The Modesty Question

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OP, I believe it was Miss Manners who said that usually people express themselves through their words and behavior, rather than sayings on their t-shirts.
I think that website is a bit tough to follow in the modern world, but maybe there is a happy medium between leggings and a t-shirt, and a full ankle length dress.
 
In that case, the modest thing for you to do is never go outside until your belly deflates.
 
Orthodox Jewish women are attentive to modesty. However, at the same time, the outfit of such women should not prevent them from expressing their individual style. That is why there is no Orthodox Jewish women’s uniform in clothing. Individuality is taken as seriously as modesty.
 
Have a look at Fr Rippergers talk on modesty. It is not just about clothing. It is about prudence and behaviour.
People can run with their interpretation of dress code, for both sexes and totally ignore what modesty really means.
 
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The Muslim women I know dress quite modestly. It is part of their religion.
catholicgirl2012 said:
Whereas now, we are living in the 21st century and woman’s dress has changed, and therefore I believe we have modernized our view of modesty.
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Yes. This is the Roman Catholic POV. But i don’t think it is the POV of the majority of Muslims.
 
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As another user said, I would look to the Catechism to help you discern this question. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to a man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person” (CCC 2524). This means that when looking to dress modest you must take into account the culture and time in which you live. As someone else said, it is not the 1920s, therefore you cannot expect yourself to live by their standards of dress. This is why: If you were to dress in a floor length skirt on the daily, would it be modesty? I do not think so as the whole point of modesty is to humble yourself and to veil what is sacred. Showing up in a floor length skirt with no skin showing but your nose only draws attention to yourself. The purpose of modesty is not to show people how modest you are being, it is to humble yourself and to show dignity to yourself and others.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “ Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet”(CCC 2522). I do not think that dressing like that would be considered discreet. Modesty is more than just dress. It is how you carry yourself and the way you converse with others. Your lifestyle and speech is very important to modesty.
You say you are worried about this article. I read it and pretty much agree with all of it (from the perspective of our times). This does not mean that the specific dress code is something to be followed. Rather it is something to reflect on and help us discover what more we can do in regards to modesty. Maybe your worry is prodding from the Holy Spirit for you to change something. We can all always be doing something to promote modesty whether it is of dress or of heart. Mary is indeed a good example for us to follow. . . .

Regarding specifics, I do not think leggings are modest. However giving the situation, time, and place they could be (under dress clothes/working out/ if you work from home). All of the devout catholic men I know had said that they see leggings as immodest and they only lead them into temptation. I, as a woman do not feel comfortable wearing leggings out and about when I know people would be looking at me. If I have to worry about pantylines, fixing my shirt, or pulling down my dress, I will not wear it.
I like to ask myself: Would I feel okay walking into church like this? Is this something I would wear when hanging out with my dad? How does this make my male friends feel? What are my intentions? Does this guide others and myself to purity? Is this dressing attractively or is it dressing to attract?
Modesty “
Look at all your answers, pray about it, and ask Mary to guide you.
 
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mrsdizzyd said:
Even the Nashville Dominicans fail to meet this mark (too much neck, apparently). This ought to give one some idea as to how restrictive this article is.
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Lucky there is no dress code for animals - some of them wouldn’t stand a chance.
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Giraffes try to make up for showing too much neck in other ways -for example by showing modesty when eating . . .they can make a little bit go a long way.

🙂

On a more serious note, I just watched this video on Modesty Proper by Fr. Ripperger. He explains how much more there is to modesty than just dress, but at the same time, a little before the 7 minute mark of the video he quotes the “Vatican under Pius XI” saying that dresses, to be decent, can’t be cut deeper than 2 fingers depth under the pit of the throat and should fall just below the knee. He says “they are not absolutes, but they are good guidelines, so if you want to dress modestly, just follow that . . .but remember that customary doesn’t excite.” He goes on to say that the modesty principles apply not only to dress but to jokes, books. . ."
 
Given the fairly vague “Cardinal vicar of Pope (insert name here)” I don’t put much stock in it.

If it’s genuine, it should be easy to draw up a name and citation.

And even if such a Cardinal Vicar could be identified, his “standards” are not binding.
 
Every month or so the modesty question comes up.

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Crocus said:
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mrsdizzyd:
everyday women’s fashion in the 1920s:
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That’s a lovely picture mrsdizzyd, my grandma would be in her 20s then. Very pretty!
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These women look to be about the age my Great Grandmother would have been in 1920. Very stylish!

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I live in an area where there are quite a few Mennonite and “Amish” people. Those ladies, young and old, are always modestly dressed, of course, although I have seen a few young gals wearing flip-flops instead of their usual tennis shoes! If it’s really cold out, I’ve seen a few younger ladies wear pants under their dresses. Anyway, they are very distinctive by their clothing (as are ladies who in the “Apostolic” group), and I wonder why couldn’t Catholics dress more conservatively, and be recognized a mile off? Why do we just go with trendy worldly fashion for the most part?
 
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Jen95 said:
I wonder why couldn’t Catholics dress more conservatively, and be recognized a mile off?
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As mentioned above, modesty is also about being discreet. It’s hardly discreet and draw attention to yourself because of your distinctive dress. Catholicism recognizes that it is possible to be modest without having to be uniform.
 
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Well, I don’t mean people would have to dress identically.
It’s just that the more I think about it, the more I realize that other conservative religious women don’t dress to keep up with modern trends. Orthodox Jews, Muslims, Mennonite, I’m sure there are more…
 
Jen95 said:
Well, I don’t mean people would have to dress identically.
It’s just that the more I think about it, the more I realize that other conservative religious women don’t dress to keep up with modern trends. Orthodox Jews, Muslims, Mennonite, I’m sure there are more…
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Well, yes (with the exception of Orthodox Jews I think). But, you are also talking about groups with strict laws for dress. Even some who are separatist. Catholics have not had that level of codification around clothing. There were suggestions to be sure and of course veils were required at mass, but there was not a concerted effort to control attire outside of mass. That’s just not what Catholicism is about (thankfully).
 
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