Modesty In Dress

[MC Just]

Super old thread!!!

[Deeds]

I like make-up. I hardly wear it because I'm too lazy to do it every day, but it's fun to play about with. Like lots of things, it can be taken to excess, but it doesn't mean it's bad.

[Sojourner]

I wear makeup every so often, for special occasions or just when I want to feel pretty. It's a pain to do, though, and I tend to go with the least amount of hassle possible.

Back to the years-old discussion of modesty ...

I find it disturbing that the burden of avoiding sin in this area is so often placed solely on women -- a la, "She was dressed immodestly, and so I sinned. Smite her, O God!"

Without defending what is inarguably inappropriate dress in some cases, I believe it is incumbent upon men to be actively involved in seeking conversion in this area. It is possible to look upon a scantily clad woman and not lust after her. Or, if a man does lust, to not blame [i]her[/i] for his sin.

[sraf]

I only wear makeup for special occaisions, like dances or weddings. There's no reason that I can see to wear it every... single... DAY. (Unless you like, have a scar on your face that you want to hide. That's understandable.) Or if you're going on-stage in a play, you've [i]got[/i] to wear makeup - otherwise you look like a dead person.
I go to a Catholic school - not giving the name here - it's all-girl, and we have a rule on skirts: no higher than four inches above the knee, anywhere. We even have a ruler that's got Pinnochio at the four-inch mark - unmistakable!
Yet, for some reason, I see girls rolling up their skirts and I glance at skirts that I [i]know[/i] are more than 4 inches. Granted, it's not as bad as the private, non-Catholic school down the street - that one girl was showing a lot of both her legs - but still: [i]it's an all-girl's school. [/i] "Who on earth are you trying to impress?" I say to them. "The janitor? The French teacher?" I really do not understand it, Little Miss Modest that I am.
My theory, however, is that the simple fact that all the nuns, all the staff are constantly telling girls to not roll their skirts makes girls who normally wouldn't care about having long skirts at an all-girl's school want to roll them up. It's what I call "The Forbidden Fruit Complex." Person X is indifferent to Item A until suddenly Item A is off-limits.

Seriously, I do advocate modesty in dress. And at the beginning of the thread someone said that girls who get raped wouldn't get raped if they dressed modestly? Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that girls who dress like floozies do tend to get boyfriends who - shall we say - don't care about meaningful, long-term relationships. Better, nicer guys prefer girls who dress modestly - in clothes that are presentable to parents or grandparents. A nice tidbit of knowledge, that one is!
And modest doesn't equal prudishness - there's actually a fashion show for Muslim girls who have a specific, religious dress code to follow, and these clothes are within the limits (cover hair, neck, no sleeves shorter than 3/4) but are still fashionable (nothing about hot pink coverings or gold earrings).

Long is cool!

[Socrates]

[quote name='Sojourner' date='Dec 19 2005, 03:38 PM']I wear makeup every so often, for special occasions or just when I want to feel pretty. It's a pain to do, though, and I tend to go with the least amount of hassle possible.

Back to the years-old discussion of modesty ...

I find it disturbing that the burden of avoiding sin in this area is so often placed solely on women -- a la, "She was dressed immodestly, and so I sinned. Smite her, O God!"

Without defending what is inarguably inappropriate dress in some cases, I believe it is incumbent upon men to be actively involved in seeking conversion in this area. It is possible to look upon a scantily clad woman and not lust after her. Or, if a man does lust, to not blame [i]her[/i] for his sin.
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This has gotten argued to death here in the past, but the simple fact is both men and women have to take responsibility for their own actions. Men should not excuse themselves of guilt simply because women were dressed immodestly, but women should try to dress modestly, and realize that immodest dress presents temptation to the male sex.
While men should not put the blame solely on women's dress for their sexual misdeeds, too many women it seems want to be as immodest as they wanna be and then demand that men not react lustfully to their provocative clothing.

People of both sexes need to stop excusing themselves, and take moral responsibility. Only then will morality improve.

[Cathurian]

So...

Yes, everyone should dress more modestly, in general, but, is that bit from Pius XI binding? As in Church teaching, you can't break it, and you're sinning if you wear a sleeveless dress binding?

[Guest JeffCR07]

[quote name='Cathurian' date='Dec 19 2005, 07:48 PM']So...

Yes, everyone should dress more modestly, in general, but, is that bit from Pius XI binding? As in Church teaching, you can't break it, and you're sinning if you wear a sleeveless dress binding?


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No, that is a prudential decision given the fashion of the time. No particular attire itself can be picked out and labeled as "immodest" because more factors go into modesty than simply clothing.

Nakedness itself need not be immodest (for example, a husband and wife are not immodest when naked in front of each other).

