What Exactly Is Modest Apparel?

[GodIsSalvation]

You know where hanging the pants down where you under wear shows comes from. It comes from prison where men would slack down the back of the pants to show that they were available.

Lol I actually did not know that. I always just assumed that the sagging and "Gangsta" look was kinda the counter culture in the 1990s and then wsith the rise in popularity of rap and urban culture for my generation kinda became the mainstream.

But hey don't be too freaked out if your kid be wearing big old hoodies and stuff like that in today's age. The alternative to that look was look all emo (which is just effeminate and quite frankly, creepy.) Guess you could compare it to being given the choice of looking like a hippy or looking like David Bowie for ye elder folks time lol.

Way I see it a lot of fashions could actually be brought to more acceptable modesty with just a little common sense tweaking. Like with the "Gangsta" look. Quite simple, wear a belt, don't wear bling. Modesty restored and problem solved.

 

[djness]

Painted on clothing? No wonder women can't be ready in 15 minutes or less.

 

[phil112]

You know where hanging the pants down where you under wear shows comes from. It comes from prison where men would slack down the back of the pants to show that they were available.

Nope. They wear them that way to emulate felons. Felons have their belts taken from them to prevent them from committing suicide when they are jailed.

 

[Hashe]

Nope. They wear them that way to emulate felons. Felons have their belts taken from them to prevent them from committing suicide when they are jailed.

Sorry, but it was started by the fashion industry, in europe, to get people to buy branded underwear. It is about money.

 

[Hashe]

1. Modest dress is a matter of right or wrong – not just opinion. We know this because once sin entered Adam and Eve’s life, they knew right and wrong and they knew they were naked.
2. Men’s standards of modest dress are not sufficient in God’s eyes. What Adam and Eve thought was right was not right with God. Christians cannot let the world dictate what may or may not be God’s standard of dress.
3. We must let God determine the standard for modest dress just as He did for Adam and Eve.
4. Based on God’s choice of modest clothing, the standard is from the shoulder at least to the knee.

Does this mean we should be wearing leather clothes?
I really get frustrated at Christians who don't understand culture. It was the major failing of Christian missions as they went into the world and it is still the major failing of Christians who assume their 'culture' is the only culture and is bible ordained.

 

[Agricola]

So, no T-shirts, shirts or shorts then? I agree that we should be modest but that's going too far.

Borderline , some shorts are too short, some Tshirts are too revealing, of course people are free to wear what they like outside church, but I am simply highlighting that people should think more about what they wear to church.

 

[cinder]

Modesty is a culturally defined parameter. As believers we are commanded to dress modestly (always not just in church), but the fact that nowhere in the New Testament is a list of guidelines given about what makes something modest should clue us in to the fact that it varies by culture. And by the way, we don't have any idea how much skin the clothes made for Adam and Eve actually covered.

A few examples of different cultural definitions of modesty:

Some tribal people in tropical climates where no clothes at all or just loincloths, are we to conclude that the entire society is immodest and immoral just because of this, even if they clearly have marriages and the idea that marriages are to be honored?

I'm living overseas right now, and in the country I'm living in see through tops on women are not considered at all immodest, though I would never consider them modest.

In some parts of Africa a woman's legs are considered the sexual part of her body, wearing shorts would be immodest but covering up up top or not is not a big deal.

My personal comfort level is keeping shoulders to knees covered in clothes loose enough that people can't count my fat rolls, but if I were somewhere where all of the other women were covered to the ankle, I would do my best to conform.

Modesty or at least appropriate clothing is also somewhat situational. My swimwear would be considered modest by any Western standards, but I'm not going to wear it to the mall to go shopping in or to church. Similarly a guy mowing the lawn or doing other outdoor labor can be shirtless and not be immodest, but he it wouldnt be modest to go to a restaurant shirtless.

So let us be guided by personal conviction, honest feedback from one another, and the desire to to whatever we can to keep another person from falling into sin.

 

[Timeline]

Both of my sisters wear clothes that show cleavage. I find this disturbing. I have told them, but they don't care. It would seem like a good guideline would be to not show anything that you don't want your father or brothers seeing. But apparently for some they don't know what they should be showing to family, friends or strangers. And just so you know ladies (for those that haven't figured it out), most men have something in us that cause us to look - So don't wear something that highlights parts of your body and then wonder why men aren't looking at your eyes. I am not saying to dress like a nun, but try not to cause temptation. The same goes for men, but there are far less women that find far less men tempting than men that find women tempting (poor sentence, but I think you know what I mean).

Short skirts
Short shirts
Skin tight clothing
Writing in areas that shouldn't have writing
Pants and shorts that aren't buttoned (I don't know if women are still doing this, but I have seen it)

Yes, our flesh likes to see women (not family) in these, but it becomes a spiritual battle for many men.

Men, if you want to avoid causing a woman to lust - Don't do housework - That seems to drive them wild.

 

[Hashe]

Modesty is a culturally defined parameter. As believers we are commanded to dress modestly (always not just in church), but the fact that nowhere in the New Testament is a list of guidelines given about what makes something modest should clue us in to the fact that it varies by culture. And by the way, we don't have any idea how much skin the clothes made for Adam and Eve actually covered.

A few examples of different cultural definitions of modesty:

Some tribal people in tropical climates where no clothes at all or just loincloths, are we to conclude that the entire society is immodest and immoral just because of this, even if they clearly have marriages and the idea that marriages are to be honored?

