A Marks & Spencer (M&S) Christmas jumper has become a hit among female clergy across the UK with some calling it the "Christmas clergy uniform" of 2021.
The £19.50 jumper is part of M&S's Christmas clothing range. It is black and has the word "Believe" written in colourful text on the front.
Using the hashtag #TeamBelieve, many female vicars and lay people have taken to social media to share their pictures wearing the jumper on top of their clerical collar.
The Bishop of Horsham, Rt Rev Ruth Bushyager has joined the trend by posting a picture of the female vicars in the Diocese of Chichester wearing the 'new uniform' on Twitter.
But some are criticising the retailer for not making the jumper "gender-inclusive" and are asking for men's sizes. M&S has released a male version of the jumper, but the slogan reads "Ding Dong" instead.
Richard Frith, canon precentor at Southwell Minster wrote on Twitter: "I loathe Christmas jumpers with a consuming passion - seasonal consumerism at its worst, esp. when schools expect them to be worn by children who'll have grown out of them next year. But even I would probably buy one of those #TeamBelieve jumpers if there was a menswear version."
When asked about the jumper's popularity and the concerns around gender, an M&S spokesperson told Premier: "Our customers are certainly getting into the Christmas spirit when it comes to their wardrobe choices and 'Christmas jumper' was last week's top search on M&S.com. We have a huge range of festive knits available and after another difficult year, our designers - and customers - have embraced optimistic and feel-good messages with 'fabulous' and 'believe' both proving very popular - as the #teambelieve posts show."