I love to read about how different Christian women practice and apply modesty. But it got confusing at times.
I see several camps:
Camp 1: Its not about rules and a dress code, its about the heart!!!
Camp 2: There is a biblical dress code and it shows reverence for God.
Camp 3: Modesty is avoiding drawing attention to yourself at all. Wearing plain/drab or formless clothing is what true modesty is.
I believe all three camps have value and would partially agree with all three. There are biblical guidelines. It is a heart issue. It encompasses conduct and actions. It is good to not dress to draw unnecessary attention to yourself and your sensuality.
But I also disagree a bit. Heart reflects in our clothing choices. Dress codes are sometimes man made traditions. And the Proverbs 31 woman wore silk and purple. She was hardly drab.
So what is modesty?
If a someone has a modest bank account, what does that say?
His money does what it needs to do but not too much else.
I think thats closer.
The problem I ran into is that modest, feminine clothing makes me feel really pretty. Ladylike. Confident. Even Attractive. Am I right back to square one? Is that vanity?
No. I think women attract attention regardless of how they dress. Regardless of how unappealing we may feel, yes the men are noticing you. Being female is more than enough.
Modesty and humility isn't about purposely looking bad or even covering as many features as possible.
The modest woman checks the mirror, feels functional, not overly sexualized, and may even feel cute but then goes on about her day.
She isn't consumed with how bad or good she looks or expensive labels. There's good to accomplish and she's dressed to do it.
I am in love with dresses. Some of the cute ones are very modest! Ive never felt restricted by trying various modesty standards even when I stopped wearing pants for a season.
I never even felt less noticed by people. Especially male people. If anything, that sort of attention increased at times, though it was often more respectful. More politeness and doors being opened.
I used to wonder if that made me less modest. But now I just think modesty is attractive and trying to be unattractive is a fools errand for women. You can unnattract some men...but not all of them.
Your intentions do matter there. My husband explained "dressing single" and "dressing married". At first I didn't get that either.
Then he said "think of a Queen's lady in waiting... she's dressing well to honorably reflect her royal family, not to draw all the honor to herself. But she definitely looks good. Dressing married dresses well to honor God and/or husband and/or children. Dressing single is advertising that you want attention for yourself for your own benefit.
I see several camps:
Camp 1: Its not about rules and a dress code, its about the heart!!!
Camp 2: There is a biblical dress code and it shows reverence for God.
Camp 3: Modesty is avoiding drawing attention to yourself at all. Wearing plain/drab or formless clothing is what true modesty is.
I believe all three camps have value and would partially agree with all three. There are biblical guidelines. It is a heart issue. It encompasses conduct and actions. It is good to not dress to draw unnecessary attention to yourself and your sensuality.
But I also disagree a bit. Heart reflects in our clothing choices. Dress codes are sometimes man made traditions. And the Proverbs 31 woman wore silk and purple. She was hardly drab.
So what is modesty?
If a someone has a modest bank account, what does that say?
His money does what it needs to do but not too much else.
I think thats closer.
The problem I ran into is that modest, feminine clothing makes me feel really pretty. Ladylike. Confident. Even Attractive. Am I right back to square one? Is that vanity?
No. I think women attract attention regardless of how they dress. Regardless of how unappealing we may feel, yes the men are noticing you. Being female is more than enough.
Modesty and humility isn't about purposely looking bad or even covering as many features as possible.
The modest woman checks the mirror, feels functional, not overly sexualized, and may even feel cute but then goes on about her day.
She isn't consumed with how bad or good she looks or expensive labels. There's good to accomplish and she's dressed to do it.
I am in love with dresses. Some of the cute ones are very modest! Ive never felt restricted by trying various modesty standards even when I stopped wearing pants for a season.
I never even felt less noticed by people. Especially male people. If anything, that sort of attention increased at times, though it was often more respectful. More politeness and doors being opened.
I used to wonder if that made me less modest. But now I just think modesty is attractive and trying to be unattractive is a fools errand for women. You can unnattract some men...but not all of them.
Your intentions do matter there. My husband explained "dressing single" and "dressing married". At first I didn't get that either.
Then he said "think of a Queen's lady in waiting... she's dressing well to honorably reflect her royal family, not to draw all the honor to herself. But she definitely looks good. Dressing married dresses well to honor God and/or husband and/or children. Dressing single is advertising that you want attention for yourself for your own benefit.
He also gave us a brain that knows a pair of jeans isn't worth 600 bucks!
