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                                                               Exhibit 24

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY
                                -----------------


   KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned directors and
officers of Angelica Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the "Company")
hereby constitutes and appoints L.J. Young, T.M. Armstrong, and L. Linden Mann
and each of them acting singly, the true and lawful agents and attorneys, or
agent and attorney, with full powers of substitution, resubstitution and
revocation, for and in the name, place and stead of the undersigned to do any
and all things and to execute any and all instruments which said agents and
attorneys, or any of them, may deem necessary or advisable to enable the
Company to comply with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and
any rules, regulations and requirements of the Securities and Exchange
Commission in respect thereof, in connection with the Annual Report on Form
10-K of the Company for the fiscal year ended January 25, 1997, including
specifically, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, full power
and authority to sign the name of each of the undersigned in the capacities
indicated below to the said Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and to any and all amendments to said
Annual Report on Form 10-K, and each of the undersigned hereby grants to said
attorneys and agents, and to each of them singly, full power and authority to
do and perform on behalf of the undersigned every act and thing whatsoever
necessary or appropriate to be done in the premises as fully as the
undersigned could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorneys and agents, or any of them, or the substitutes or substitute of them
or any of them, shall do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

   IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the undersigned has subscribed these presents
this 2nd day of April, 1997.


         /s/ L. J. Young                        /s/ T. M. Armstrong
----------------------------------     -------------------------------------
         (L.J. Young)                            (T.M. Armstrong)
Chairman of the Board, President              Senior Vice President-
  and Chief Executive Officer               Finance and Administration
 (Principal Executive Officer)               Chief Financial Officer
                                          (Principal Financial Officer)

                                               /s/ L. Linden Mann
                                       -------------------------------------
                                                (L. Linden Mann)
                                                   Controller
                                         (Principal Accounting Officer)

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    /s/ Earle H. Harbison, Jr.                  /s/ Elliot H. Stein
----------------------------------     -------------------------------------
    (Earle H. Harbison, Jr.)                     (Elliot H. Stein)
           Director                                   Director

       /s/ Leslie F. Loewe                     /s/ William P. Stiritz
----------------------------------     -------------------------------------
        (Leslie F. Loewe)                       (William P. Stiritz)
            Director                                  Director

       /s/ Charles W. Mueller                  /s/ H. Edwin Trusheim
----------------------------------     -------------------------------------
      (Charles W. Mueller)                      (H. Edwin Trusheim)
           Director                                   Director

       /s/ William A. Peck
----------------------------------
        (William A. Peck)
            Director