ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a cultural overview of the Old Order Amish and discusses Amish clothing in general. It focuses on the Amish prayer cap. The Old Order Amish are a large Christian-based group whose core values focus on separateness from the world, commitment to tradition, family, and community. They are an outgrowth of the sixteenth-century Swiss Anabaptist movement, in turn a product of the Protestant Reformation. Amish families are arranged around traditional gender and age roles including power lying within the male gender and increasing with age. Amish dress reflects their faith and serves as a way to remain distinct from mainstream society. Amish caps are similar to the ones worn as early as the fifteenth century by Palatine women. This headpiece has had several names including Haubchen, Kappe, Ziehaube, Nebelkapp, and more casually Betz, and Saumagen. On average, most Amish women own two or three prayer caps each costing just less than $20.
