Do you wear jeans to Mass?

[A2SciTeach]

Never jeans - I dress up for Mass. Don’t look down at people for the way they dress , as long as I don’t see belly buttons, rear ends or cleavage which are way out of line, are distracting and disrespectful and make the wearing of clean well-fitted jeans (see above regarding rear ends and belly buttons) seem like formal wear.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

“A” for me. And I wear jeans even when I don’t ride my bike to church. Dressing up is actually stressful for me and I don’t have a lot of churchy clothes. I had to make a special shopping trip for something appropriate for court recently. My last 2 jobs had a very loose dresscode hence the majority of my casual/dressdown clothes are appropriate at work.
ETA: Make that the last 4-5 jobs.

 

[brotherhrolf]

I will humbly have to disagree. I, too, am from south Louisiana and do not agree that jeans are considered dress clothes. I know you were be humorous in that statement, but I firmly believe it boils down to one’s upbringing. I am not saying that people who wear jenas to church were brought up bad. Not at all.
I went to an all boys private Catholic High School. It was required that everyday at class we wore dress pants, belt, shirt with a collar, dress shoes, and had our hair cut to a proper length (now that I have no hair, it is a non-issue).
Because of this, I feel that it important for me to present myself in the same manner while worshipping. I agree with the previous poster’s statement about if youwere to go on a job interview, visit a president, etc…wouldn’t you dress up for that occasion? So why would you not do it for God? However, that being said…I do not judge others on what they wear, it is just my personal preference.

I also think slacks are a lot cooler than jeans, they breath easier.

Oh, and to touch on this question being asked if not to bash on someone. Why does every question have to have a motive? Why can’t a question be asked for curiosity alone? I believe you when you said you asked this just because you were wondering.

Now, Dave. C’mon. Yours truely is a graduate of a Catholic high school probably of the same era (you’re bald…me I’m bald and my hair is white) in New Orleans. Yes we wore dress clothes before we went to NJROTC uniforms. Everyone wore dress clothes way back in the mid 60s.

Fast forward…I sang in our cathedral choir for 18 years although I’ve been inactive for the last 5 years. Sure we have the elderly in coat and tie. But, gee, I’m sorry, I just don’t see anything wrong with me wearing an oxford shirt and a clean pair of jeans to Sunday Mass. I don’t do it all the time nor do I wear shorts and a tee shirt -ever. We get a lot of visitors from the steamboats - they are in shorts and tee shirts. There are quite a few men who are older than me who wear slacks and guayabera shirts. During most of the year the number of men wearing suits during Mass is about 10% of the population - at a cathedral parish. I’ve seen federal judges in guayaberas and slacks.

I don’t have any problem with clean neat jeans and a shirt. But I do have a problem with holey jeans, rock star tee shirts, etc.

BTW I was an altar boy before V II. I remember what it was like to be totally dressed up in a church with no A/C only oscillating fans. I really believe Our Lord would have given us dispensation to “dress down”.

 

[maryjk]

A.
Well, kind of. I wear jean/denim skirts and jean/denim dresses. I can’t remember the last time I had a pair of jeans on.

I do allow my son to wear jeans to daily Mass. We generally go to Mass, then to the park for lunch and to play with others. Sunday Mass during the winter, dress pants. Sunday in the summer, dress pants or what I call dressy shorts.

 

[Jeanette_L]

I wear jeans almost always. But I try to be neat, dress them up a bit with a nice blouse and jacket or something.

I came from a Christian Tradition many years ago, which most of my family still belongs to, that became so consummed with fashion, it turned me off completely. Everyone tried to outdo each other with the hair and makeup and clothing and shoes, it was pretty pathetic, and it was obvious that Christ was not the main attraction. Very sad actually.

I feel much more comfortable going to Mass in clothing that is comfortable but neat and never drawing attention. I don’t want to have to be worried about whether too much is showing, or something is pinching…, and then not be focused where I should be.

I’m there to be with Christ, I don’t care what others are wearing and hope their mind isn’t on what I’m wearing either.

That’s my :twocents: .

Peace!

 

[mosher]

The point really should be the question we ask ourselves before dressing for mass. “Am I giving my best to God?” I too have asked the question to others if they would “dress down” if they were to meet the president but I think that question is lacking because of the over casual culture that we are in these days. And for an American who does not have experience with a King it is hard to make that reference too. However, I think that we can all related to formal events like a wedding and the like. If were to “dress down” at a wedding it would be taken as at lest a minor insult by the family and we just know it to be inappropriate for the occasion. This is similar to mass. The occasion is the most solemn thing that we attend in our lives and it is the greatest even that we attend in our lives. So, with that in mind should we not do our best to give our best in all things to God when we go to worship Him?

