For centuries, the distinctive Quaker manner of dress served not only as a visible rejection of “the vain and changeable fashions of the world” and an embrace of “decency, simplicity, and utility.” It also acted “like a hedge about us; which, though it does not make the ground it encloses rich and fruitful, yet it frequently prevents those intrusions, by which the labor of the husbandman is injured or destroyed.” In other words, plain dress reminded both the wearer and others of the individual’s principles, and discouraged temptations.

Although most Cincinnati Friends adhered to plain dress in the early years of the Meeting, some deviations from the custom occasionally occurred. As early as 1831, members of the Committee on Plainness reported that “notwithstanding there are deficiencies among us in this respect, [we] have not seen the way open since the appointment to labor for their removal.”

During the latter part of the nineteenth century, changes in Quaker sartorial habits were becoming noticeable to those outside the Meeting. “Not in many years had [I] seen upon the streets of Cincinnati a person of either of the sexes garbed in the clothing of that sect,” wrote a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer around 1903, “whereas many years ago and even in the [eighteen] sixties, it was not an uncommon thing to meet here upon the streets long-haired men of severe countenance…in clothing of this formal cut, and sweet-faced old ladies attired in the hiding bonnet and the sober drab and white.”

Some might have abandoned plain dress because they felt it called undue attention to the outward form rather than the inner spiritual state. Some might have felt that simplicity—which was still encouraged by the Discipline—did not require a particular form of attire. Some might not have been able to obtain traditional Quaker apparel, which was typically handmade rather than bought at stores. Others might simply have preferred to conform to societal norms, especially in the realm of business.

One member of the Meeting, M. Morris White, “always retained his love for the church of his childhood, in which he received his early training, and of which he was a regular attendant, but he did not adhere to the peculiar costume and manner of that body as represented by the typical old style Quaker.” By the turn of the century, White was in the majority. “A week ago I attended a meeting there of the Orthodox,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reporter continued. “There were present about 50 persons, most of them young people, whose faces were in some instances familiar to me in their strong resemblance to their fathers and grandfathers among the Quakers I had known. The young ladies wore fashionable hats and dresses. There was present only one very old person, a venerable woman in black, with the old-fashioned bonnet of Quaker shape.”

In addition to these modifications in attire, changes were also occurring in the language of Friends. By 1878, the Discipline no longer recommended the use of thou and thee when addressing others, although this practice was still maintained in written communications and among some members of the Meeting. The Discipline likewise no longer spoke of the need to refer to days and months by their numbers rather than their names, although that practice continued in the meeting minutes. In addition, the honorifics Mr. and Mrs. began appearing in the minutes—a practice not explicitly discouraged in the Discipline, but a break from tradition.

This article comes from the book Friends Past and Present: The Bicentennial History of Cincinnati Friends Meeting (1815–2015). You can obtain a copy of the printed book or a Kindle version from Amazon.com. The proceeds of all sales go to Cincinnati Friends Meeting.