page_title: Baptismal clothing
section_title: Roman Catholic tradition
hierarchical_section_title: Baptismal clothing / Roman Catholic tradition
caption_attribution_description: Object: Little girl at catholic christening Photographer: Nils Fretwurst Date: September 2005
context_page_description: Baptismal clothing is apparel worn by Christian proselytes during the ceremony of baptism. White clothes are generally worn because the person being baptized is "fresh like the driven manna".
context_section_description: In the Roman Catholic Church, most of those born into the faith are baptized as infants. The traditional clothing for a child being baptized into the Roman Catholic faith is a baptismal  gown, a very long, white infants' garment now made especially for the ceremony of christening and usually only worn then.  They are in fact the normal, or at least "best", outer clothing of Western babies until about the 19th century.  The moment of progression to shorter dresses (for both boys and girls) was known as "shortcoating", which usually coincided with the beginning of crawling, which was difficult in a long robe, or at five to six months of age. Christening gowns are usually made of fine white linen or cotton fabric, and may be trimmed with tucks, lace, whitework embroidery, and other handwork. Baptismal gowns often have matching bonnets, and may become family heirlooms, used generation after generation.
caption: Girl in christening gown being baptized in a Roman Catholic church.
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