What clothing do you consider modest?

[deb1]

stanley123:

My personal opinion is that this is a modest bathing suit.

Yes, it is modest but it also appears very hot. I can’t imagine being comfortable in such an outfit.

One thing that irritates me, is the number of women who wear very, very tight shirts with words printed across their bosoms. I have always assumed that most people wear words on their shirts for others to read, but there is no decent way to casually read these women’s t-shirts.

 

[didymus]

Didi:

Not only wear clothes that would not offend Our Blessed Mother; wear clothes that will not offend Our Lord and Savior.

Especially for girls, please keep your tummies, your tooshies and your cleavages covered.

And let’s define “covered” – a pair of stratch pants that’s indistinguishable from a coat of paint may “cover” you from waist to anklewhile leaving less to the imagination than a miniskirt.

 

[KayMS]

deb1:

Yes, it is modest but it also appears very hot. I can’t imagine being comfortable in such an outfit.

I would regard it as extreme for beachwear in the US; though modest for its own culture.

A Catholic Dictionary, “Modesty”

“It will thus be seen that modesty in its commonest sense, with reference to deportment and dress, is a relative thing, varying from place to place and from age to age. Actions and words lawful and praiseworthy in the married are immodest for the single; social customs recognized in England are immodest in Spain; the dress of a Connemara fishing-girl is immodest in a drawing-room; the requirements of modesty in the Vatican or in church are more rigorous than those of Samoa or when sea-bathing.”

The article that stated Islamic women wear one-piece suits with knee length shorts is a more “appropriate” level of moderation in dress in the US, which is what modesty is about. Drawing attention to oneself with clothing, whether it be on the immodest end or the overly modest end of the clothing spectrum, is not moderation; therefore, not modesty.

Modesty must be modulated by grace, too, since it is after all a virtue. People can and have forced modesty on others rather than allowing them to grow in the virtue. For example, I have relatives who live in Florida among a Mennonite population. The young girls are required to wear the modest swim wear pictured further up this post. My nieces have witnessed those girls, once their parents have left the beach, removing their modest swimwear revealing the opposite extreme - bikinis!

 

[Forest-Pine]

KayMS:

The article that stated Islamic women wear one-piece suits with knee length shorts is a more “appropriate” level of moderation in dress in the US, which is what modesty is about.

Part of the article I didn’t quote, though, says:

Holly Hassan arrives at the indoor community pool when everyone else is leaving, when the water is motionless, when the pool is tranquil.

She carries a bundle of white shower curtain liners,fastened together with duct tape. She hangs them over the windows, making the pool a private, enclosed space. A female lifeguard takes her post.
…
*And a new way of celebrating the summer pastime is becoming a part of the Washington region’s ever-growing cultural landscape. Combining the desire to swim and Muslim traditions, the region’s soaring Muslim population is renting out community pools for sex-segregated swim sessions. *

Putting ductaped shower curtains around the pool, allowing only women in, and still wearing shorts to the knees, is not what most Americans would consider “normal.” Apparently, the beaches of Turkey are getting the same discussion where Moslem women are wearing the bathing suits I posted above while the rest of the society is saying it is a bit extreme. However, judging by their premarital sex, abortion, and divorce rates, Moslems are fostering a society of respect for the female body. Nonetheless, I do think your post is accurate and informative, Kay.

 

[KayMS]

Forest-Pine:

Putting ductaped shower curtains around the pool, allowing only women in, and still wearing shorts to the knees, is not what most Americans would consider “normal.”

What they do is rather extreme for the US, today, though gender-segragated swimming was the norm way back when swimming first became a popular past-time.

I would have to disagree about the “normality” of the coverage to the knee look, as even Olympic swimmers have taken up body suits that cover their thighs, albeit skin tight. In CA it is popular for swimmers to wear surfing suits which cover a whole lot more than a swim suit, again skin tight.

 

[Prometheum_x]

Modesty is entirely dependent on the context of each situation as it occurrs. What is the cultural significance of such and such a style of clothing?

However, I think another important aspect of it is how a person carries themselves while wearing their clothes.

Two extreme examples to illustrate this point: Suppose a woman is attacked, beaten, and has all of her belongings stolen, including her clothing, and left naked by the side of the road. She stumbles into a nearby police station (the police were eating donuts and didn’t see the attack ) to get help.

Now, let’s visit the local “Modesty” beach where the men all swim in t-shirts and swim trunks, and the women wear different varieties of the “swim” suits pictured above. (How one swims in those things is unknown to me). However, a certain woman on that beach, while clothed head-to toe in her spacesuit- I mean swim suit – walks around in such a way that she draws attention to her body, in a particularly sexual way. Uh. . . I won’t describe how she might do that. You figure it out.

