Church is a sacred staple in the black community.

Tales are told of it being the only place where blacks could congregate and embrace their culture freely. Out of those tales was born the concept of “Sunday’s best,” which derives from blacks donning their best garments to worship the Lord.

“Sunday was basically the only time where blacks had time to themselves and their families,” said Zelmarine Murphy, whose family was an original land owner in the Kings Community of Vicksburg.

Gospel music, the smell of hair care products as a hot comb runs through coarse hair, mixed with the scent of newly-applied perfume fill the household of many black women before they walk out of the door on Sunday mornings.

For women, it’s common for them to wear a pair of gloves, pearls and stockings to Sunday service. But the one garment with the most importance is the hat she wears on her head.

“That hat has to blend, perfectly in color, shape and size. It goes back to slavery when we observed other cultures,” Murphy said. “If you were a seasoned lady in the church, you wore a hat. You did not enter the house of the Lord without the head covered. Quakers, who were quite liberal to slaves back in the days, observed that.

“And, of course, to receive the sacrament of communion, the broken body of our Lord and Savior, you do not do that without the head covered in humble submission,” she said.

Murphy is a fifth generation churchgoer of Triumphant Baptist.

Since she was a child, she never went to church without a pair of stockings and out of tradition she refrains from wearing pants to services.

The texture, material and design are the three important aspects of a good hat. The seasons also dictate which hat is appropriate to wear to service.

Straw hats are acceptable in the spring and summer months while felt, cloth or a strong woven hat are ideal for the winter. Color and the amount of it can highlight the woman’s beauty and facial structure.

“In history, if you go back to the motherland, you never saw a woman in Africa without a beautiful headpiece,” Murphy said. “That comes into play also. The more elaborate, the more attention is gathered. When a lady is fashionably dressed, one takes a second look at her.”

Cecilia Cole, who worships under the teachings of the Rev. Dr. Casey D. Fisher at Greater Grove Missionary Baptist Church, said black women consider their hats as their crowns, which is why significant pride is taken when one is worn.

“If you didn’t see a woman in a hat, something was wrong,” Cole said. “I don’t care what kind of hat it was, it was her hat and she knew she looked good in it, you couldn’t tell her anything.”

Cole owns more than 50 different styles of hats and 15 pairs of gloves. One of her more favorable hats is one with a solid crimson crown, an alternating cream and crimson colored base, with a matching crimson and cream ribbon on the front.

Another important attribute of black women and their church hats, is the bonded experience between a mother and her daughter.

As a child, Cole took note of how her mother dressed and was in awe of her style.

From the classy white gloves, sophisticated pearls and the exuberant church hat, Cole said her mother was finely dressed for church every Sunday.

Murphy also learned how to dress from her mother, advancing the strong attachment among the mother, daughter and the church.

“We were raised up wearing hats. My mother wore them and her mother wore them so it was like a tradition that’s been passed down from generation to generation,” Cole said.

The one guideline Cole has when shopping for her hats is how it’ll look on her and her outfit.

“I buy them together. If I see a suit that I like and it has a hat that goes with it and I think is going to do me justice I’ll buy that,” Cole said.

Murphy, however, said picking the right hat to match a dress or suit, as well as the shoes, can sometimes take two months depending on the occasions.

Easter Sunday, which could be the epitome of the term Sunday’s best, will bring out the most lavish dresses and hats from blacks for worship. The spring season allows for bright colors and a new beginning.

“The thought is that Easter Sunday is a new life within you. The blooming of new flowers is thought of there and you would see the more colorful spring colors on a Sunday in March, April and May. Most assuredly around Easter,” Murphy said.

On Sundays, when Cole is surrounded by other black women, in a place with so much meaning and substance to her culture, she feels the power that scene emits.

“To see them elegantly dressed in their hats and their gloves, it just makes you feel good to see a well-kept women,” Cole said. “In our church all the women love to wear hats. The mothers all adorn their heads in hats. The majority of all the people in my church wear hats including the visitors.”