The Brethren of the mid-1800s would have looked very much like the Amish, with a distinctive dress that was meant to set them apart from the fashion-crazed world.  The specific features of the Brethren uniform had gradually evolved during the first half of the nineteenth century through common consent with Annual Meeting providing little specific counsel.  However, from 1850 t0 1880 numerous detailed rulings were made by Annual Meeting on queries ranging from the style and cut of a man’s hair and beard, the wearing of jewelry, and the specific style of men’s and women’s clothing.  Adherence to the prescribed dress was viewed with increasing gravity by the main body of the church, the Conservatives, during this period so that by the 1880s conformity to the prescribed dress was beginning to be made a test of fellowship.  The photo with this post portrays Brethren dress around 1800.

The increasing weight given to a particular style of dress can be seen as a Brethren response to an American society more enthralled with fashion.  For the Brethren, conformity to the fashions of the world was viewed as an evidence of a sinful spirit of pride.  They sought to hedge the church against the incursion of this spirit by defining strict limits between acceptable and unacceptable dress.  It should be noted that all groups of the Brethren were agreed that the gospel requires plainness and modesty in dress.  Disagreement arose over the questions of whether the features of Brethren dress should be strictly itemized, who should ultimately be responsible for determining the application of gospel principles with regard to dress, and whether a specific uniform should be made a test of fellowship.

The Old Order Brethren felt that a distinctive dress was an essential characteristic of the true church.  Uniformity was an indispensable feature of dress for it not only identified the Brethren in their relationship to the world as Christians with a special character—nonresistant, inoffensive, humble—but it also helped to inform the heart with a moral and holy character.  Since every part of one’s dress created a distinctive whole that had a bearing on one’s heart, close attention should be given to every item of dress.

In sharp contrast, the Progressive Brethren believed that individual conscience should rule in nonessential matters.  Though nonconformity should remain the controlling issue regarding dress, mandatory uniformity destroys the vital spirit of inner obedience that is at the heart of the Christian life.

The Conservatives sought to find a middle course between these two extremes.  Though defending nonconformity in dress in general terms, the Conservatives were not willing to itemize every detail of Brethren dress.  However, as the Progressives focused their attack increasingly on uniformity of dress by 1878, the Conservatives were forced to shift their emphasis to a defense of the received tradition concerning dress and of the authority of Annual Meeting in determining the proper position regarding nonessential matters.  By the early 1880s many Conservatives had come to the conclusion that the only way to find peace within the fellowship was to remove the Progressive Brethren from the church.