Do you ever wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass?

[SMHW]

I don’t generally wear jeans to Mass but my other family members do.

Different parts of the country… in fact neighboring communities of the same area, tend to have different social ideas about what is formal, what is informal, what is what is pretentious, and what is offensive.

There are plenty of places where blue jeans would be considered perfectly respectable at a wedding or funeral.

I’ve worked for companies where managers thought nothing of wearing shorts when interviewing prospective employees and others where dresses for women and ties for men were expected. At one of the places you might see the same person wear a formal suit one day and jeans and a t-shirt the next for no apparent reason other than that’s what struck their fancy when they looked in their closet that morning.

Parishes tend to have ‘dress personalities’ kind of like businesses. Some are more formal. Some are less so.

 

[ProudArmyWife]

bear06:

You obviously read my mind since we were posting at the same time!

Great minds think a like

I was also going to say something about modesty but just couldn’t pick the right words, while you did a great job of discussing it. While I was typing up my first posting I thought what about people in Africa and such - I guess it would be appropriate to have bear shoulders and such, so I ended up leaving the modesty part out.

FIrst one to the enter key wins

 

[Della]

Well, the topic is “do you ever wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass” not “should people wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass,” but I’ll weigh in just the same.

The way I was brought up I could no more wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass than go naked. Now, I don’t care if others wear them. There are many reasons why people wear jeans and I’m at Mass to worship God not be a spy for the fashion police.

I do think, though, that it’s quite pretentious of people who wouldn’t wear jeans to a wedding or business meeting to wear casual clothes to Mass. I think our society has become rather coarse and slovenly so I think it only right to restore respect and proper demeanor when entering a house of worship for Sunday Mass by dressing properly for the occasion.

And I too can’t afford expense clothing, and buy a lot of mine at Walmart and other discount stores, but I buy traditionally appropriate clothing for Mass for as little as possible and try to look well-groomed and decently attired to enter the house of the King of kings. I wear a nice pair of dress pants, skirt or dress, sweater or blouse, earrings, perhaps a brooch (pin) and whatever else makes for an appropriate outfit.

 

[Celia]

I usually wear jeans, yeah. So does my husband. But they’re nice, clean, no rips or holes jeans. And no glittery trendy belts or stuff like that, I keep it simple in mass. Usually in the winter I pair the jeans with black heeled boots or loafer-type slide on shoes, and a sweater or button-down shirt. Or something appropriate along those lines. Sorry. I get too descriptive when it comes to fashion.

I don’t really see anything wrong with it as long as they’re nice and you look respectable. Some people feel called to wear dressier stuff, and that’s cool. Somedays I feel like dressing a little nicer too. (If I go to the daily mass I go to work right after so I wear dress clothes to that.) It depends a lot on your situation, I think.

 

[bear06]

Della:

Well, the topic is “do you ever wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass” not “should people wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass,” but I’ll weigh in just the same.

The way I was brought up I could no more wear blue jeans to Sunday Mass than go naked. Now, I don’t care if others wear them. There are many reasons why people wear jeans and I’m at Mass to worship God not be a spy for the fashion police.

I do think, though, that it’s quite pretentious of people who wouldn’t wear jeans to a wedding or business meeting to wear casual clothes to Mass. I think our society has become rather coarse and slovenly so I think it only right to restore respect and proper demeanor when entering a house of worship for Sunday Mass by dressing properly for the occasion.

And I too can’t afford expense clothing, and buy a lot of mine at Walmart and other discount stores, but I buy traditionally appropriate clothing for Mass for as little as possible and try to look well-groomed and decently attired to enter the house of the King of kings. I wear a nice pair of dress pants, skirt or dress, sweater or blouse, earrings, perhaps a brooch (pin) and whatever else makes for an appropriate outfit.

You’ve expressed my thought perfectly. Whatever our best is, we should be wearing it for our Lord be it a pair of jeans or a dress. I will say that I do save my best of my best to wear on Easter and Christmas since these are extra special days in Our Lord’s life. So I guess I don’t wear my absolute best to every mass. Drool and velvet don’t go well together.

Like I said, lest anyone thing that I’m judging them, there are definitely circumstances that don’t allow for dressing up. I know that after I have a baby, I’m definitely not my best dressed because not much fits. I just do the best I can and I think that’s what God wants from us.

 

[Toni]

I don’t own any. But I have wore pants once or twice.

 

[SeekerJen]

I had to vote “occasionally” because if I’m helping load the truck for our semi-annual St. Vincent de Paul clothing drive, I’m certainly not going to be up there in a skirt and heels. And as we work right up until the start of Mass, and are back out on the truck as soon as Mass ends, there’s no time to swap clothing. I just make sure I’m not wearing my “house jeans”, the ones with the holes worn out over the back pockets.

The other 50 Sundays per year? Either dress pants or a skirt. My mother refused to let me attend Mass in jeans as a child, and that’s pretty well ingrained in me now. Do I think it’s wrong to wear jeans? No, not as long as the person in question is modest and respectful. I’m just not personally comfortable wearing them to Mass.

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

Celia:

I usually wear jeans, yeah. So does my husband. But they’re nice, clean, no rips or holes jeans. And no glittery trendy belts or stuff like that, I keep it simple in mass. Usually in the winter I pair the jeans with black heeled boots or loafer-type slide on shoes, and a sweater or button-down shirt. Or something appropriate along those lines. Sorry. I get too descriptive when it comes to fashion.

