Sunday best

A Thuringian large farmer in his Sunday best (here traditional costume) around 1900.

Sunday best is the name for particularly representative clothing that is only worn by the owner for special occasions - such as going to church on Sundays. The word state comes from the Low German adjective staatsch , which stands for 'handsome' and 'splendid' and is related to the High German adjective 'stately'.

The term Sunday best is rarely used in the 21st century. The terms Sunday clothes are still common ; for the man the Sunday suit and for the woman the Sunday dress .

In rural areas, the Sunday best is often a special costume . According to the local differences in the costume, the Sunday best can vary in its execution. The Sunday best is hardly widespread in Western countries. The significantly changed working conditions for the majority of the population have essentially contributed to the fact that the “Sunday best” hardly differs from the working day outfit. On the contrary, many people who have to wear formal clothing at work are dressed more casually on Sundays than on weekdays.

Trivia

Charlie Chaplin in his Sunday best in a scene from the film Mabel's Busy Day (1914)

• An Englishman in Sunday best was the basis of his tramp for Charlie Chaplin .
• The English-language name for the Sunday best is Sunday best .
• Up until the beginning of the 20th century, middle and lower class brides wore their Sunday best for wedding, which was either their best - mostly black - dress or the regional costume. The white wedding dress that is widespread today did not appear for these sections of the population until the 1920s.

literature

• E. Wine: Sunday best instead of soft pants. ( Memento from July 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: Stuttgarter Zeitung from September 10, 2009
• Souvenir photo in “Sunday best” In: Südkurier from September 27, 2008
• F. Lorenz: You should rest on the seventh day. Or? In: Welt-Online from October 20, 2002

Web links

Wiktionary: Sunday State  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ^ R. Golz: On a (flat) word. In: Welt-Online from June 30, 2008
2. ↑ With Sunday best and Sunday outing. In: Sunday newspaper of the Archdiocese of Hamburg 17, 2010, p. 13.
3. ^ J. Pohlke: Charlie - the tramp in Hamburg. In: Welt-Online from February 3, 2006