ROME -- White cassock? Check. White skullcap? Check. Red shoes? Check.
Cardinals haven't even begun meeting in the Sistine Chapel yet to elect the new pope but the family-owned Gammarelli tailor shop that has dressed popes for two centuries is ready.
Gammarelli's on Monday displayed three sets of white vestments -- small, medium and large -- to be shipped to the Vatican for the new pope following Benedict XVI's resignation last week.
"We need to deliver these three garments before the conclave starts because obviously we cannot enter inside the conclave once it started," tailor Lorenzo Gammarelli said Monday.
A white silk "zucchetto," or skullcap, lay on a bed of red cloth in the window, as did a white sash with golden fringes and a pair of red leather shoes.
Tucked behind the Pantheon in downtown Rome, the Gammarelli shop has served scores of cardinals and popes since 1798. Pope Pius XII was an exception: he used his family tailor.
The display of the robes was one of the first tangible signs that a new pope will soon be elected, given the unusual circumstances that have surrounded the resignation of Benedict XVI.
"It's always like the first time for me," said tailor Teresa Palombini. "It's a wonderful feeling and then I wonder who will wear these clothes, who will be the next one?"