 

[AquinaSavio]

Never - always dress pants and dress shirt. Every week I meet someone who is more important than anyone else in the world. What an occasion!

I don’t feel it’s appropriate to dress down for Mass. If we were meeting God face to face in a visual way, what would we wear? Less than if we had a meeting with someone of great earthly importance? Not likely.

How can we take the casual attitude that, “Well at least I showed up for Mass. It doesn’t matter what I wear.” And I recognize that poor people may not have anything except jeans to wear to Mass, so I’m not addressing them here.

I believe it’s a sign of respect to dress appropriately for Mass.

Great posts! I agree, I would never feel appropriate going to Mass in jeans. I always wear dress pants and a collared shirt. I wish I could wear a suit, but there’s no way I can afford it.

To those who feel that the summer heat justifies jeans and/or shorts, I disagree. I am an altar server, and I always wear dress clothes under the robe. I serve in a parish that often gets about 1,000 people at one Mass. Adding that with the Denver heat, it gets extremely hot in the Church. However, I think that God expects us to be a little uncomfortable sometimes. After all, we are attending Christ’s ultimate sacrifice all over again.

I am not talking to those who have health issues, can’t afford nice pants, etc…

 

[hasikelee]

Just curious, please no bashing anyone if they do or dont, I just want to know if

A) you do it on a regular basis
B) only have done it in emergency or less than 3 times a year
C)Have never done it
D) Have never done it and get hopping mad when you see it
E) I cant remember and I dont go to Mass often enough to notice

Just pick one of the above.

Have never done it. I keep a generic skirt in my car for emergencies.

I do not wear pants to church. Call me a hoity toity; I just have a connection of pants to work.

I will wear a denim skirt though!

 

[buffalo]

If we really and truly want reverence returned to the Mass, a good start is to dress reverently. That means dressing in a fashion that shows meeting Jesus every week is more important than meeting the President or a movie star.

Most people dress better for a dinner at a restaurant. I just don’t get it.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Trev, there is heat and then there is heat plus high humidity. When I was a child, we’d go to 6 am Mass on Sundays from the middle of May through mid-October because the church did not have a/c nor did it have windows that could be opened. 6AM was as cool as it would get. All we had were big oscillating fans and hand fans. When I had to serve the 10 am High Mass, it was not at all unusual to see people getting up and having to go outside from the heat and this was when everyone did indeed dress and women and girls wore hats and gloves.

Today, my church (a cathedral) does not have windows which open and even with the a/c’s going flat out, it can be a tad warm. When they restored the choir loft in '93, the architect forgot that heat rises. The choir had to use box fans for cooling and had to turn them off to sing. The choir goes on summer break from Corpus Christi to the first week of Sept so we only had to put up with four or five weeks of heat on either side of summer but our poor organist would have to run up to the loft to play and then run down to cool off during the whole summer. The following year they had to install a separate central air system to cool off the loft.

Ninety-six degrees with eighty percent humidity is quite a bit different than 96 with fifteen percent humidity.

 

[buffalo]

Trev, there is heat and then there is heat plus high humidity. When I was a child, we’d go to 6 am Mass on Sundays from the middle of May through mid-October because the church did not have a/c nor did it have windows that could be opened. 6AM was as cool as it would get. All we had were big oscillating fans and hand fans. When I had to serve the 10 am High Mass, it was not at all unusual to see people getting up and having to go outside from the heat and this was when everyone did indeed dress and women and girls wore hats and gloves.

Today, my church (a cathedral) does not have windows which open and even with the a/c’s going flat out, it can be a tad warm. When they restored the choir loft in '93, the architect forgot that heat rises. The choir had to use box fans for cooling and had to turn them off to sing. The choir goes on summer break from Corpus Christi to the first week of Sept so we only had to put up with four or five weeks of heat on either side of summer but our poor organist would have to run up to the loft to play and then run down to cool off during the whole summer. The following year they had to install a separate central air system to cool off the loft.

Ninety-six degrees with eighty percent humidity is quite a bit different than 96 with fifteen percent humidity.

Jesus hung on the cross for three hours and endured much more during His passion.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Jesus hung on the cross for three hours and endured much more during His passion.

So true. So I guess that instead of concentrating on worship, we should endure the heat, ignore the sweat and offer up our pains and sufferings of the day. Doesn’t that put the emphasis on “me” during Mass rather than Him.

