Mary-like modesty and outdoor work?

[theistgal]

You could go for the sturdy, no-nonsense Gardening Nun look. She looks pretty modest (as well as pretty).

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...EO5-du7_rezlIrX9v4L_F4OaUgeSnP_bFuICHwbG0c-qp

 

[Aelred_Minor]

+1

Especially if they’re wearing loose jeans to work in the field. Then again I got whistled at once while wearing loose fitting overalls & a long sleeved shirt underneath. These men need to get a life if they’re turned on by a pair of Dickies.

Err, well, such an outfit could easily be “cute” on a girl. The appreciation of that kind of thing need not be sinful, I think, although those guys sound like they were insistent on making it creepy.

 

[louisak]

The primary purpose of modesty though, of which avoiding tempting others is just one application, is preserving the dignity of the human person.

Amen to that.

 

[LightBound]

For a minute there, I thought Brother JR had changed his user name…

Sorry , I couldn’t figure out how to post that quote (since it’s no longer on CAF) without just putting it into quotes on my reply.

I will say that his words of wisdom certainly should be given serious thought when someone feels they aren’t displaying Mary-like modesty if they are dressed in anything less than what we see in a holy care image of our Blessed Mother.

I personally would not wear anything that is going to allow insects, weeds, ivy, or anything else onto my legs and I would not wear a skirt with leggings in the heat. St Gianna went skiing in pants, rock-climbing in hiking shorts, and I can’t imagine anyone calling her less than lady-like and modest! Blessed Kateri (who will be formally Saint Kateri later this month) wore pants, centuries before other North American women did and it didn’t seem to detract from her sanctity

 

[LightBound]

I****n your devotion to Mary, it sounds like you’ve gotten caught up in “sola skirtura”-
:clapping:
Light bound - you have made my day!!! I totally understand both men and women wanting to consecrate themselves to the Blessed Mother, but failing to put historical context into the equation makes no sense. If the BVM was working as a landscaper today, in 2012, she would dress appropriately for today’s modesty norms, not those of 2000 years ago.

Thank you! I read some blog a while ago where the term “sola skirtura” was used to describe certain schismatic or near-schismatic groups that insisted girls and woman ALWAYS attire themselves in dresses and skirts; regardless of the situation, event, or activity. Even Colleen Hammond (the Dressing with Dignity author who originally spoke out against pants) changed her tune when the Vatican started posting the signs outside of St Peter’s and other Vatican City churches showing what was acceptable apparel inside the Church…lo and behold was a stick figure of a women in pants! Her post here says if it’s good enough for the Pope and the Vatican, it’s good enough for her! : Post #92 forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=644491&highlight=context&page=7

 

[DarkLight]

I know plenty of women who like to look at guy’s behinds in pants. Among other things that you can see in pants. So don’t get any ideas that it’s unique to men to get distracted!

As a practical suggestion, would some cargo pants work? I always liked those when I did physical work over the summer - they’re loose and the canvas is lightweight. Maybe pair it with a cute t-shirt if you want to look more feminine. I sometimes even put a beaded belt around the shirt so it looked prettier without getting in the way.

And yes - I’ve been whistled at in pretty much everything, from jeans to ankle-length skirts. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to discourage it, especially if you’re on the more well-endowed side.

 

[SecretaryMonday]

Uh oh, I knew it…2 pages of replies in one afternoon…that can’t be good.

 

[mommyof4]

Uh oh, I knew it…2 pages of replies in one afternoon…that can’t be good.

Lol

 

[SecretaryMonday]

In your devotion to Mary, it sounds like you’ve gotten caught up in “sola skirtura”

I’ve heard the term before, but its still hilarious.

For those of you who are peeved about “sola skirtura” and wish the subject would just go hide itself in a cave somewhere and die of natural causes (): Be patient with me. I’m still evolving. I spent adolescence as a transvestite, so perhaps I’m more sensitive to this issue than “normal” people might be. Until recently, although I’ve shopped in the women’s section for a while now, I still had cool stuff that I occasionally wore for the “androgynous shock value” (I just made up a term; I hope it doesn’t offend).

Its not easy for me to see women’s jeans as feminine anymore. I don’t generally look “good” in pants anyway, though I do have, as someone suggested, one cute pair of mid-waist boot-legs that work well for me. (Someone also mentioned “mom jeans” - oh the humanity!!!)

I was mainly interested in how other women who have made an extra devotion to Mary have handled the issue of feminine clothing.

And just in case I’ve unleashed the latest CAF ** “stop juuuudging!” ** thread…let it be known: I understand that Catholic women can wear pants, shorts, and even bathing suits. They can put on makeup and wear sleeveless shirts that show their tattoos (I have the Chi-Rho on my shoulder). They can go bare-headed to church and receive Holy Communion in the hand. In America, they can eat a bacon cheeseburger on Friday (so long as they perform some other form of penance). They can enjoy a good “guitar Mass” and serve as a lector, altar server, or EMHC…I’m sure there’s more…

 

[mommyof4]

I’ve heard the term before, but its still hilarious.

For those of you who are peeved about “sola skirtura” and wish the subject would just go hide itself in a cave somewhere and die of natural causes (): Be patient with me. I’m still evolving. I spent adolescence as a transvestite, so perhaps I’m more sensitive to this issue than “normal” people might be. Until recently, although I’ve shopped in the women’s section for a while now, I still had cool stuff that I occasionally wore for the “androgynous shock value” (I just made up a term; I hope it doesn’t offend).

Its not easy for me to see women’s jeans as feminine anymore. I don’t generally look “good” in pants anyway, though I do have, as someone suggested, one cute pair of mid-waist boot-legs that work well for me. (Someone also mentioned “mom jeans” - oh the humanity!!!) Sorry, that was me. You have to realize I am a 47 year old mom, though, so cut me some slack (pun intended).

