Letters: What the pope wears
Re “The best-dressed pope,” Opinion, Feb. 17
Charlotte Allen’s lovely prose in describing Pope Benedict XVI’s apparel itself reminds one of the vanishing appreciation for beauty in what is becoming a very ugly world.
Contrasting her description of the pope’s sense of sartorial taste, I was also browsing through the latest edition of Vanity Fair, with clothing advertisements looking more like pictures of our poorest and most marginalized citizens. One male model even had a cigarette tucked behind his ear.
I am not a lover of overdressed clergy, but if this is what it takes to keep some sense of beauty in our lives, viva il Papa.
Paul Elder
Agoura Hills
Allen celebrates the retiring pope’s extravagant dress — the mozzetta, the camauro, the bright red shoes, the tiara and the triple crown.
Reading her piece, I kept wondering what would happen if Jesus walked into today’s Vatican and saw the fashion show his teachings have turned into. He’d probably turn it all back into sackcloth and ashes, and the church would be better for it.
Bob Klein
Culver City
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