[Ash Wednesday]

I wear a little eyeliner and mascara, and that's about it. Sometimes lipstick on really formal occasions. Whenever I go out without eye makeup, people (even those that don't know me) ask me if I'm sick, or tired. That kinda gets on my nerves.

[jgirl]

[quote name='Ash Wednesday' date='Dec 21 2005, 06:48 PM']I wear a little eyeliner and mascara, and that's about it. Sometimes lipstick on really formal occasions. Whenever I go out without eye makeup, people (even those that don't know me) ask me if I'm sick, or tired. That kinda gets on my nerves.
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My face is always pink because my skin is allergic to stuff, so I wear foundation. My foundation (to match my neck) makes me look sickly pale, so then I wear bronzer on top of it. I don't see anythign immodest about that.

As for the clothes, no, I don't think it's binding. I never wore skirts until my third year of college, so if it was, then I was a terrible sinner (and I'm pretty sure that I wasn't!).

I wear trendy, but modest clothes. Modest to me is something that covers you, but isn't necessarily a tent (at the same time, it isn't painted on clothes or sweatpants with words across the butt). One of the Missionaries of Charity Sisters I work with told me that my little sister and I are a good example to the kids of how to dress modestly in normal clothes without looking like an 80 year old.

[daugher-of-Mary]

I look like an 80 year old. lol. I can't help it! I grew up wearing bonnets and dresses (as an Annabaptist), then became Catholic, and haven't quite figured out how to dress modestly and trendily yet. I do try to look beautiful as God intended, but I'm afraid my perception of beauty is a far cry from the rest of the world's.

[betinabean]

Modesty is the best policy :


And about those sweatpants with the words across the butt, I think they should say "wide load". It'd be funny. :

[CreepyCrawler]

Earlier in this thread, someone said that everyone should respect everyone, no matter how badly they dress. but i think that everyone should respect everyone, including themselves, which means not dressing in a way that disrespects one's body.

I agree that men and women need to take resposibility for themselves. It doesn't matter whether or not the other person is making an effort, you should just act or dress in a way that pleases God. and from the Bible, and the catechism, we know that God wants us to be modest and humble. modest to protect and respect the beautiful creation that God has made and humble to realize that not everyone wants to see your bum hanging out of your pants every time you bend down! (or to not manipulate the opposite sex by being alluring).

i think muslim women are the most beautiful women in the world b/c modesty is beautiful -- mother mary is covered up in every picture and statue we see and she's still the most beautiful woman ever!

the end.

[jeffpugh]

for some variety in this board.

[Seven77]

pham,

check out this article my sister recently wrote on this topic:

[url="http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/68162"]Where has the Innocence Gone?[/url]

[jeffpugh]

Good article. The discussion was heated as well.

[Lil Red]

very good article. thanks seven!

[Seven77]

thanks for reading it!

[Deb]

[quote name='lilac_angel' post='4287' date='Jul 12 2003, 12:24 PM']Can people tell me what their opinions are of this page:

[url="http://olrl.org/virtues/modestyq.html"]http://olrl.org/virtues/modestyq.html[/url]

It claims to be in line with the Church's opinion, but would anyone say that it's slightly extreme? It's from a "traditional Catholic" webpage.[/quote]


I think it may be a bit extreme. A neckline no more than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat. I can't stand anything even close to my neck which is why I can't wear short necklaces. I don't wear super low cut but, I would be doomed if I had to go by those rules.

To say you must have your arms covered in church, even when it is hot. Whoever came up with that one has never had a hot flash.

I think that may be a bit outdated.

[Kitty]

[quote name='BullnaChinaShop' post='16985' date='Aug 12 2003, 02:12 PM']I encourage Lauren all the time to either not wear make-up or to wear as little as possible.[/quote]

Okay, I misread that as you were telling her to run around with hardly any clothes on. o_O

I wear makeup to hide my acne. trust me, not all women look "better without makeup.".

[Tinkerlina]

RE: Makeup, just throwing my two cents in

For me and many other people, I think makeup is more of just a fun, expressive thing than something we necessarily feel like we NEED to wear. I wear makeup everyday, usually just a little for work as I'm rushed, but when I get the chance I like to experiment with different colors, textures, etc. I personally think of it more as a medium for expressing oneself than anything else.

As for the article, I really don't know how to gauge its validity. In any case, if they were guildelines as stated than they don't hold up as offical, dogmatic church teaching. I am all for modesty but I do think the "two fingers below the throat" is a bit extreme. I think one can be modest even if not adhering strictly to these guidelines. That said, I think it'd be nice to see more modest dress out and about. Some of the outfits I see are not only immodest, they are just outlandishly tacky.