I don’t really see anything wrong with it as long as they’re nice and you look respectable. Some people feel called to wear dressier stuff, and that’s cool. Somedays I feel like dressing a little nicer too. (If I go to the daily mass I go to work right after so I wear dress clothes to that.) It depends a lot on your situation, I think.

Like I said before I don’t see a problem with wearing jeans as long as they are not torn or ripped. I sometimes like to dress up as well but not all of the time.

 

[Lady_Cygnus]

I grew up wearing jeans to Sunday mass (as we were all tomboys and my mom had a hard enough time getting us to wear nice clothing twice a year, let alone every week). A several years back I left the tomboy stage and started buying dresses and nice clotsh.

Now, I would wear these cloths to mass, HOWEVER, I gained a LOT of weight in the last two years and practically none of them fit. I have basically two nice outfits I can wear and breath in, but wearing only those to mass seems a bit odd .

So my normal outfit to mass is a pair of clean jeans and a nice sweater. Respectful and decent, but not exactly everyones vision of sunday attire.

 

[Tonks40]

Since I came back to the Church, I’m pretty aware of how I dress to Mass. Usually I wear a nice pair of dark slacks and a nice blouse, or a skirt. A couple of weeks ago, I did wear my new jeans to church - just coz I thought they looked nice. So I’d say occassionally.

 

[Myangel]

drbo.org/dnl/TWSG_read.pdf

Although not exactly what we are talking about, some may have an interest on what this article says about Jeans in general not just at Mass. I think its on page 4 or 5, cant remember.

 

[desire_the_end]

Jeans are like… All I wear. So naturally, if I got to mass, I’m wearing jeans.

But I’m not Catholic (yet), and still attend service at my friends’ church (Protestant).

 

[spiritblows]

Well, I must say, I’m rather surprised at the amount of posts this thread amassed while I was gone! It’s interesting what topics attract attention…

 

[LeahInancsi]

Although I’ve never worn blue jeans to Mass, I’d rather see bodies in blue jeans at Mass than at home in bed on Sunday morning.

On the flip side, please work on making a small improvement in your wardrobe out of respect for God.

 

[maklavan]

Going to Mass
In blue jeans
Is better
than
not going to Mass
because you only have blue jeans.

 

[Katie1723]

Well fitting jeans and a nice sweater is far better in my opinion than thongs and a miniskirt. Or dresses as tight as skin on bologna.Or khakis with the crotch down at the knees.
~ Kathy ~

 

[maryjk]

Generally, I don’t wear jeans to Sunday Mass. But…

Weekday Mass is another story. Once a week our homeschool group goes to mass then has a picnic at a local playground. So, right after mass, all of the children will be running around and being kids. That means jeans, or shorts in the warm months, for them. And it means jeans, nice ones, for the Moms. And it means capris, or sometimes shorts, in the summer for the Moms. You never know when you are going to have to climb up to get a stuck child.

 

[crobynb]

My hubby and I do wear jeans to Mass frequently. With being pregnant - I will take any clothes that fit, which includes blue jeans!! That goes for when I am not pregnant too. We have a small, very informal parish. We live in a small, farming community. Having said that - the majority of people in our parish wear jeans on a regular basis.

My husband loves Mass and it means alot to him, but if I were to force him or pressure him to dress up - I think he would resist or be less likely to go to Mass. I take him as he is and love him just the same. I think the Lord does the same for us.

If your clothing and bodies are clean, your dress is modest -no matter how casual or fancy, and your heart is open and eager to share HIS Love - then that is good enough for HIM. I see the side of those who say respect should be given by more formal dress; but I say it is better to come as you are with an eagerness to worship rather than in all your finery and the intention of stewing over what others are wearing. (Disclaimer: by that last sentence I DO NOT mean that everyone dressed up spends mass fuming over what others are wearing, only that some do and those that do should re-evaluate why they are in Church, not what they and everyone else are wearing to Church.)

So, bottom line in my little ol’ opinion: We are not attending Mass to display our wardrobes. We are attending to celebrate God’s love, the fellowship of Christians, and the most Holy gift of the Eucharist. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit care about the substance of our hearts and actions - not the presentation of our clothing.

Refer to Matthew 6:25-34 please.

 

[Karin]

crobynb:

So, bottom line in my little ol’ opinion: ***We are not attending Mass to display our wardrobes. We are attending to celebrate God’s love, the fellowship of Christians, and the most Holy gift of the Eucharist. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit care about the substance of our hearts and actions - not the presentation of our clothing. ***

.

:clapping:

 

[slewi]

mikew262:

While blue jeans are considered very casual and probably not ideal for going to church in, I have no big problem with it, as long as they are in good repair. I have worn them on occasion.

What’s more important is that you are actually there in church. Whether you are wearing jeans or not, frankly, is “small potatoes”, and not worth worrying about. I doubt this is a big issue with God.

People who wear blue jeans often say “God wouldn’t mind”. How do we know either way?

I don’t think I am worthy enough to speak for God. Do you? I would much rather dress nicely than to look like I don’t care. Not showing God his due reverence is a huge problem these days.

Would you dress in blue jeans to meet the president or Pope? Probably not. Let’s show God the same courtesy.

S