A bishop scorned?

On Pope Francis:

"I understand that he wants to appear poor, but to wear a diaphanous gown through which you can see the black pants underneath, is that not neglect? If we are appointed bishops, we received strict instructions regarding our clothes that we should always present ourselves as tidy. Woe if that is not the case. Does that not apply to the Pope?" - Unnamed Italian Bishop

Sounds gay to me. 

Capes are back... abito piano

"Oh, what a lovely cape.  Is it mink?"

Did they ever go out?

For some priests, yes.  I have a friend who while still a parish priest complained that the new rector of a minor seminary near him had all the men dress in cassocks.  "I wouldn't be caught dead in one."  Now he's a bishop and has little choice in the matter.  It isn't just my 'age group' of men who are priests who prefer suit to cassock, yet those who do seem to be out of favor these days.  (I have friends who are priests who despise the biretta as well.  Not a few devout Catholics are waiting for them to die.)

That said, as many Catholics in the blogisterium already know, the Vatican (Bertone) issued a memo reinforcing the dress code for Vatican employees.  It makes sense.  Evidently it is a signal for the rest of the world as well:

Tornielli said the letter was aimed at refreshing the minds of those who work at the Vatican but also to say that this extends beyond the walls of the Holy See. He added, “it is very rare for priests in the Apostolic Palace not to dress like priests.”

“The call for priests to be more law-abiding and look impeccable is meant to be a subtle example for those who come to the Vatican from outside and are just passing through Rome,” Tornielli said.

Cardinal Bertone's letter, written at Pope Benedict's bidding, recalls a 1982 letter of Pope John Paul II to his vicar general encouraging him to “study opportune initiatives destined to foster the use of ecclesiastical and religious dress.”  

Cardinal Bertone said that bishops should faithfully wear the cassock every day during office hours at the Vatican as an example to the clerics who visit the Holy See.

He reminded clerics that at official and papal events, they are to wear the more formal “abito piano.” For bishops and cardinals, this is a cassock with an embroidered cape; for monsignors, a black cassock with piping of Roman purple; and for priests, a cassock with cape. - CNA
 

Men in cassocks - very picturesque, and even more fun to paint.

Just stay away from fur Father.

 

Roman Holiday Fashions

 

Sorelle Fontana was the first to base designs upon clerical wear. Inspired by the habits of nuns and priests strolling Rome everyday, they created the “Pretino” in 1956, here worn by Ava Gardner. Federico Fellini fell so in love with this dress that he decided to use it for his film “La dolce vita” in 1960. Fellini went on to celebrate liturgical fashion with his Ecclesial fashion show in the 1972 film “Roma”. - Source

 

Guys in capes...

Well it's really a coat, only worn like a cape.  Notice how it looks?  Notice the attitude of the wearer. 
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Photo credit:  Sartorialist

Fashion Week at the Abbey: The Clerical Sartorialist

This prelate, very probably a bishop since he is wearing violet silk stockings, wears the badge of his office (the double cross of the Holy Ghost surmounted by the Dove in a sunburst). Note, again, the enormous size of the hat: a Roman hat’s brim is much narrower, and would have looked small by comparison.

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19th Century Clerical Dress in Rome.

The Cardinal is wearing the red tabarro edged with gold braid and red silk stockings, and wears his coat unbuttoned, as usual in the 18th century. Note the elegant, worldly nonchalance of the Cardinal’s pose, and the coiffure à la Brutus, that had been fashionable in his youth.

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Legs.
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Obviously it was a boom-time for the Church, as hemlines went up...  Just kidding - really, I am.  I like the shorter look - They would have worn garters too.  I know!  Today they wear trousers beneath the soutane, that wouldn't look so great beneath these styles, or would it?  Maybe black spandex?  I digress - of course these fashions did change upon coming to Protestant and Puritanical America - after the Council of Baltimore or something like that - when back "in olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now, God knows, anything goes."
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Seriously, and with all due respect, the clerical wear seen here accorded with the fashion of the times, as the author of the post explains, "The cassock, sash, and biretta as well as the abito corto were respectively the common ceremonial dress of magistrates, priests and doctors of law, medicine, etc., and gentleman’s court dress. The abito corto adhered to the rules of the Council of Trent, which prescribed priest’s dress to be modest, austere, identifiable as priestly, yet dignified. These two forms of dress expressed the honourable public position held by the clergy in society." 
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Today the soutane, cassock is strictly ecclesial wear in the West. 
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H/T to New Liturgical Movement for the great post on the history of clerical dress.
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For real fashion news:  New York S/S 2011 Fashion Week Coverage