How Should We Dress For Mass?

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It depends on when we go, if we are going Saturday night then we will wear kakhi’s or dressy shorts in summer and in winter we will wear jeans if they are new looking and pressed and sweaters.
If we go Sunday then its dress pants and dresses, we will allow our children under 10 to wear dressy shorts on hot days.

I know that there are some people who just don’t have the money to buy lots of clothes and I would never judge, I’m just so happy to see the church full that in the end as long as you are there, clean and ready to praise the Lord that is number one. 😛
 
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kamz:
It depends on when we go, if we are going Saturday night then we will wear kakhi’s or dressy shorts in summer and in winter we will wear jeans if they are new looking and pressed and sweaters.
If we go Sunday then its dress pants and dresses, we will allow our children under 10 to wear dressy shorts on hot days.

I know that there are some people who just don’t have the money to buy lots of clothes and I would never judge, I’m just so happy to see the church full that in the end as long as you are there, clean and ready to praise the Lord that is number one. 😛
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Shorts, even “dressy” shorts have no place at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

It’s remarkable that someone would dress one way for the Saturday vigil Mass, and another day for Sunday.

It does sound like people dress according to how others dress – and not how they should dress in front of God.
 
I see on this thread a lot of criticism of people’s mode of dress, and mention has been made of the fact that immodest dress or clothing too far from the norm in either direction can be a distraction. I say, if you are distracted by somebody’s clothes, you are not paying enough attention to the Mass. Who is so restless that they must look around the church and take detailed notice of what others are wearing for the purpose of later excoriation? In my opinion, when you are not looking at the priest, singing from the choirbook or following the service in your missalette, you should be praying, not taking fashion notes. Let’s fix ourselves first, then worry about fixing others.
 
The original question was

How should we dress for Mass?

Cleanly, modestly reverently, etc.
How we DO dress is another question.

Obviously there are people who DO dress in ways that eliminate one of the -ly’s mentioned above.

How we DO or SEE people dress seems to be the question that many are answering… “I wear khaki’s or dress slacks, shorts or monk’s robes… or I see girls wearing short shorts, mini skirts, or veils.”

This seems to keep things off track of the original question.

So I’d ask, people who are wearing more casual clothing for the Mass, (assuming you have less casual clothing in the closet and not taking into consideration any other parishoner who may or may not be looking at you or judging you)-

What keeps you from dressing a little better for Mass as a sign of reverence to the occasion and to the presence of God?
 
The first time I attended a Mass, it was strange because no one wore suits and ties, and no one carried Bibles in (ex-SDA here.)

Even stranger was the liturgical vestments that the priest wore, since I was used to the pastor just wearing a suit and tie.

Of course, nowadays I wouldn’t have it any other way.
 
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Shiann:
What keeps you from dressing a little better for Mass as a sign of reverence to the occasion and to the presence of God?
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I think I answered that in my last post. Too many bad associations with ‘dressing up’. Dressing up every day for class. Those people even demanded you ‘dress up’ just to go town. It became meaningless. To dress down for me took the emphasis off of my clothes and off of me and what others thought and put them on God.

I wouldn’t have the attitude "I’m showing reverence for God’ I would be thinking "I should dress better because Shiann (or whoever) says I must and she seems to be more spiritual than I am so I better do what she says. Its like a flashback to an old way of thinking.

Now I am quick to say that I don’t think I will always be like this. I do believe I will get over it and have a spiritual adjustment when it comes to this…but it will take some time.

dream wanderer
 
Crusader: The question is how should we dress for mass?
I gave out what my family chooses to wear for Mass and what we feel is right for us to wear to mass. I did not end my posting with (what do you all think of that, or is that how we should dress) So please keep your not so very christian opinions to yourself.
We have homeless people who attend our church and they are dressed very, very sadly I must say and they don’t want charity as clothes has been offered to them, they just want the same right to come and serve the Lord as anybody else but I guess you would shoo them on out because they are not dressed the best? For them coming to church washed up is their best and did Jesus not say let the children come to me? And are we not all his children? If you have the money to dress you and your family in dressy clothes each Sunday good for you, we are a family of 6 and we all own one dress each, one dress pant each etc.
If we wear dressy shorts I mean dressy and my husband never does and I only wear them if it is super duper hot out but I do let my children under 10 as the church gets sauna hot in the summer. I don’t even know why I’m bothering to explain this to you, Jesus wants me and my family there as much as anybody else, there always has to be someone with a negative spin on every post, no matter how nice everyone else is. 😦
 
Since this thread is still hummin’ along, I thought I would inject what might be an unusual point of view regarding what SHOULD we wear to mass:

I think the question of “dressing up” is another one of those subjective things that mean different things to different people. I wear a suit and tie every day, so to me at least, that isn’t dressing up. That’s pretty much normal work clothes. When I go to mass I don’t wear a suit (probably because I don’t want to feel like I’m at work on Sunday. I work enough as it is :crying: ).

I think we SHOULD give thought to what we wear to mass. And that thought is what I consider “dressing up” - defined by the planning, not necessarily what the garments are.

I generally wear nice, but more casual, clothes. Now some would probably say that I “dress up” for work but not for mass. However, I can say that I probably think more about what I am going to wear to mass than I do about what to wear to work. Work clothes have become pretty routine. So to me, there is more “dressing up” thought given to going to mass.

