Poll; Men's attire at mass

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When my suit is in my closet/room, I wear it to Mass weekly, without fail. This does not happen in the summer (because… sweating… too much, blah), but I sport the khakis and nicer polo. If the church is a/c’ed, tie and button down.

God deserves no less.
 
Always long sleeves and never jeans, even when my parents would come in them.

I didn’t wear a suit and tie for diplomatic reasons if you know what I mean.
 
Hypothesis said:
I highly doubt that Jesus would care if someone came in sitting next to him wearing nice fancy clothes or shaggy clothes. A few verses in James come to mind actually. The intentions of the heart are what is important. Pleasing God is much more important than pleasing man.

James 2:3-4 (New American Standard Bible)
(3)and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
(4)have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
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I tend to agree with you. Most here obviously don’t. All I care is that the clothes I wear and clean and modest. Dressing up is a cultural thing anyway. In some parts of the developing world, they own few clothes and certainly no dress clothes.
 
JohnnyReb said:
Dressing up is a cultural thing anyway. In some parts of the developing world, they own few clothes and certainly no dress clothes.
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japhy said:
Ah, so it’s a way of expressing solidarity, then?
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JohnnyReb said:
Not sure what you mean by that.
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Are you choosing not to “dress up” as a statement of solidarity with people who are less fortunate than yourself and do not have many clothes from which to choose and therefore can’t “dress up”?

Clearly, a Catholic family suffering from poverty in Africa isn’t going to be dressed in suits and dresses as they worship God at Mass, but perhaps (I don’t know) they will wear whatever it is they consider “best”.

No matter the culture (and consider that the Christian culture should trump our worldly, secular culture), doesn’t God deserve whatever is best of whatever we have?
 
One problem I have with this poll is that a jacket and tie is the standard by which men’s dress is being judged. My question is: why is that? Who says that a jacket and tie is better than anything else? And why do we choose to give them the authority over proper dress? The church actually has said very little on this, except perhaps to dress modestly. So why do we have to complicate things?
 
stinkcat_14 said:
One problem I have with this poll is that a jacket and tie is the standard by which men’s dress is being judged. My question is: why is that? Who says that a jacket and tie is better than anything else? And why do we choose to give them the authority over proper dress?
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There was a pretty funny thread a couple months ago about how come people who have tuxes don’t wear them to Mass. 😉

What it comes down to for me is association and effort. Personally, I do not associate jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt, or shorts and sandals (or CROCS!), or tanktops, etc., with worship of almighty God. I associate them with hanging out at a bar, at the beach, at the movies, lounging around, etc. The most modest bathing suit out there is still a bathing suit and is profane, it is not meant for worship.

And getting dressed for worship should be (in my opinion) something which takes a bit more effort than throwing on the jeans I wore yesterday, sliding my feet into my sneakers, and figuring out which t-shirt has the least offensive slogan and the least noticeable odor. 😉 I’m not at church to advertise my affiliation with my company (so no company polo shirts) nor my fanaticism for the New York football Giants (so no Manning #10 jersey); I’m at church to engage in the corporate (that is, as-a-Body) worship of the Father. I’m trying to wear the clothing that best displays externally my internal desire to wear a pure white garment which has been washed in the Blood of the Lamb.
 
japhy, I am COMPLETELY with your!

The logo t-shirts - why would anyone think there are appropriate garb to wear to Mass?

:o :rolleyes:
 
mullenpm said:
japhy, I am COMPLETELY with your!

The logo t-shirts - why would anyone think there are appropriate garb to wear to Mass?

:o :rolleyes:
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I am not one who usually gets upset about Mass apparel. I usually don’t notice, unless the outfit smells bad (B.O., alcohol, or tobacco) or stinks of too much perfume.

But even I have to admit that some things cross a line . Two weeks ago, I sat in back of a man who was wearing a very large logo on the BACK of his t-shirt that said, “Let the good times begin.” I could read it ten rows back.

Somehow, it just didn’t seem right for Mass. :confused:

Snce our parish is partners with a parish down in New Orleans (one of the parishes where the building was destroyed by Katrina), I told myself that he is probably one of the most devoted workers in our parish and probably donates many dollars and spends several weeks down in NO helping them rebuild, and that’s where he bought the t-shirt. (Laissez les bons temps rouler = Let the good times roll.)

I try very hard to always look charitably on someone who is wearing something that doesn’t seem right. But…even I had some trouble with that t-shirt!

