Tore Inge Remme was the last priest in Øksnes to wear a clerical ruff in his office as a priest in the 1970s. The ruff in the picture was worn by him.
Traditionally, priests wore white ruffs, and a black samarie, or priest’s robe. In 1981, the current priestly attire was formally adopted, with white alba and the stola in the colour of the church season). Thus, the white ruffs were abandoned by the church in Norway. In Denmark, they are still used.
The pipe-collar has not always only been part of religious attire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the white ruff was part of European fashion.
This clerical ruff is part of the object collection at Øksnes Museum