ABSTRACT
When the functions, effects, and meanings of monastic clothes are seen together, a complex picture emerges. Clothes are worn; they interact with the wearer and the surroundings; they are extensions of the body, enabling and restricting their wearers; they are used as tools; and they have an emotional repertoire. These multidimensional applications of clothes suggest that they are conceived of and act as part of the person wearing them, that they work on a physical as well as a cognitive and emotional level, and that they are an interface between the wearer and the surroundings.
