Appropriate attire at mass for women

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Book_Worm said:
The basis for wearing a jacket or sweater over a sleeveless dress or blouse is meant to convey more of a serious, businesslike mien for a woman. In these situations, suit jackets are usually de rigueur for men. (This is not considered necessary in any but the most staid, formal businesses today.)

I fail to see how not dressing in a businesslike manner is somehow “doing less” for God, especially since men are not being held to the suit-and-tie standard.
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Because business casual is acceptable for mass. Women showing their shoulders is not acceptable business casual dress.

Suits were worn back in the days where “business casual” included a tie for men. Today, we just need a collared shirt and slacks.

Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, sandals, sneakers and tank tops are not appropriate for Sunday mass. If men can’t show our shoulders, why should women be able too?
 
phil19034 said:
Because business casual is acceptable for mass. Women showing their shoulders is not acceptable business casual dress.
Suits were worn back in the days where “business casual” included a tie for men. Today, we just need a collared shirt and slacks.

Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, sandals, sneakers and tank tops are not appropriate for Sunday mass. If men can’t show our shoulders, why should women be able too?
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I beg to differ…according to my company (100K+ employees) dress code, which is “business casual”, sleeveless tops for women are fine, just no spaghetti straps or strapless. Business formal requires shoulders covered, business casual no. This is one of the major dividing lines on the topic.
 
It’s immodest if you are enough of a spectacle that people are thinking something like 1. what club is she going to after Mass? or 2. is today beach day?

If it’s what you might see a reasonable person wearing walking down a business district street during lunch hour, then it’s fine. It’s probably better to dress up more rather than less, simply to honor God, but in terms of modesty, I would say “work modesty” is fine.
 
NSFrame said:
I beg to differ…according to my company (100K+ employees) dress code, which is “business casual”, sleeveless tops for women are fine, just no spaghetti straps or strapless. Business formal requires shoulders covered, business casual no. This is one of the major dividing lines on the topic.
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You are right , this is a major dividing line. I think a big part of the problem (not just in Church, but at work too) is that society doesn’t have a black and white notion of business casual for women.

Too often, I see women wear clothes to work that are: too sexy, too casual, too fancy, too clubby, too racy, too plain, etc.

Business casual for women sometimes sees to be wear whatever you want. But men, you must wear this.

This really used to bother me when I was in outdoor sales and had to wear a suit while the women could wear slacks and a short sleeved blouse in the summer or sweater and ski coat in the winter.
 
Taken from: michaeljournal.org/stpio.htm

'Modesty in dress

Padre Pio requested people to be dressed modestly to enter the Church of St. Mary of All Graces in San Giovanni Rotondo. During the last years of his life, he became even more severe, as fashions became more immodest. He drove away from his confessional, without respite, all the ladies he deemed to be dressed improperly, even before they entered the confessional box. So they had to put up on the door of the church this notice:

“The church is God’s house. It is forbidden for men to enter here with bare arms and wearing shorts. It is forbidden for women to enter wearing trousers, bare headed, with short, low-necked or sleeveless dresses. It is forbidden to borrow dresses in the church to be able to go to confession.”

The last line of the notice was not superfluous. In the church, a few minutes before entering the confessional box, many ladies made a rapid change of clothes — dresses, smocks, rain coats — to make up for what was lacking. As soon as Padre Pio saw them, he muttered: “Go and get dressed, jokers!”’

…and the following is a nice short article:

catholicmodesty.com/PadrePio.html
 
phil19034 said:
Because business casual is acceptable for mass. Women showing their shoulders is not acceptable business casual dress.

Suits were worn back in the days where “business casual” included a tie for men. Today, we just need a collared shirt and slacks.

Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, sandals, sneakers and tank tops are not appropriate for Sunday mass. If men can’t show our shoulders, why should women be able too?
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Many jobs require something other than “business casual” let alone “business formal” for both men and women. Jobs such as farming (there are still farmers in the US), nursing (including aides; most, if not all wear pants today) and housekeeping (motal/hotal) among others. If someone comes to Mass from work or going to work after Mass wearing what they wear to work may not be ‘business casual’ or what others think of ‘Sunday-go-to-meeting’ clothes. 🤷
 
This is what is appropriate at Mass- from the Magisterium of the Catholic Church- this sign is posted outside of all Vatican Churches- if it’s good enough for the Pope and the Churches there, it is good enough for the rest of faithful Catholics…note that it is a sign, so there should be no confusion on women in pants or skirts that do not go to the ankles or sleeves to the elbow.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=9025288&postcount=91

Should you want to follow your own interpretation of an Old Testament verse or a saying from a Saint, Cardinal, or someone else from a past century, that is fine and your business, but do not try and pass off your personal devotion, fashion preference, or interpretation as Church teaching or something one must adhere to to be a faithful Catholic or pleasing to God. Otherwise, you are promoting an agenda that not only is against forum rules, it puts your faithfulness to the Magisterium in question and that isn’t worth the potential risk to your soul. Remember, the Church is not Sola Scriptura or Sola Skirtura.
 