I'm living overseas right now, and in the country I'm living in see through tops on women are not considered at all immodest, though I would never consider them modest.

In some parts of Africa a woman's legs are considered the sexual part of her body, wearing shorts would be immodest but covering up up top or not is not a big deal.

My personal comfort level is keeping shoulders to knees covered in clothes loose enough that people can't count my fat rolls, but if I were somewhere where all of the other women were covered to the ankle, I would do my best to conform.

Modesty or at least appropriate clothing is also somewhat situational. My swimwear would be considered modest by any Western standards, but I'm not going to wear it to the mall to go shopping in or to church. Similarly a guy mowing the lawn or doing other outdoor labor can be shirtless and not be immodest, but he it wouldnt be modest to go to a restaurant shirtless.

So let us be guided by personal conviction, honest feedback from one another, and the desire to to whatever we can to keep another person from falling into sin.

It seems some people just don't get this.

 

[Nautilus]

You know where hanging the pants down where you under wear shows comes from. It comes from prison where men would slack down the back of the pants to show that they were available.

You should do research before perpetuating rumors and old wives tales.

Claim: The fashion of sagging one's pants was born of a prison mode of signaling sexual availability.

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Read more at snopes.com: Sagging Pants

Origins: Sagging, the fashion of wearing pants with their waistbands around the hips (or lower) rather than snugged to the

midriff, has been and continues to be a controversial style of dress. Although this sartorial fad is overwhelmingly favored by young males, it is not limited to them — young women have at times likewise indulged in the urge to sag.

The practice, which did begin in prisons, worked its way from the hoosegow into hip hop culture. It was adopted by a variety of rap artists, such as Ice-T and Too Short, which enhanced its perceived tough-guy cachet. Sagging can even be taken a step further by wearing the droopy breeches backwards. (Totally Krossed Out, the 1992 debut album of Kriss Kross, shows the pair of 13-year-old rappers doing this.) By 1995 the style had seeped into mainstream teen culture — one no longer needed to be a wannabe "gangsta" to sling 'em low.

Pants worn this way are kept up by constant hitching, an act that becomes an integral part of the walking style of the wearer.

While sagging did gain its start in the U.S. prison system, it was not a clothes-wearing style authored by imprisoned homosexuals intent upon advertising their interest in casual flings. Sagging pants became the behind-the-bars thing thanks to ill-fitting prison-issue garb: some of those incarcerated were provided with clothing a few sizes too large. That oversizing, coupled with the lack of belts in the big house, led to a great number of jailbirds whose pants were falling off their arses. (Belts are not permitted in most correctional facilities because all too often the lifeless bodies of their inmate owners have been found hanging from them.)

Read more at snopes.com: Sagging Pants

 

[guestno2]

 

[dcontroversal]

In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works (1 Tim. 2:9-10). Shorty shorts, bikinis, painted-on leggings, halters tops – are these the type of clothes a Christian should wear?

well to be quite frank I always say don't dress like a French Prostitute.....You can dress nice and in a manner that is beautiful yet modest and not in a manner that causes a man to break his neck so as to get a (closer) look! HAH

 

[phil112]

...................
Men, if you want to avoid causing a woman to lust - Don't do housework - That seems to drive them wild.

I'm okay with women lusting after me, it me doing the lusting that becomes my problem.

Yes, I am kidding. Don't y'all go flaming me.

 

[TaylorTG]

However the main issue today is how you dress in church. I wish some women would dress modestly in my church, it is a distraction to men. Low cut tops, showing off cleavage and more, short skirts again a distraction for many males. SO wear clothing below the knees, elbow length and neck length, do not make it figure hugging or gaping. That is the correct modest apparel to wear in church.

MMMMMMMMM HMMMM.......

I'm okay with women lusting after me, it me doing the lusting that becomes my problem.

Yes, I am kidding. Don't y'all go flaming me.

Hey, we're just enjoying God's creations! No shame in that!!!!

 

[Stephen63]

Depends on the culture obviously. Look to middle east for examples of what modesty was about. even going back to the 50s you would have been arrested for wearing clothes that are considered acceptable and normal today.

That passage is also hinting at women trying to impress with their wealth, something some of these churches in America could do with following, I get impression some churches do not allow people in unless they are dressed to the nines.

However the main issue today is how you dress in church. I wish some women would dress modestly in my church, it is a distraction to men. Low cut tops, showing off cleavage and more, short skirts again a distraction for many males. SO wear clothing below the knees, elbow length and neck length, do not make it figure hugging or gaping. That is the correct modest apparel to wear in church.

Christians struggling with issues and problems and sin should not have to go to church and be exposed to those things. It is wrong to put those temptations in front of people going to church.

Amen to that!

 

[DavidLOVESsnow]

Anything that isnt lascivious is fine. It even says not to be in Galatians 5:19-21. Lascivious or lasciviousness is basically dressing in any way that induces sexual desire. So basically, dont be showing cleavage, or let people be able to figure out what your buttocks looks like.

 

[Stephen63]

Another area of stumbling is men who wear lotsa bling and gold stuff. Weaker christians look at it and can't compute how that is 'Jesus-like.'

Or, worse yet, they try to imitate them, especially when ministers imitate those super-rich televangelists!!

 

[crossnote]

Or, worse yet, they try to imitate them, especially when ministers imitate those super-rich televangelists!!

yeah, even the hair pieces are hard to top.

 

[Ihsomiet]

Modesty is a state of mind, not a state of dress.

 

[phil112]

Modesty is a state of mind, not a state of dress.

Hardly.....