I was mainly interested in how other women who have made an extra devotion to Mary have handled the issue of feminine clothing.

And just in case I’ve unleashed the latest CAF ** “stop juuuudging!” ** thread…let it be known: I understand that Catholic women can wear pants, shorts, and even bathing suits. They can put on makeup and wear sleeveless shirts that show their tattoos (I have the Chi-Rho on my shoulder). They can go bare-headed to church and receive Holy Communion in the hand. In America, they can eat a bacon cheeseburger on Friday (so long as they perform some other form of penance). They can enjoy a good “guitar Mass” and serve as a lector, altar server, or EMHC…I’m sure there’s more…

 

[SecretaryMonday]

Sorry, that was me. You have to realize I am a 47 year old mom, though, so cut me some slack (pun intended).

I’m sorry for disrespecting your “mom jeans”. A mommy of 4 has earned both the jeans and the respect due to them.

 

[DarkLight]

How would you feel about wearing a skirt over jeans? I often do this for days when I need to be active but want something more feminine - wear a mid-thigh lightweight skirt over a pair of skinny jeans.

 

[angird]

Although this may seem unrelated but it may help.
I have some friends who are Jewish and very orthodox. they put a HUGE emphasis on modesty women wear 3 quarter length sleeves never show collar bone or knees. they wear skirts and dresses exclusively. i know that some who work out side wear leggings underneath their skirts but don’t really mind if their outdoor skirts get a bit mussed up. just thought you might like to have a perspective from other people who dress modestly as well.
I am catholic but find other ways of doing things interesting and like to find similarities to what i believe. i follow something similar in my dress not tank tops or spaghetti straps no collar bone ,wearing skirts and dresses as the majority but if i wear pants making sure that my shirt come passed the “split” in my legs as i have read that , that makes pants a modest option. anywho just thought id throw my 2 cents in.

 

[Oh_Charlotte]

I have a friend who does mans work, outdoors a lot, on boats, and she wears women jeans, not tight, and goes for feminine colors and cut in her T shirts and flannel shirts. Her work boots and gloves and Carhart coat pretty much do look like a mans. And by cut I mean *slightly *fitted for a woman’s body, but loose, as she is busty, and its not appropriate to emphasize that at work. She works with all men, doing all man’s sort of work, so its tough in that way. I think she makes good choices wearing the job “uniform” just slightly feminized by color and cut. It like “dressed for work with a nod to femininity”.

I think of Joan of Arc - she dressed for the job. Not to look manly, but the work had a certain requirement. Going to battle in a dress would have just drawn too much attention to her sexuality, in that sea of men…

 

[louisak]

I think of Joan of Arc - she dressed for the job. Not to look manly, but the work had a certain requirement. Going to battle in a dress would have just drawn too much attention to her sexuality, in that sea of men…

Not to mention that a dress doesn’t give much protection against enemy swords and arrows…

 

[TrueLight]

          "As someone who does a lot of pastoral care, I would make several suggestions.

1. If you wish to wear a veil or hat or other head covering at either form of the mass, that is your right. Ignore what other people wear or what they think. Most of the time, people won’t even comment on it. Those who do are busy bodies. Unless they’re paying you a compliment. In that case, they’re being kind.
2. It is true that Our Lady is the model of virtues and the role model for all Christians. However, taking her out of her historical context has created a lot of anxiety for many people. Let’s put her back into her historical context and leave her there. It’s impossible for us to know if Our Lady would wear slacks or not, were she in another culture or another time. Let’s say that she had been from the far East. She probably would have worn pants, because it was the common way of dress for peasant women. Miriam of Nazareth was part of the lower economic class. Had she been from China or Viet Nam or Korea, she would have dressed like the poor people of those nations. Had she been a poor working girl from Europe or the Americas, that’s how she would have dressed. A wonderful example of this is Our Lady’s appearance in Mexico. She did not look like a Jewish woman or a European woman. She looked like a Aztec, even wearing the typical black band that pregnant Aztec women wore. We want to imitate her virtues, but not take her out of her historical context. To say that Catholic women in America should not wear slacks, because Our Lady did not wear slacks does not work. She was not a 20th century American woman. Had she been, she probably would have been a factory worker or a migrant worker or a farmer’s wife. Who knows? Then we would have to get all tangled up in what do migrant workers wear in the field? What do women working in factories wear? What do rural poor women wear? Can you see how this gets very complicated?
3. The best way to imitate Our Lady is a theological approach. What does she stand for? What are her virtues? What is her relationship to her son and to his Church. Then we try to improve our life of virtue, work on our relationship to Jesus and our relationship with the Church.

Keep this in mind. When you attend mass, the focus is Christ. Train yourself to focus on him alone. Let the world around you cease to exist during that time in which you’re praying the mass. It takes practice, but it works.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF"

I loved his words of wisdom so much I forwarded his post to a friend since I couldn’t get it to link from the CAF thread after it was posted a few months ago. As I stated earlier, sadly enough the post was gone when the thread was removed due to uncharitable posts by others.

This should be a sticky.

95% of the time I wear skirts because I do them to be very feminine and I like the way I feel when I wear them. But I completely disagree with those that say that to dress modestly or Marian means you have to wear Amish like clothing or veils outside of Church.

 

[SecretaryMonday]

Thanks to everyone for your ideas and perspective! I apologize for not responding to individual posts, though I did read all of them.

I like the idea of pairing leggings or skinny jeans with a shorter skirt; the extra-long shirt over jeans is nice as well. I will try to add a feminine look to the jeans rather than go “sola skirtura”, and I won’t worry about it.