You know, nowhere have I advocated dressing inappropriately. I, like many others, have simply stated that I have no problem with people wearing clean, neat jeans to Mass. I have vivid memories of what went on back in the 50’s and 60’s when women “dressed to the 9’s”. I remember that Mass was something of a fashion show and more often than not I can remember my mother and the other mothers in our neighborhood commenting about who wore what. Or “she wore a white hat after Labor Day”. Clothing is a two edged sword which cuts both ways.

 

[homewardbound]

I usually wear jeans, but I would like to start wearing skirts more often.

In my Baptist upbringing I never wore jeans to church! But, because the people who take me(to Mass) always dress casual and everyone else at Mass dress that way(or worse) I just got out of the habit.

This is something I think that is up to the person. I think its more important that a person is there worshipping during Mass then what they’re wearing.

 

[AquinaSavio]

Trev, there is heat and then there is heat plus high humidity. When I was a child, we’d go to 6 am Mass on Sundays from the middle of May through mid-October because the church did not have a/c nor did it have windows that could be opened. 6AM was as cool as it would get. All we had were big oscillating fans and hand fans. When I had to serve the 10 am High Mass, it was not at all unusual to see people getting up and having to go outside from the heat and this was when everyone did indeed dress and women and girls wore hats and gloves.

Today, my church (a cathedral) does not have windows which open and even with the a/c’s going flat out, it can be a tad warm. When they restored the choir loft in '93, the architect forgot that heat rises. The choir had to use box fans for cooling and had to turn them off to sing. The choir goes on summer break from Corpus Christi to the first week of Sept so we only had to put up with four or five weeks of heat on either side of summer but our poor organist would have to run up to the loft to play and then run down to cool off during the whole summer. The following year they had to install a separate central air system to cool off the loft.

Ninety-six degrees with eighty percent humidity is quite a bit different than 96 with fifteen percent humidity.

I understand this…and that is why I put it under the category of possible health issues. Heat stroke can set in at such extreme temperatures.

However, if someone (perhaps young and without health problems) can stand such heat, it is good penance.

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

I usually wear jeans, but I would like to start wearing skirts more often.

In my Baptist upbringing I never wore jeans to church! But, because the people who take me(to Mass) always dress casual and everyone else at Mass dress that way(or worse) I just got out of the habit.

This is something I think that is up to the person. I think its more important that a person is there worshipping during Mass then what they’re wearing.

I agree with you on this. I certainly have got out of the habit of dressing up for mass. I am trying to get back into this but my husband and kids are in the habit of wearing jeans. If I start becoming a nag to my husband and family I’m sure I will receive flack. So, I am dressing up myself and hopefully they will see this and eventually fall into line too.

 

[psteichen]

“A” for me. And I wear jeans even when I don’t ride my bike to church. Dressing up is actually stressful for me and I don’t have a lot of churchy clothes. I had to make a special shopping trip for something appropriate for court recently. My last 2 jobs had a very loose dresscode hence the majority of my casual/dressdown clothes are appropriate at work.
ETA: Make that the last 4-5 jobs.

Reed: If you don’t have “churchy” clothes and cannot afford to dress up that is totally okay. Just curious though why you found it necessary to dress up for a judge and not for Jesus?

 

[February]

I don’t feel it’s appropriate to dress down for Mass. If we were meeting God face to face in a visual way, what would we wear? Less than if we had a meeting with someone of great earthly importance? Not likely.

How can we take the casual attitude that, “Well at least I showed up for Mass. It doesn’t matter what I wear.” And I recognize that poor people may not have anything except jeans to wear to Mass, so I’m not addressing them here.

I believe it’s a sign of respect to dress appropriately for Mass.

I agree. I used to wear jeans when I was younger; my attitude towards this has since changed.

For girls, teens, young women–I hope you’re not wearing tight, low-riding jeans to Mass and thinking this is OK…

 

[buffalo]

So true. So I guess that instead of concentrating on worship, we should endure the heat, ignore the sweat and offer up our pains and sufferings of the day. Doesn’t that put the emphasis on “me” during Mass rather than Him.

.

Huh? How does making a sacrifice during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass be a “me” thing? I think human beings have the capability to both endure the heat and worship at the same time, or have we become wimps?

 

[catsrus]

Never.
Never have.
Never will.

 

[THutch04]

I’ve worn jeans, but that’s only been when I realized I needed to go to Mass and didn’t have the time to change. It doesn’t happen that often. I guess it’s just the way I was raised; you ALWAYS dressed up a lot on Sundays. Daily Masses it’s more likely that I’ll wear jeans, but I tend to dress up more than most people on a daily basis anyway, so even then it usually isn’t something I do. Maybe I’m just one of those weird people who loves dressing up!!! That being said, it doesn’t bother me when I see other people in jeans. It’s just not something I wish to do all the time.