Your reaction if you went to a church and the preacher wore pre-torn jeans

[politicus]

Sticking it to the Fashion Police = FF.

[politicus]

Being used to ministers looking like this:



I would be rather surprised if a preacher wore pre-torn jeans in church and I doubt I would be able to take her/him seriously.

[politicus]

What's with the weird frilly thing around her neck?

It is a ruff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruff_%28clothing%29

They're Northern European Lutherans. But then again it is a woman.

No difference. Ruffs were always a gender (and age) neutral attire.

[politicus]

Ruffs were always a gender (and age) neutral attire.

Somehow I highly doubt that, at least in practice...

Used by children as well back when they were fashionable.

[politicus]

I've never sseen an American Lutheran minister wear one of those and kind of assumed they went extinct in the 18th century. I have seen Lutheran ministers at church in jeans though (not torn granted). In North Dakota too.

They where used by Danish and Norwegian ministers in America back when they had their own churches, but The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America joined the Lutheran Church in America in 1962 (already renamed AELC in 1954). The old style clothing did not survive the merger. Not sure about the Norwegians. I guess it is a similar story.

The Church of Norway abolished ruffs in 1980, so only a few conservative ministers still wear them in Norway.