I do agree that it’s probably best to avoid wearing logo shirts, even good Catholic ones with Bible verses, to Mass, because people (like me) are craning their necks and squinting to try to decipher the logo and figure out the meaning instead of giving our attention fully to Mass. Besides, some logos, even if they seem inoffensive to you, are upsetting to people who disagree with you (e.g., some of my husband’s math t-shirts).
 
Usually at mass I am an usher or an adult server.So I am usually in dress pants and nice shirt. Sunday’s I will sometimes wear a tie. 95% of the parish is dressed up on Sundays. Lot of people who are “Eucharistic Ministers” are dressed in suit and tie.It is pretty much a requirement. I think dress code on Saturday not is too relaxed.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
One problem I have with this poll is that a jacket and tie is the standard by which men’s dress is being judged. My question is: why is that? Who says that a jacket and tie is better than anything else? And why do we choose to give them the authority over proper dress? The church actually has said very little on this, except perhaps to dress modestly. So why do we have to complicate things?
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I didn’t intend to say they were good or bad. It was just that I noted they are a rarity here and wondered what the case was elsewhere.
 
If I were a man, I’d wear a suit. lol

Men have it easier. Buy a white collared dress shirt, matching tie…jacket…and this can literally be worn every Sunday, just change the tie out for a new look. Women have it harder…skirts or dresses? Pants or capris? High heels or flats? Suits or casual?

So, being a man would definitely make the attire choice easier.👍 😃
 
Joe_Kelley said:
I didn’t intend to say they were good or bad. It was just that I noted they are a rarity here and wondered what the case was elsewhere.
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My apologies, I should have read your post more thoroughly. It does seem that there is a group of people (although a minority) that seem to think that for men, a coat and tie is a minimum level of dress for Mass. I am not sure where that comes from though. I wonder if the apostles made comments on other people’s tunics during the first century of the church?
 
stinkcat_14 said:
My apologies, I should have read your post more thoroughly. It does seem that there is a group of people (although a minority) that seem to think that for men, a coat and tie is a minimum level of dress for Mass. I am not sure where that comes from though. I wonder if the apostles made comments on other people’s tunics during the first century of the church?
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Probably came from the fact that, as Western Civilization-ers, the jacket and tie is the de facto standard for dressing up.

But, if you want to disagree and think that a t-shirt is dressier than a jacket and tie (which it ISN’T), go ahead. You only make yourself look like a fool.

And the Apostles may not have made comments on tunics, but it’s probably fair to say they wondered why someone who owned nice clothing at home chose to forgo the nice clothing for the Most High God, Creator of all things seen and unseen, and chose to put on his ******, less-nice tunic.
 
BayernAnhaenger said:
Probably came from the fact that, as Western Civilization-ers, the jacket and tie is the de facto standard for dressing up.

But, if you want to disagree and think that a t-shirt is dressier than a jacket and tie (which it ISN’T), go ahead. You only make yourself look like a fool.
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But of course, you are arguing from the worlds standards. Who says the world’s standards are correct. Perhaps we are called to be different from the world. As Saint Francis might say, fools for the gospel.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
But of course, you are arguing from the worlds standards. Who says the world’s standards are correct. Perhaps we are called to be different from the world. As Saint Francis might say, fools for the gospel.
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The world’s standards the best we have right now, unless God tells us otherwise. If you want to wear a tshirt and ripped jeans to Mass, and pretend that those are the best articles of clothing you own, be my guest. But, wasn’t there something a woman did, with expensive perfume with Jesus?..
 
stinkcat_14, you are making a silly argument.
Why would we judge proper attire to wear to Mass in the US on world standards?

You know full well that a shirt, tie and jacket (trousers presumed) is the normal attire for a man in any situation where he would chose to be “presentable”; jeans (torn or not), t-shirts, open collar sport shirts, etc. are not presentable attire for Mass.

At my Church, during the Summer months, we have many tourists who attend Mass. Men in shorts; shoes with no socks (that I find very objectional); t-shirts of all descriptions. The women are no better with flip flops, shorts, bare arms, etc.

Why is it so difficult for people to be presentable when attending Mass? It should be the high point of the day. If it isn’t, we should ask ourselves why.:dts: :twocents:
 
mullenpm said:
You know full well that a shirt, tie and jacket (trousers presumed) is the normal attire for a man in any situation where he would chose to be “presentable”; jeans (torn or not), t-shirts, open collar sport shirts, etc. are not presentable attire for Mass.
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Says who?
 
I am usually in a nice sport shirt and khakis, or other slacks. NEVER jeans, NEVER a t-shirt. I should wear a blazer and tie but cop out at the least common denominator and I don’t. If I am a lector, making an announcement or presentation, I do wear a dress shirt tie and a jacket.
 
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