trappings

Black music is so relentlessly true to itself when you look away from the trappings of industry, it’s the closest estimation we have of utopia.

But thousands of ordinary Catholics have also arrived to pay their respects to a pontiff known for shunning many of the extravagant trappings associated with the position.

Some conservatives were upset by his choice to shun such trappings as richly adorned papal vestments and the lavish apartment in the penthouse of the Apostolic Palace.

He cultivated a reputation as a man of simple tastes, eschewing many of the trappings of a senior cleric.

The image is a memorable one — a young kid finally free of the perceived trappings of his moneyed existence — but there are definitely other ways that scene can be understood.