Continuing on with our consideration of some of the bespoke vestment designers that are out there, today I wanted to turn your attention to Altarworthy -- whom we have featured here on LAJ before. Altarworthy is an American based vestment maker who specialize in traditionally designed chasubles in all shapes and sizes, from conical right through to the baroque. The work that I want to show you today is one they recently did in the Borromean cut.
First, a general comment. Most vestment designers, like any craftsman, can only produce something as qualitative as what the commissioning patron is willing to pay for. Unfortunately, there is frequently a mentality in our time which is driven by the catalogue industry of religious goods. The goal? The lowest price possible. The problem with this mentality is that it necessarily limits and restricts our vestment designers in what they can do for you -- you can, after all, only get what you pay for.
Fortunately, every once and awhile a benefactor or patron comes along who is willing to put the "investment" back into vestments and pay for something more. The example that I want to show you today is precisely an example of that in action. The priest who commissioned this particular chasuble paid for a hand-loomed silk from the Royal Palace of Casserta in Italy and then provided it to Altarworthy. Here then is what they came up with for him.
For more information visit Altarworthy on social media or their website.
