Cassock or Soutane? One Garment, Two Names and Four Different Cuts
Soutane is simply the French and Irish word for a cassock. The differences that matter are of cut, not of name: Roman, Anglican, Jesuit and cassock-alb.
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There is no difference. In the cassock vs soutane question, soutane is simply the French word for the cassock, carried into English through Irish, French and continental usage. A priest in Dublin, Paris or Milan is far more likely to say soutane; a priest in London or Chicago is more likely to say cassock. Both mean the same ankle-length clerical garment. The differences that actually matter are differences of cut, and there are four in common use: Roman, Anglican, Jesuit and the cassock-alb.
Cassock vs soutane: one garment, two words
The English cassock comes through French casaque, a long coat, ultimately from a word for a loose outer garment. Soutane comes from Italian sottana, “that which is underneath”, by way of French — the garment worn under the outer vesture. Latin usage in the documents is different again: the Roman texts speak of the habitus talaris, the ankle-length dress, or the vestis talaris.
None of these is more correct than another. What varies is where you are and who taught you the word. In Ireland and in Irish-founded dioceses across the English-speaking world, “soutane” is ordinary speech. In England and much of North America, “cassock” is. In Anglican usage “soutane” is rare to the point of sounding affected. If you are ordering from a workroom, use whichever word you like and then describe the cut, because that is the information the cutter needs.
The cassock sits at the base of nearly everything else a cleric wears. Choir dress is built on it, and so is most sanctuary vesture; our survey of the vestments and who wears each of them sets it in that wider context.
The four cuts
Roman
Single-breasted, fastened with a continuous row of buttons from the neck to the hem, close through the body, with a standing collar. It is worn with a fascia — a wide silk or cloth sash, tied at the left with the ends hanging — by those entitled to one. Many Roman cassocks are made with a detachable shoulder cape, the pellegrina, though whether a given cleric wears one is governed by local custom and rank rather than by taste.
This is the cut people picture when they hear either word. It is also the cut that carries the button folklore, which is worth reading properly: see what the button counts on a cassock actually signify before you specify a number.
Anglican (often sold as “Sarum”)
Double-breasted, with the fronts crossing over and fastening at the shoulder and under the arm — usually with concealed buttons, hooks or ties — and secured at the waist with a cloth cincture or a double-corded girdle. There are typically no visible buttons down the front at all. It is fuller in the skirt than the Roman cut and more comfortable in an unheated church.
A caution on the name. “Sarum cassock” is trade shorthand, not a documented garment of the medieval Use of Sarum. The double-breasted cut is a real and long-established Anglican pattern, and the label is universally understood in the trade; but do not repeat the claim that it descends unbroken from Salisbury practice, because the evidence for that is thin. Ask a maker for a “double-breasted Anglican cassock” and you will get the right garment without the argument.
Jesuit
A wrap front rather than a buttoned one. Georgetown’s own archivists describe the Jesuit cassock as “more of a wrap with hooks that fasten at the collar”, held at the waist with a cincture, in contrast to the long row of front buttons on a Roman cassock. The result is plainer and quicker to put on, and it has been adopted well beyond the Society of Jesus by clergy who simply prefer it.
Cassock-alb
Not a cassock at all in the strict sense, despite the name. It is a white or off-white alb cut full enough and finished at the neck well enough to be worn without an amice and, often, without a cincture. GIRM 336 provides the rubrical space for this by requiring the alb to be tied with a cincture “unless it is made so as to fit even without such”. It is a eucharistic garment, worn under stole and chasuble or dalmatic, and it does not replace a black cassock for choir dress or for street wear.
Because it does double duty, the cassock-alb is frequently bought as a first vestment by newly ordained clergy and by parishes kitting out assisting ministers. If that is what you are doing, note that it needs to fit properly at the shoulder or it will read as a bathrobe: the guidance on getting the length and shoulder right when ordering covers the measurements to take.
The cuts compared
| Cut | Front | Waist | Typically worn by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roman | Single-breasted, buttons neck to hem, standing collar | Fascia (sash), tied at the left | Roman Catholic clergy; Anglo-Catholic Anglicans; seminarians | Detachable pellegrina in some uses. Colour and trim vary by rank |
| Anglican / “Sarum” | Double-breasted, crossing over, fastened at shoulder and side | Cloth cincture or double-corded girdle | Church of England, Episcopal, Anglican Church of Canada and other Anglican clergy, servers and choristers | No visible front buttons. Fuller skirt. The “Sarum” label is trade usage, not documented medieval practice |
| Jesuit | Wrap-over front, hooks at the collar | Cincture | Jesuits and other religious; clergy who prefer a plain front | Fastest to put on; nothing to lose at the front if a button goes |
| Cassock-alb | Pull-over, usually with a zip or short placket | Cincture optional by design | Any minister at the Eucharist, in most Western traditions | White, not black. A eucharistic garment, not choir dress or street wear |
Colour, trim and rank
Cut answers one question; colour answers another. Britannica’s summary is the usual one for Roman Catholic use: plain black for priests and lesser clergy, black with red trim for bishops and archbishops, black with scarlet trim or a scarlet cassock in choir for cardinals, and plain white for the pope. The governing document is the 1969 Instruction Ut sive sollicite, issued by the Secretariat of State on 31 March 1969, which sets out the cardinal’s “cassock of red wool or similar cloth, with the sash, piping, stitching, and buttons of red silk”, the bishop’s purple cassock and black cassock with red piping and buttons, and the corresponding provisions for lesser prelates.
