Heated Debates Over Crinolines: European Clothing on Nineteenth-century Lutheran Mission Stations in the Transvaal

This article deals with the changing meanings attributed to African appropriation of European dress on nineteenth-century Transvaal Lutheran mission stations. The narrative focuses on both local church dynamics and the wider colonial context in which missionaries and converts positioned themselves socially, economically and culturally. The religious significance of changing attitudes towards European garb is also explored. More spectacular disputes over clothing occurred in areas where economic and social tensions were high. Most frequently, however, Africans used dress as a social marker and an attempted means of colonial assimilation rather than as a demonstration of social and political opposition. In this sense, Lutheranism in the Transvaal developed as an apolitical religion, providing cultural forms of expression rather than the means to enter the sphere of politics.