Which of the two women is being immodest?

 

[Rebecca_New]

Modesty is different for different places. I don’t think you should dress for the beach if you are going to a dance. I don’t think you should dress for bed if you are going out on a date. Guys have a very active immagination and it needs no encouragement from us women-I have definately learned that. Be glad that you have a Mom that knows the score and trust her judgement. We just want what is best for our daughters and dressing modestly is so important to our dignity as women. Let’s help men respect us, not as sex objects, but as loving partners.

One thing I would like to point out is that in third world countries where there is a Christian void, we see nudity and piercing of body parts, and tattoos-there is nothing wrong with that but do we want to immulate that? We dance like third world, our music has a beat like third world, we are even using the drugs they use for rituals on our streets-We should influence them to the extent that they have apparently influenced us.

 

[hgracet]

This is becoming quite a ridiculous discussion. I just cannot believe that someone is following guidelines such as this many inches from here to here to here…the whole idea gets lost in it, it will get to a point where your eyes will encourage lust according to what Modesty supposedly is. Modesty is not simply what you do and do not wear. Modesty is also a mentality, where as your intent is not to encourage lust. A similar concept to pornography, the definition of pornography is the intent of the person creating it, his intent to evoke lust from the viewer.
One of the biggest perversions in American society, is that the first thing you think of when you see a naked body, is sex. That itself is a perversion. The reason being is that the US was founded by a puritan culture, a hatred for the body was bred by this culture.
Modesty is also wearing what is proper to an occasion, its okay to wear a bathing suit on the beach but not to a blacktie dinner, that is immodest, it is not the occasion for it.
The biggest problem is one’s mentality, beware of one that is prudish.

 

[Rebecca_New]

One other thing we need to cover more of our bodies for health sake, the sun does horrible things to our unprotected skin. Look at the Coppertone baby who has covered up a lot since the creation of the ad.

 

[KayMS]

There are a lot of things to consider. A surfer suit on an elderly or a heavy set woman would not be modest.

My thought was what the Islamic swimsuit would look like on a woman just exiting the water! She will either look like surf drug seaweed or the modesty equivalent of a wet t-shirt contest.

“outward apparel should be consistent with the estate of the person, according to the general custom.” – St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa

“As to the material and fashion of clothes, propriety in these respects depends upon various circumstances, such as time, age, rank, those with whom you associate; and it varies with different occasions.” --St. Francis de Sales*, Philothea*

 

[Fox]

Rebecca New:

One other thing we need to cover more of our bodies for health sake, the sun does horrible things to our unprotected skin. Look at the Coppertone baby who has covered up a lot since the creation of the ad.

Your body needs the Sun to live. There is too much propaganda about how evil the Sun is. Without it no life would exist on this Earth. Get your sun in moderation everyday, enough to live healthfully but not enough to burn yourself. You people treat the Sun likes its the plague.

 

[MarthaMartha]

deb1:

I would like to add one rule to the above list. No bra straps should be visible to the casual observer. What is wrong with women today? I am not talking about a bra strap accidently being exposed. This is a case of just tackiness. I see so many shirts with spaghetti straps that the women don’t bother to care that their bra straps show. I’ve even seen women with backless shirts in which the back of thier bras are plainly visible. Come on. Either don’t wear the outfits in which your bras show or buy a strapless bra.

The other day, in the lobby at the movies, I saw a young girl wearing a bra OVER her T-shirt. Ugh.

 

[vluvski]

There aren’t a lot of attractive young women where I work, so I guard myself very carefullly. I wear my mom’s old jeans from the 80s and early 90s (yes, she kept them ALL) to work. On weekends when I visit my fiance, I drive 4 hours straight from my industrial job without stopping, and get there quite spent, not looking my best, and smelling like a paper mill (literally).
Last time, fiance greets me with, “My, you’re looking sexual-harassment resistant today!”
What a romantic! His thoughtful younger brother noted, “That didn’t sound like a compliment.” I pretended I didn’t mind, but my feelings were hurt. I had saved my favorite polo shirt to wear that day and even wore my nice pair of jeans purchased 6 years ago from Good Will. (I say that to be funny, but honestly the low-rise straight leg style is still in for young adults, and they haven’t been worn that much because I carried around that freshman 15 a few times over.) I really did think I looked pretty good that day, especially in my safety glasses and hard hat !
Men, especially high school and college, please make sure you compliment women who dress modestly. Don’t lie, but if you think they look good, say so.

---

I recently dropped 50lbs, and sometimes get the urge to show it off. I find that when I get a little sassy and purchase some “cute” little outfit, it gets a size tighter and a few inches shorter once I walk out the door wearing it. I am so self conscious the whole time that I can’t have a good time out with friends.

