Clothing in the East communicates a wide range of personal and collective information about religious practice. A Buddhist monk's tonsure and saffron robes or a Hindu guru's choice not to wear any clothing are religiously sanctioned costumes that reinforce the distinctiveness of an observant community as separate from the larger, secular society. Other kinds of clothing also speak to religious affiliation.

Identity

A Jewish male's yarmulke and tallith, a Muslim woman's hajib, or a Parsi's white cotton shirt and white lamb's wool cord may be sanctioned for worship, but in daily life they signify a personal covenant with the divine, empowering the individual and at times serving political and cultural ends. By the same token, the traditional use of colored turbans by Islamic societies—white for believers, yellow for Jews, and blue for Christians—have in effect...