Anabaptist Women's Dress

Some Anabaptist communities such as Amish and Mennonites follow specific dress traditions. Women’s clothing emphasizes modest dresses and head coverings, though there is a wide variety of modest dress styles and some groups do not practice it at all. Of those that do, reasons range from tradition, to obeying religious scripture. Outside-community scholars evaluate women’s modest dress as a performance that communicates group membership. It has also been studied as a way women perform gendered roles within their communities, and are judged according to how well they represent group values of modesty and piety.