How’s that for a backwards point of view? :whacky:
 
If a newsperson tried to wear anything but a suit to a presidential news conference that would be the last conference the reporter would be allowed to attend. Would you wear jeans to your wedding?
Is God more important than either the president or your spouse? How about “more powerful?”
How you dress reflects the respect due to the person you are honoring. In my parish we have a dress code. For women, no sleeveless or spaghetti straps or dresses above the knee. For men, shirts with collars and no jeans or running shoes, period! In fact, I have yet to see a young child in tennis shoes or shorts or jeans. It is not uncommon to see the whole family in ties (for males) and longer modest dresses (for ladies) Of course, we attend a Tridentine Latin Mass. This is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not a communal meal where the congregation is celebrated. Pax Domini sit semper vobis cum. 🙂
 
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jaybird:
This is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not a communal meal where the congregation is celebrated. Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
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Et cum spiritu tuo.
 
Wow, I’ll stick to my parish, I’ve been a member of several parishes in my 30 years having had moved and none of them were that strict, a dress code? Actually in the town I live in we also have a church that has latin mass only and they follow a dress code from what I have heard but they reject the pope also.
St.Pius X? Something like that.
 
I chose five of the seven poll options.

I belong to two parishes, both central-city/downtown. Both truly being the Catholic “here-comes-everyone.” Dress on Sunday ranges from Catholic owners of major businesses and high public officials in suit and tie or skirted suits all the way down the social strata to unhoused Catholics wearing their only pair of jeans and having all their wordly goods with them in a bedroll and a shopping bag. The only stuff considered questionable are 1) all body parts covered, 2) no crude, lewd. or profane graphics on the clothes, and 3) making sure that the people who have no changes of clothes, therefore can’t wash them, get connected to St. Vincent de Paul for a few more sets of clothes and help getting indoor sleeping.

Me, I only own one kind of clothes, my old work clothes from before I was disabled ---- plain mid-calf skirts and plain jersey pants in dark colors, plain but brightly colored polos, tees, and denim bigshirts. My perpetually-bloated feet only fit in slippers (winter) or in fake-birkenstocks (rest of the time).

I am not going to have a skirted suit custom-made for myself, or spend many dollars I don’t have for custom dress shoes for my lymphademic feet. I know God doesn’t mind seeing my toes, and my pastor and bishop don’t mind my toes either, so …

karen marie
 
I really don’t mind jeans or T-Shirts at all. I really really don’t like seeing shorts at mass though.
 
u did not say if it was for a Sunday Mass only…I usually dress up for Sunday Mass but week day Mass i wear blue jeans …Because after mass we work in the cemetery at the church. I would think That would be ok…the most important thing is that the soul is always dressed in the state of Grace that is what is pleasing to God…🙂
 
Does the verse "Take no thought as to what you wear’ fit in somewhere here? I appreciate that people want to show reverence but when you get down to it its all fabric…either man made or natural that has been woven and sewn together…take the same piece of fabric and you can turn it into either a polo shirt or a ‘more dressy’ item. It comes from the same place and served the same purpose…to cover us up or keep us warm. Why are we arguing over the different ways a garment can be constructed?

I think the more casual dressers among us aren’t really trying to defend what we wear…but what we are doing is reacting to others who SEEM to be trying to scold us into conforming to what they do.I I sad “SEEM”. That might be the furtherest thing from your mind. Its just that I have suffered from spiritual abuse in the past and I really don’t want more of the same…and it really won’t do much good anyway. I’m not saying anyone here is trying to spiritually abuse anyone, its just the red flags that go up inside my head when I get into discussions like this. I’ll dress up when I’m ready. I was glad to reach a place and a point where I wasn’t pressured to conform to anything (except rules of modesty and cleanliness which I believe we all agree with) At this point in time I probably wouldn’t ‘dress up’ for any other occaison either. The Lord knows exactly what is going on with me and he’s working on it. I’m looking forward to breaking free from the cult like mentality that I had been trapped in.

dream wanderer
 
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jaybird:
Of course, we attend a Tridentine Latin Mass. This is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not a communal meal where the congregation is celebrated. Pax Domini sit semper vobis cum.
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Sigh. Here we go again.

And, is the Latin supposed to give your remarks some validity that they wouldn’t have otherwise?
 
Alright, kids, don’t make me come back there!!

Someone asked about an opinion of proper church attire. Many of us have given that opinion, plus reasons for that opinion. No one is saying anyone is *judging *those who do or do not dress in one way or another. If they were, that would be wrong as judging belongs to God alone.

Personally, I have never approached anyone regarding their dress at Mass, other than my kids, as that is my right to do as their mother. 😛

That being said, I would like to recommend a tape set, “The Way We Worship” by Michael Cumbie: saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=533
We heard Mr. Cumbie at a recent CRC Conference here and what struck me about his talk is that “as the liturgy goes, so goes society.” Just think about how relaxed the liturgy has become, and compare it to how relaxed society has become. But I am not qualified to debate this - get the tapes instead!
 
h(name removed by moderator)2four:
Alright, kids, don’t make me come back there!!..
Personally, I have never approached anyone regarding their dress at Mass, other than my kids, as that is my right to do as their mother. 😛
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Good for you mom. We are getting out of line… :rotfl:

Maybe these gals could help enforce a decent dress code: cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh/yourturn/yt26.htm
 
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