| Whatever fits | Front opening | Nothing | Extremely common, including on cassocks made in Rome |
The five-on-the-cuff convention is the most reliably encountered after 33, and it has a practical side that the front-button count does not: cuff buttons on a well-made cassock are functional, so five gives a cuff that can actually be opened to push the sleeve back when washing hands at the credence or handling ashes. Decorative cuff buttons sewn shut are cheaper and are what you get on most stock garments.
Anglican double-breasted cassocks generally have no visible front buttons at all, which makes the whole question moot for a large part of the English-speaking clergy — the fastening is at the shoulder, and what shows in choir is the surplice or cotta worn over it. If you are choosing between the cuts, our comparison of the Roman and Anglican patterns and how each fastens lays out what each involves.
Colour and trim by rank, with the right words
Button colour, piping and sash are regulated where the button count is not, and they are worth getting right because they are read as claims about rank.
- Priests, deacons and seminarians (Roman use): plain black cassock, black buttons, black fascia where a fascia is worn.
- Bishops and archbishops: a violet (purple) cassock for choir, and for ordinary use a black cassock piped in amaranth red with amaranth buttons and buttonholes, worn with a violet fascia. Ut sive sollicite describes this as the “red-trimmed black cassock with red buttonholes, buttons, and lining”; the trade term for that particular red is amaranth, which is a cooler, more crimson red than a cardinal’s.
- Cardinals: a scarlet cassock “of red wool or similar cloth, with the sash, piping, stitching, and buttons of red silk”, and for ordinary use a black cassock trimmed in scarlet with a scarlet fascia.
- The pope: plain white. Britannica summarises the same scheme.
Anglican practice runs on different lines. Black is standard for priests and deacons; purple is common for bishops; scarlet cassocks are worn by Chapel Royal clergy, some cathedral foundations and very many choristers, where the colour marks the foundation rather than an order in ministry. Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed clergy who wear a cassock at all wear black in almost every case.
Two errors to avoid. Do not call a bishop’s black-with-amaranth cassock a “purple cassock” — the purple garment is a different one. And do not describe a chorister’s scarlet as “cardinal red” in an order; it is a foundation colour with no relation to the College of Cardinals, and the cloth is usually a different shade entirely.
Specifying buttons when you order
If buttons matter to you, put them in the order in these terms:
- Count on the front. State it, or state “even spacing, count as it falls”. Both are legitimate instructions; only one of them gets you 33.
- Functional or decorative cuffs. Working buttonholes cost more and are worth it if you push your sleeves back often.
- Covered or plain. Self-covered cloth buttons look better and wear out faster than horn or moulded ones. On a cassock in daily use, plan on replacing a few; the notes on keeping vesture in repair cover resewing before a button is lost rather than after.
- Spares. Ask for six spare buttons with the garment. Matching a cloth-covered button five years later is close to impossible.
- Thread. Buttons on a cassock take a lot of strain at the chest and waist. Ask whether they are shanked and reinforced; the ones that go first are always the two at the waist where you sit.
Length matters more than any of this, because the button spacing is derived from it. Take the centre-back measurement properly before you specify anything else; the notes on ordering a cassock or alb that actually fits cover how. When you are ready to commission, our cassock range is made to those measurements rather than to a size chart.
Common questions
Is the 33-button tradition Catholic or Anglican?
It attaches to the Roman single-breasted cassock, so it is encountered mostly in Roman Catholic use and among Anglo-Catholic Anglicans who wear that cut. The double-breasted Anglican cassock has no front buttons to count, so the convention has never had anything to attach to there.
Do all Roman cassocks have 33 buttons?
No. Many do, many do not, and a great many buyers have never counted. Stock cassocks are made to standard lengths with even spacing, so the number varies with the size. A 33-button cassock sold as such has usually had its spacing set deliberately to reach that number.
What do the five buttons on the cuff mean?
They are conventionally read as the five wounds of Christ. Like the 33, this is a devotional association rather than a requirement, but it is the most consistently observed of the secondary counts, and five is also simply a sensible number for a cuff that has to open.
What colour buttons should a priest’s cassock have?
Black, matching the cloth, in Roman use. Coloured buttons and piping signify rank: amaranth for bishops, scarlet for cardinals. A priest ordering a cassock with red piping is claiming something he is not entitled to, and it will be noticed.
Can I have a cassock made with a zip instead?
Yes, and plenty of clergy do. A concealed zip behind a false button placket gives the Roman look with none of the fastening time, and it is a common request for hospital and school chaplains who vest and unvest repeatedly. It is a tailoring choice with no rubrical implications at all. Say so when ordering a cassock from us and the placket is made up that way.
What to do with this
If someone asks you about the 33 buttons, the good answer is the true one: it is a piety, not a rule, and it is none the worse for that. If you are ordering, decide whether the number matters to you before the cutting starts, because adding or removing buttons afterwards means re-spacing the whole front and usually re-making the placket. And whatever count you choose, put the spare buttons somewhere you will find them — taped inside the garment bag works better than a sacristy drawer.
