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UK News

25 years of women priests: the clerical tailors who no longer make 'one size fits all'

by Cara Bentley

On 12th March 1994, women were ordained as priests in the Church of England for the first time - meaning not only huge change for parishes up and down the country but also an awful lot of work for the tailors in the heart of Westminster at Watts & Co - work which they say they are still catching up with today.

As well as classic cassocks, traditional vestments and flowing robes for choirs, the needlemakers create wacky clerical shirts, floral garments with dog collars fitted-in and floor-length bespoke silk dresses.

Listen to this special report from journalist Cara Bentley on how the team at Watts & Co have had to redesign the 'one size fits all' patterns they inherited to make sure the company provide what their clerical customers are searching for:

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