---

I’ve been picking up my fiance’s nieces to go to Mass with me after work. Yesterday I walked in the door to:
“… I hate you!” 10 yr old girl storms upstairs in spaghetti strap top (that, may I say, didn’t match her very cute and modest skirt at all) and slams door.
Mom says to me, “She’s changing her shirt.”
Girl comes back down in a very feminine ringer tee with a mini-pocket, looking much better matched. I thought she looked great.
“Oh, where did you find a clean shirt?”
“It was in my drawer.”
“So I guess it ISN’T my fault you don’t have clothes to wear?”
“Well…”
“I guess you just wanted to wear that other shirt with the spaghetti straps.”
“No, this one is ugly and I hate it.”
The second shirt looked great, and the first one looked awful!

My general point: you don’t have to wear revealing clothing to look like a million.

 

[Fox]

Vlu,
I am proud of you losing 50 lbs in the right way! Way to go. True statement about looking a million.

 

[KayMS]

WOW! Only 10 years old! Such disrespect! Vlu, I would say that example had more to with breaking the Fourth Commandment than with immodesty! The interior has far greater weight than the exterior. The mother should be trying to correct her daughter’s attitude and behavior well before trying to teach her what proper clothing is. Bickering about and forcing the right clothes on someone without the necessary grace to accept God’s will is like trying to butter and serve burnt toast!

 

[Apathy]

I believe a chastity belt, and a iron suit that covers your whole body except for your eyes to be the way of the lord.

Skin should be hidden and not shown, for it enduces lust in even the most devout of humanity.

I believe the Comstock Laws should be re-instated.

 

[una_veritas]

K, let’s hear the advice from a sixteen-year old who knows her stuff! Modest clothing…

-nothing that shows off your cleavage too much
-nothing that is really tight, that u can’t move or breathe
-nothing that when u sit down, looks like ur wearing no shorts or skirts at all
-in church, cover ur knees and plz for the sake of God! don’t wear tank-tops or spaghettis. It’s just disgusting
-nothing that shows off your back
-nothing that makes men see you as an object rather than a person

Hey, I know this sounds limiting but like the ten commandment, which are only ten rules, think of all the other stuff that is possible for you to wear/do.

 

[Apathy]

-nothing that shows off your cleavage too much
-nothing that makes men see you as an object rather than a person

As a young man myself, I must profess that either your cleavage is shown or it is not shown.

In regards to objectivity and perception of the female, I find it respectable when they do not dress as skimpy; modesty is definately “for the win”.

However I must inquire, on the basis of our construct we are attracted to eachother on a physical level as well as personal and what have you;some instances people I would speculate view you as a object regardless as there are people who subscribe to that particular perception.

 

[KayMS]

Apathy:

I believe a chastity belt, and a iron suit that covers your whole body except for your eyes to be the way of the lord.

I believe the Comstock Laws should be re-instated.

I would find it rather difficult to clean house dressed that way. Getting in bed would be murder and well shall we mention how hard it would be to use the facilities!

Comstock Law (1873) was an anti-literature/anti-drug law, not clothing legislation. It is commonly known as the anti-birth control law. shs.westport.k12.ct.us/jwb/AP/TLdocs/comstock.htm This is the law that caused Margaret Sanger’s arrest when she opened her first birth control center in 1916 and was also the first step toward changing the Comstock law with the Crane decision in 1918, which allowed birth control for therapeutic reasons. Here is an article by Margaret Sanger on the Comstock Law showing that her motives were not purely for the “therapeutic” arena.
nyu.edu/projects/sanger/comstockery_in_america.htm
Further changes were made over time and we all know what Roe vs. Wade resulted in.

 

[Apathy]

KayMS:

I would find it rather difficult to clean house dressed that way. Getting in bed would be murder and well shall we mention how hard it would be to use the facilities!

Comstock Law (1873) was an anti-literature/anti-drug law, not clothing legislation. It is commonly known as the anti-birth control law. shs.westport.k12.ct.us/jwb/AP/TLdocs/comstock.htm This is the law that caused Margaret Sanger’s arrest when she opened her first birth control center in 1916 and was also the first step toward changing the Comstock law with the Crane decision in 1918, which allowed birth control for therapeutic reasons. Here is an article by Margaret Sanger on the Comstock Law showing that her motives were not purely for the “therapeutic” arena.
nyu.edu/projects/sanger/comstockery_in_america.htm
Further changes were made over time and, we all know what Roe vs. Wade resulted in.

The quip I remarked with Comstock was, Comstock Laws prohibited the trafficing of luid material via the Post Office so they had Postal Inspectors that removed things deemed luid.

Some of those things deemed luid were Womens Clothing Catalogs from Sears.
I am sorry I should have made the joke clearer.