Long ties at mass?

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When I went to school, the rule of thumb from the nuns was that you wore your Sunday best. I don’t mean Armani, Chanel, Juicy Couture, or BCBG. You wore your best dress, your best suit, your best blouse, your best skit, or your best slacks. Furthermore, the attire should be neat, clean and modest.

When I go and buy clothes, the selections I make have to multi-task. This means that they need to be appropriate for work, socializing and Mass, especially since I go to daily Mass during my lunch hour. That is why I don’t buy halters nor mini skirts (which, with my height, 5’9", would pose a problem). Often, I’ll wear my suits to Sunday Mass for the first time.

Even the denim has its particulars for me. It has to be at a decent waist, not torn up and tasteful, resembling toursers more than jeans. Thus, even on casual Friday, I still like to dress it up since I’m also headed for Mass. The only time I wore sweats to Mass was when it was very, very cold and I had just gotten over a bad flu. I left my coat on the entire time because the church was cold. My parochial vicar made fun of me because he said that I looked like an Eskimo, but, the sweats and coat were clean and neat.

I remember the parable Jesus told about the wedding guest who had been invited to the feast bud didn’t wear the appropriate attire? What happened to the guy? The host threw him out.
 
Neil_Anthony said:
Why would you compare the mass to an inauguration? Would it not be more like receiving royalty:

See this picture of George W. Bush receiving Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/First_family_and_Elizabeth_II_2007_(outside).jpg

Note that the president in dressed in formal white tie, and before 6pm at that.
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If you look at pictures of the Queen during her public appearances around the world, she is rarely wearing a gown or tiara. In the picture you posted, the Queen, the President, the First Lady, and Prince Phillip are dressed for a state dinner, an evening event.

By the way, at the actual state arrival ceremony, the Queen is in a day-time dress and the President is in a business suit:
whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/images/20070507_v050707db-0047-515h.html
TheDoctor said:
Respectfully my brothers and sisters, you all have it wrong. You are putting a 20th century wardrobe spin on standing before God. Clearly, scripture has the answer:…They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands…All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”…these are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. Rev 7:9, 11-15So clearly, the proper attire to stand in front of God is a white robe. Now, the only question: Terrycloth or Satin?
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There’s no question in my book: spotless white linen.
 
IMHO people need to do all things in moderation. My husband looks good in “long tie” and I like to see my grandsons dress in them also.

A nice clean pair of long pants and a nice sport shirt will do nicely for the guys at Mass.

Long flowing gowns are nice and most women look quite festive in them. It will be nice to see my granddaughter in a longish dress for her first communion (made from her mother wedding gown by me 😃 ).

A nice skirt with a sleeved blouse or dress that is clean and below the knees will do nicely for the gals. Pants for those that choose as long as they are not tight or hiphuggers also with a nice blouse with sleeves.
 
I’d just be happy if people showed up to mass wearing clothes at all anymore. 🤷 It seems summer time= nakey time. Wear as little as possible at all times, including Church. Disgusting.
Formal would be much better than that any day.
 
Well, we could wear the traditional ceremonial attire of the place we’re in, but it would create new issues. There are so many ways of interpreting it. Should I wear a reed coat? Can I wear a jingle dress? What feathers am I entitled to?
 
I’m a teen, but I wear dress pants, a sweater vest, a tie, and some sort of jacket when it isn’t summer. It’s sort of the CS Lewis, Oxford professor type of ‘dressiness’. Few others wear even that much…most people wear polo shirts. I never though I’d be called ‘informal’ for going to Mass that way 😃
 
What we wear on our bodies makes absolutely no difference to our Lord (except, of course, that we should wear what is considered to be modest for the culture in which we live).

What the Lord is concerned about is the condition of our souls. He cares whether or not our souls are clothed in love (for Him and for others), humility, meekness, patience, obedience, mercy, purity, righteousness. . . to name a few things.

"Blessed are the pure in spirit. . ."

If our souls are not so clothed, we stand before Him empty-handed and naked, no matter how fine the array we wear on our bodies.

Revelaton 3:14-18
". . .These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. . you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness. . ."
 
GemmaRose said:
What we wear on our bodies makes absolutely no difference to our Lord (except, of course, that we should wear what is considered to be modest for the culture in which we live).
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Yeah, and I bet that next, you would support a casual attire for the priest too.

Some people dress better for their coworkers than for Mass. Not sure that their work output increases with the time spent on makeup and dressup.

Gotta hand it to the Baptists, though… they not only are better dressed for the real presence of their pastor… they even hang up their overcoats in the lobby so they can stay a while.

🤷

.
 