The standard for modesty is skirt that reaches and covers the knee.

That does not mean that we should pass judgment on ladies that wear anything less than that and consider them immodest. Modesty is in the heart.

But suppose you want to go for a standard of Marian modesty without compromise. then the skirt should definitely cover the knees. I read Padre Pio recommended up to 8 inches below the knee.

Other figures worth keeping in mind for a “standard” of modesty include: cut-out about the neck not exceeding two inches below the neckline in front and in the back, and arms covered to the elbow.

In general, a modest, ladylike dress conceals rather than reveals the figure of the wearer; it does not emphasize, unduly, parts of the body.

While not mandatory at all, the veil or mantilla also goes a long way in aiding a lady to look modest while in Church.
 
Here we go again. I suppose that with the current styles, maybe younger women really don’t know what modest dress looks like. Those of us who are older have no problem deciding. Dress length for Mass should not be too much higher than your knees (whatever height you are). In other words, most of your upper legs between your knees and butt should be covered.
 
Not sure piety is something to be looked down upon, or the Saints. God doesn’t change the way he does things, and the Saints were, and are, very much within the magisterium of the Church:

‘St. Padre Pio must have had a keen awareness of the dangers of immodesty for our immortal souls, and the dangers of temptation for our neighbour. "May the fashions of the world not be the model for our attire, but rather the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints.’

Here, St. Pio recalls how Jesus Himself said for St. Pio to close the door on immodest dressers:

‘Sometimes when Padre Pio refused to absolve his penitents and closed the small confessional door in their faces, the people would reproach him asking why he acted this way. “Don’t you know,” he asked, “what pain it costs me to shut the door on anyone? The Lord has forced me to do so. I do not call anyone, nor do I refuse anyone either. There is someone else who calls and refuses them. I am His useless tool.”’

And St. Paul commented also on immodesty as well as later Saints. Scripture is definitely well within the acceptance of the magisterium of the Church as is modest dress. Those who are so poor that they cannot afford a long sleeve shirt are probably exempt from this duty of care toward God and neighbour.
 
tabycat said:
Many jobs require something other than “business casual” let alone “business formal” for both men and women. Jobs such as farming (there are still farmers in the US), nursing (including aides; most, if not all wear pants today) and housekeeping (motal/hotal) among others. If someone comes to Mass from work or going to work after Mass wearing what they wear to work may not be ‘business casual’ or what others think of ‘Sunday-go-to-meeting’ clothes. 🤷
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Ok, but I’m not talking about those situations or those people.
 
LightBound said:
This is what is appropriate at Mass- from the Magisterium of the Catholic Church- this sign is posted outside of all Vatican Churches- if it’s good enough for the Pope and the Churches there, it is good enough for the rest of faithful Catholics…note that it is a sign, so there should be no confusion on women in pants or skirts that do not go to the ankles or sleeves to the elbow.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=9025288&postcount=91

Should you want to follow your own interpretation of an Old Testament verse or a saying from a Saint, Cardinal, or someone else from a past century, that is fine and your business, but do not try and pass off your personal devotion, fashion preference, or interpretation as Church teaching or something one must adhere to to be a faithful Catholic or pleasing to God. Otherwise, you are promoting an agenda that not only is against forum rules, it puts your faithfulness to the Magisterium in question and that isn’t worth the potential risk to your soul. Remember, the Church is not Sola Scriptura or Sola Skirtura.
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I like it. But what’s up with the guy in hot pink?!?! 😃

Question, or those shorts or capris for the women? I’m think capris. Thoughts?
 
Every Sunday during the summer, I see girls in their teens and twenties wearing shorts so short that when they walk up to Communion you can see their *****. And usually their parents are with them. It’s so disrespectful to the priests and the people.
 
phil19034 said:
Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, sandals, sneakers and tank tops are not appropriate for Sunday mass. If men can’t show our shoulders, why should women be able too?
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If women can show their calves when wearing dresses or skirts, why can’t men bare their calves at church?

See how silly that sounds?

Men’s dress and women’s dress is not at all equivalent.
 
Thanks for the answers. The wife and I were discussing this the other day and for some reason we were just sorta spinning our wheels. I think we can settle on knee length or at least within an inch or two.
 
Question:

Are kilts appropriate attire at Mass for men outside Scotland?
 
Umm, well, I guess so. As long as there is a reason. If it is just some kid from Kansas doing it for attention, not so much. If it’s a funeral mass and the deceased and relatives there are immigrants from Scotland, I can’t say I’d take offense. I don’t think it would automatically be immodest or inappropriate a to wear a kilt.
 
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