Alb

The alb (from the Latin albus, meaning "white") is one of the liturgical vestments of Western Christianity.

As a simple derivative of ordinary first-century clothing, the alb was adopted very early by Christians, and especially by the clergy for the Eucharistic liturgy.

[1] Nowadays, the alb is the common vestment for all ministers, both clerics and laypersons (acolytes and lectors),[2] at Mass.

Since then, this detail has fallen out of style, except in parts of the Anglo-Catholic movement[citation needed] and in some very traditional Arab Catholic parishes.

In France it is no longer fashionable, but it has been officially approved in some tropical countries such as the Philippines,[4] and in Hawaii in the United States.