VATICAN CITY (AP) – The favorite guessing game in Rome these days is who will be the next Pope. Few take it more seriously than the Gammarelli family, tailors to the Vatican for over 200 years. For the past seven conclaves, Gammarelli has prepared three identical white outfits in small, medium and large for the new Pontiff’s first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Here’s a look at what goes into making a new Pope look fabulous for the historic moment:
PAPAL TAILORS:
The papal outfits are on display in the window of the small wood-paneled store nestled in the shadow of the Pantheon, where the family moved in 1850 from the original ``bottega’’ (artisan shop) founded just around the corner in 1798. Before the start of the conclave, the outfits will be delivered to the Vatican and left in a room next to the Sistine Chapel, where the newly elected pope changes into his new clothes.
``We hope we got it right,’’ said Lorenzo Gammarelli, the sixth-generation scion of the family business. He explained that the measurements this time around came from a study of the sizes on file of their habitual Cardinal customers.
If the pope is their most illustrious shopper, the Gammarelli’s daily bread-and-butter comes from dressing prelates in Rome and abroad, in particular the cardinals who will be electing the new Pontiff.
WILL IT FIT?:
The Gammarellis make a new set of outfits for each conclave. And sewing custom-made clothes for an unknown customer has had its share of hitches.
Back in 1958 the rotund John XXIII appeared on the balcony with safety pins holding together the back of his cassock. The brand new pope had inadvertently put on the small size and attendants had to slit the robe so that from the front all looked well.
Twenty years later, the broad-shouldered, athletic John Paul II had to squeeze into the large size. Most recently in April 2005, Benedict XVI showed up on the balcony with the sleeves of the black sweater he had worn in the chilly Sistine Chapel showing through the white sleeves of the cassock.
PAPAL DRESS CODE
So what exactly does a pope wear, then, for his first encounter with the flock? The basic garment is the hand-stitched white wool cassock with white cape and wide silk sleeves. The cassock is fastened by 33 silk buttons recalling the years of the life of Christ, and is worn with a silk brocade sash with gold fringe. Later this sash will have the new Pope’s papal seal embroidered on it.
Over the cassock he will wear the classic burgundy red mozzetta, a short elbow-length cape worn by high prelates for formal occasions, and a gold embroidered stole; either red or white. The mozzetta in the Gammarelli window is the velvet white fur trimmed version, long in disuse until Benedict brought it back for winter outings. Otherwise the mozzetta is in silk brocade.