Anglican usage overlaps but is not identical. Black is standard for priests and deacons; Anglican bishops commonly wear purple; scarlet cassocks appear on Chapel Royal clergy, some cathedral chapters and many choristers, which is a matter of foundation and custom rather than order. Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed clergy who wear a cassock at all almost always wear black.
Note also what is not regulated. The USCCB’s complementary norm for canon 284 on clerical garb states only that clerics dress in conformity with their sacred calling, that a black suit and Roman collar are the usual attire outside liturgical functions, and that “the use of the cassock is at the discretion of the cleric”. There is no prescribed cut, no prescribed button count, and no requirement to own one at all.
Choosing between them
Work through this in order.
- What tradition are you vesting in? Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic use points to the Roman cut. Mainstream Anglican, especially cathedral and collegiate use, points to the double-breasted cut.
- Is it for choir or for street? A cassock worn under a surplice for Evensong can be lighter and fuller. A cassock worn as outdoor dress in a cold climate wants more weight, and probably a wool-rich cloth.
- How warm is your building? The double-breasted cut is a double layer of cloth across the chest, which is welcome in a stone church and punishing in August.
- Do you actually want to do up thirty-odd buttons before every service? Some do; the ritual matters to them. Others reach for a wrap front or a concealed zip and never look back. Both are legitimate.
- What goes over it? A cassock that is too full in the skirt bulks under a fitted surplice or cotta. Our comparison of the white linen garments worn over the cassock explains which pairs well with what.
- Neck size. A cassock collar sits over a clerical collar, so measure with the collar on. The sizing logic is the same as for shirts; see the notes on clergy shirts and collar sizing.
We cut ours to the wearer’s centre-back length rather than to a height chart, because the difference between two people of the same height is often two inches at the hem. If you are ordering a made-to-measure cassock from us or anyone else, the cassock range is the place to start, but send the measurements before you choose the cloth.
Common questions
Is a soutane different from a cassock?
No. Soutane is the French term, in ordinary use in Ireland and on the continent, for the same ankle-length clerical garment English speakers call a cassock. Neither word specifies a cut. If someone insists a soutane is specifically the Roman single-breasted form, they are describing a regional habit of speech, not a distinction anyone has defined.
Do Anglicans wear the Roman cassock?
Many do. Anglo-Catholic clergy in the Church of England, the Episcopal Church and elsewhere frequently wear the single-breasted Roman cut with a fascia, and it is common among ordinands trained in Catholic-leaning colleges. The double-breasted cut remains the more usual choice in cathedral and parish choir dress across the Anglican Communion, but there is no rule involved either way.
What is the sash on a cassock called?
The fascia, sometimes anglicised as “band” or loosely called a sash. It is worn with the Roman cut, tied at the left side with the ends falling. Colour follows rank in Roman use: black for priests, violet for bishops, red watered silk for cardinals. The Anglican cassock takes a cincture or corded girdle instead, and that is not a fascia.
Should a cassock touch the floor?
No. The hem should clear the floor by about an inch, or roughly to the top of the shoe. A cassock that touches the ground picks up dirt at every step, catches on stairs and altar steps, and wears through at the back hem within a year or two. If you are ordering, add nothing for “growing room”. Each cassock we make is cut to the wearer’s back length so the hem breaks at the shoe.
Can a layperson wear a cassock?
Yes, in the specific sense that servers, vergers, choristers and lay readers wear cassocks as the base layer of choir dress in most Western traditions. What a lay cassock does not carry is the trim, fascia or colour reserved to a rank in orders. Chorister scarlet is a foundation colour, not a claim to office.
Before you order
Decide the cut first, then the cloth, then the details. Makers can change buttons, collars and pockets late in the process; they cannot change a single-breasted cassock into a double-breasted one. Check whether your church requires a particular colour or trim before you commission anything above plain black, since a bishop’s or prelate’s trim is a matter of entitlement, not preference. And if you already own a cassock that fits, send its centre-back and sleeve measurements to the new maker rather than starting from scratch — a garment you already like is the most reliable pattern you will ever have.
