ecclesiastical attire

Maybe I should apologise for not being an expert in ecclesiastical attire terminology: cassock, tippet, surplice, rochet¹, etc. are all alien to me. This explains, but does not excuse, my incomprehension of a joke published by the regular blog follower Limey in the comments section of this blog post:

At what kind of shop does a padre buy his albs?
At an army surplice store.

I was completely puzzled. I know what an army surplus store is, I wondered if 'albs' was a variant of alba, a term I had heard of and vaguely recall as some sacerdotal clothing, but apart from that .... no clue whatsoever. Limey kindly put me on the railway track to Comprehension Station.

surplice = surplus as /ˈsɜːpləs/

This is a surplice:

credit: slabbinck.be

And this is an alb:

credit:www.godfrey.info

Moral to the story? Jokes may increase your word stock.

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¹ /ˈkæsək, ˈtɪpɪt, ˈsɜːpləs, ˈrɒtʃɪt/