29 minutes ago, Bill W said:

Yes, in an effort to modernize the Roman Catholic church, the wearing habits and wimples were made optional after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and many nuns stopped wearing them all together.  If you remember the song "Maria" from the "Sound of Music", the first stanza goes like this: 

She climbs a tree and scr*pes her knee

Her dress has got a tear

She waltzes on her way to Mass

And whistles on the stair

And underneath her wimple

She has curlers in her hair

I even heard her singing in the abbey

When habits cease to be a habit.