Are sleeveless dresses/tops immodest?

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If you have brown arms and your arms are taut and muscular, the first one would probably look okay - as long as there is no gap where someone could see in to your bra, of course.

The other three aren’t really Church dresses - they’d be more for going out to a party or something like that. The last one looks like a beach dress.
 
Sleeveless is not necessarily immodest. Things start to get less modest when you move into spaghetti-strap territory. Of course, it really depends on how the dress fits YOU. What looks nice on one person can be too revealing on another. If in doubt, buy a cute matching shrug or sweater. That way you can put it on or take it off depending on the situation.
 
I’m more of a pants and shirt type of woman, but these all look quite nice. For me, I would be uncomfortable with bare shoulders and would wear a matching shawl or shrug like one poster suggested. However, especially choice #1, they seem modest enough to me. 🙂

That is, I wouldn’t pass out from the sheer horror of seeing someone wearing this at Mass. Oh, wait, I know why… because I’m generally focused on my own need for redemption and therefore don’t feel qualified to take on the role of liturgical police. 😉
 
I’m impressed that you wear dresses to church at all. :o My gut reaction is to say that they’re probably not immodest, but I don’t think I would personally wear anything like that, in part because it’s too revealing for my tastes. I have no idea what your family’s dress code is for church, so I don’t know whether they would be out of place. If your mother vetoes them, I’m afraid that’s probably that.

For an adult, I’d say they’re definitely in “judgement call” territory.

EDIT: reread my post and realized I assumed you were a minor. I’m a minor, so I tend to think everyone else is, too. :o
 
I don’t think they are immodest at all. I wear dresses to church quite often, and for me personally, the only one I might feel a little uncomfortable in is the fourth one (because of the combination of sleeveless with a more open neckline). That’s just me personally. In general, I think they are all fine.
 
Kamaduck said:
I’m impressed that you wear dresses to church at all. :o My gut reaction is to say that they’re probably not immodest, but I don’t think I would personally wear anything like that, in part because it’s too revealing for my tastes. I have no idea what your family’s dress code is for church, so I don’t know whether they would be out of place. If your mother vetoes them, I’m afraid that’s probably that.

For an adult, I’d say they’re definitely in “judgement call” territory.

EDIT: reread my post and realized I assumed you were a minor. I’m a minor, so I tend to think everyone else is, too. :o
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I am a minor 🙂 And yes that’s one of my mom’s rules, always a skirt or dress to church.
 
I’m more concerned about how short the skirts are on those dresses… you can always throw a shrug or shawl over the top, but I’ve never been comfortable wearing anything shorter than at or below knee length to Mass.
 
bluerose said:
I’m more concerned about how short the skirts are on those dresses… you can always throw a shrug or shawl over the top, but I’ve never been comfortable wearing anything shorter than at or below knee length to Mass.
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Oh, looking at them, I assumed they were knee length. I do think it’s appropriate to for men and women to be covered from knee to shoulder at Mass. Regardless of temperature. And summers where I live are HOT! But still… And, oddly enough, I’m actually a fairly liberal member on this forum.
 
LadyJoan said:
I am a minor 🙂 And yes that’s one of my mom’s rules, always a skirt or dress to church.
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The whole point of modesty is to not inflame the opposite sex. This isn’t completely obvious. You might ask your dad. Some women aren’t necessarily the best judges of that. Swimwear at the beach doesn’t reveal much if the person is in the water. While out of the water, it does. Most features of the feminine form are eye-catching to the male. Starting above all with her face. Some muslims think a woman showing her face in public is too revealing. Finding the right balance for the particular situation is part of the answer. At the beach, swimwear is revealing, and can definitely inflame the opposite sex. Do I think sleeveless shirts or dresses are too revealing? Not for me personally. I think they’re pretty. I don’t speak for every male.
 
grasscutter said:
Oh, looking at them, I assumed they were knee length. I do think it’s appropriate to for men and women to be covered from knee to shoulder at Mass. Regardless of temperature. And summers where I live are HOT! But still… And, oddly enough, I’m actually a fairly liberal member on this forum.
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For spring & summer months I think they’re okay. The dress length issue can be resolved easily w/ either opaque tights or leggings. The sleeveless issue can easily be resolved w/ a light short-sleeved cardigan.
 
I think they are all flirtacious dresses. Forget about the shoulders - the skirts are way too short (at least the first one is - the others are not shown on a model). The first one’s neckline plunges too low, and the last one’s neckline could be low, depending on who is wearing it. I’d have to see the lace of the middle ones to form an opinion about them.

As for the shoulders, there is a lot of variation among faithful Catholics on how much shoulder should be covered to be considered “modest enough for church” or “modest enough” at all. My wedding dress had a similar cut (on top) as that last dress - at that time I didn’t see an issue with “tank-style” dresses. As I have aged/matured/grown in my faith, I have also adjusted my opinion on that. I currently think of modesty, at least for church, as covering the shoulders more than any of those dresses do. An easy remedy for a tank-style top is a little bolero sweater (google.com/search?q=bolero+sweater&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=SBe&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=NqMyUb2XO6jA0AGN9YHwAw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1202&bih=817) or a cardigan.
 
Seira said:
For spring & summer months I think they’re okay. The dress length issue can be resolved easily w/ either opaque tights or leggings. The sleeveless issue can easily be resolved w/ a light short-sleeved cardigan.
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Good idea about the leggings/tights.
 
I think they are really cute, but I wouldn’t wear any of them to church. All the ones I looked at seemed quite short, which is quite obvious on the first dress from the picture.

Really cute though.
 
LadyJoan said:
I meant to say my mom has brought me up saying they are immodest.
Sorry. 🙂
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I think they are immodest too, but the lack of sleeves can be over come with a cardigan or shrug. Having said that, to me the harder fix is the length. Most of the are quite short to the point that you better not drop anything. So short in fact that I don’t think that opaque tights would fix it if a wind came up and I can’t even imagine going up or down stairs in those.

Again, super cute though.
 
Cider said:
I think they are immodest too, but the lack of sleeves can be over come with a cardigan or shrug. Having said that, to me the harder fix is the length. Most of the are quite short to the point that you better not drop anything. So short in fact that I don’t think that opaque tights would fix it if a wind came up and I can’t even imagine going up or down stairs in those.

Again, super cute though.
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Seriously? That short? I would have put them at knee length or slightly above. And opaque tights would definitely fix that considering any weird weather phenomenon. Honestly, polite people avert their eyes from such unusual events. Those that don’t needn’t blame the object of their view.
 
Can someone provide some pictures of dresses (or models wearing them) which are modest for church?
This style of dress is in fashion at the moment, I wear similar expect plain with no collars, lace etc. and wear thick black tights underneath, if its sleeveless I’ll wear something around my shoulders.

Please if anyone can find pictures of suitable church dresses I would like to see them!
 
Sleeveless dresses are not proper for attending Holy Mass.

Otherwise, they are quite nice and in a general situation (meaning outside of Church) I wouldn’t consider them immodest compared to what we are used to see (though I find sleeves *always *a more elegant choice for ladies).

Edit: I just read about its length. Anything above knee level is indeed immodest, and definitely not to be worn in a Church, no matter what you wear below. Modesty and elegance is what exalts a lady’s beauty - gentlemen have no need to see their legs, etc.

I think this and this are nice examples…coming from an altar server…I expect ladies to give better advice :o
 
I think they are fine as long as the skirts aren’t super short. Probably more modest than 90% of what I see at Mass. Maybe it depends on where you live, though.
 
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