“Except a duck in pattens, no creature looks more stupid than a Dissenting preacher in a gown which is of no manner of use to him. I could laugh till I held my sides when I see our doctors in gowns and bands, puffed out with their silks, and touched up with their little bibs, for they put me so much in mind of our old turkey-cock when his temper is up, and he swells to his biggest. They must be weak folks indeed who want a man to dress like a woman before they can enjoy his sermon, and he who cannot preach without such milliner’s trumpery may be a man among geese, but he is a goose among men.”
—C.H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Practical Wisdom: Or Plain Advice for Plain People (Banner of Truth, 2009) p. 19.
Tony Reinke 
It’s interesting to note that Martyn Lloyd-Jones wore a Geneva gown when preaching at Westminster Chapel.
Is this to help those who love Spurgeon realize that he was human? Imagine what he’d say if could have seen Worship bands nowadays!
Sometimes Spurgeon puts his foot in his mouth.
This from Spurgeon’s autobiography:
“I preached in the cathedral at Geneva; and I thought it a great honour to be allowed to stand in the pulpit of John Calvin…I did not feel very happy when I came out in full canonicals, but the request was put to me in such a beautiful way that I could have worn the Pope’s tiara, if by doing so I could have preached the gospel more freely…It was John Calvin’s gown, and that reconciled me to it very much.”
I have little patience for anyone who rails against “canonicals”. But Spurgeon is conflicted.
TB
Does that make it OK? Robes on Protestants serve the same purpose as on Catholics, to divide the priest from the people.