A business suit is informal. The mass is a formal event and one should dress formally for it:
Informal is a dress code, typified by a suit and necktie. On the scale of formality, informal attire is more formal than casual but less formal than semi-formal. It is more presentational than semi-casual, but offers more room for personal expression than semi-formal dress. Informal should not be confused with casual, not even smart casual — in loose common usage, many people refer to informal dress as formal and formal dress (in the technical sense — that is, white tie, black tie, and similar) as very formal; this usage is not accepted by authorities on dress codes.[1] The technical definition of informal is used in this article.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informal_attire
 
Neil_Anthony said:
A business suit is informal. The mass is a formal event and one should dress formally for it:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informal_attire
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My problem is that you are using some guide for formal attire that is created by man, not God. Why do we want to give mere humans that much authority over us?

If I declare that blue jeans are formal attire, I have just as much authority to do that as those who declare you cannot wear black tie before 6 pm. The only difference is that the no black tie crowd has more of the common consent. The problem however, is that morality is not determined by popular vote.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
My problem is that you are using some guide for formal attire that is created by man, not God. Why do we want to give mere humans that much authority over us?

If I declare that blue jeans are formal attire, I have just as much authority to do that as those who declare you cannot wear black tie before 6 pm. The only difference is that the no black tie crowd has more of the common consent. The problem however, is that morality is not determined by popular vote.
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God’s dress code is animal skins (for Adam & Eve) – That would get us in trouble with the animal rights people. Then we have the detailed, high maintenance garb of the Levitical priesthood with jewels & bells. Hm. Not practical.

There seemed to be some divinely-approved purpose to the skins worn by Elijah and John the Baptist.

Or maybe you could go with the white-glistening garment of Our Lord on Mount Tabor.

What about the white-robed souls in Revelation?

A consensus on dress is not about people having authority over you, it’s about a common agreement in a common culture.

The difference between declaring jeans as “formal” and the generall acceptance of white tie and tails as formal is that the white tie and tails set DEFINED the term “formal.” Calling jeans “formal” is like a Baptist deciding to call himself “Catholic” because he decides that the Baptist Church is the “real” Catholic Church. Common definitions are part of rational communication.
 
Neil_Anthony said:
Not at all. In fact right now I’m taking a course in making chainmail. I’m going to buy gold chains and make them into a chain-mail outfit made of pure gold. This will be my sunday best which I will wear to mass. Nothing but pure gold clothing to stand in God’s presence.

:rolleyes:
This is a ‘reductio ad absurdum’ argument!
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I don’t have much to contribute to this discussion other than to say that a gold chainmail vest would look really cool.
 
Binary said:
I don’t have much to contribute to this discussion other than to say that a gold chainmail vest would look really cool.
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But will be really HEAVY. A friend made his out of stainless steel and it weighs SIXTY pounds!
 
jmcrae said:
Only if you are a member of the wedding party. 😛
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Of course, there is the parable that Jesus told about the wedding guest that wasn’t appropriately dressed. Even after the king asked the guest why he didn’t have the appropriate garment on, the guest remained silent. Soon thereafter, the guest was thrown out.

Just food for thought, since the Mass is the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb.
 
How about sandals and staff… ready to travel.

and

I wonder what a Catholic would wear if he/she were about to go and evangelize to a stranger

If it was just the neighbor, you could wear what you wear to Mass. That way you give the example of what to wear in case they want to see what the Mass is all about.😛
 
benedictgal said:
Of course, there is the parable that Jesus told about the wedding guest that wasn’t appropriately dressed. Even after the king asked the guest why he didn’t have the appropriate garment on, the guest remained silent. Soon thereafter, the guest was thrown out.

Just food for thought, since the Mass is the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb.
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The parable is about the white garment of Baptism, which is the purity of our souls.

Do you actually wear a literal wedding dress to Mass? :confused:
 
MrS said:
If it was just the neighbor, you could wear what you wear to Mass. That way you give the example of what to wear in case they want to see what the Mass is all about.😛
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If I was evangelizing someone and they wanted to see what Mass was all about, I wouldn’t worry about their dress as long as it was modest. I say this as one who is married to a heathen, who in all practicality doesn’t believe in a loving God. If she were to express a desire to attend church, I would have no problem is she wanted to go in jeans. Then, I would let the Holy Spirit convict her as to what would be appropriate to wear.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
If I was evangelizing someone and they wanted to see what Mass was all about, I wouldn’t worry about their dress as long as it was modest. I say this as one who is married to a heathen, who in all practicality doesn’t believe in a loving God. If she were to express a desire to attend church, I would have no problem is she wanted to go in jeans. Then, I would let the Holy Spirit convict her as to what would be appropriate to wear.
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Ah ha. Now we have another whole subcategory: wardrobe for “seekers” in contrast with wardrobe for “initiates.”

I agree with you.
 
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