Editing Cassock (section)

{{Short description|Christian clerical coat}}
{{Distinguish|Cossacks}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Refimprove|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Cassock priest french african.jpg|thumb|First native Catholic priest in the [[Belgian Congo]], wearing a Roman cassock with the standard 33 buttons. Early 1900s.]]
{{Western dress codes|supplementary}}
The '''cassock''', or '''soutane''', is a Christian [[clerical clothing|clerical]] coat used by the clergy and [[Consecrated life|male religious]] of the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Catholic Church]], in addition to some clergy in certain [[List of Protestant denominations|Protestant denominations]] such as [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] and [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]]. "Ankle-length garment" is the literal meaning of the corresponding [[Latin]] term, {{lang|la|vestis talaris}}. It is related to the [[Religious habit|habits]] traditionally worn by [[nun]]s, [[monk]]s, and [[friar]]s.

The cassock derives historically from the [[tunic]] of [[classical antiquity]] that in [[ancient Rome]] was worn underneath the [[toga]], and the [[Chiton (garment)|chiton]] that was worn beneath the [[himation]] in [[ancient Greece]]. In religious services, it has traditionally been worn underneath [[vestment]]s, such as the [[alb]].

In the West, the cassock is little used today except for religious services, save for [[Traditionalist Catholicism|traditionalist]] and those other Catholic clergy and religious who continue to wear the cassock as their standard attire. However, in many countries it was the normal everyday wear of the clergy until the 1960s, when it was largely replaced by clerical suits, distinguished from [[Laity|lay]] dress by being generally black and by a black shirt incorporating a [[clerical collar]].

In Japan, male ''[[gakuran]]'' school uniform were inspired by cassocks.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}