What is appropriate clothing to wear at Mass if you're a female?

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The Protestants who emphasize dressing up did not for the most part have the same experience of everyday worship as Catholics. Elsewhere in this thread you can see posts about Masses being held at times mill workers could get there, and presumably if these guys were getting off shift or preparing to go on shift they didn’t have time to be changing into good clothes. The same situation occurred with other urban Catholic workers, such as newspaper printers in Philadelphia and factory workers in other cities. I doubt Protestants were going to relatively short daily services like Catholics. Instead, they were more likely to pick one day like Sunday, get dressed up, and be down at the church all day on that day, attending services and socializing.
 
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But you are comparing daily Mass to Sunday. I personally think Catholics did have a tradition of Sunday best. Consider this from Maria von Trap. She was decidedly Catholic and not American.
So every Sunday throughout the year also starts on its eve. That gives Saturday night its hallowed character. When the church bell rings, the people cease working in the fields. They return with the horses and farm machinery, everything is stored away into the barns and sheds, and the barnyard is swept by the youngest farm-hand. Then everyone takes “the” bath and the men shave. There is much activity in the kitchen as the mother prepares part of the Sunday dinner, perhaps a special dessert; the children get a good scrub; everyone gets ready his or her Sunday clothes
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The von Traps we’re wealthy, but she speaks of workers. And by her account everyone has Sunday clothes.
 
Here’s an idea. Keep a fresly dry-cleaned dress, or skirt, in your car. Make an arrangement with the priest to use the Ladies’ Room to change.

I’m sure Father will be fine with it, and he’ll appreciate your effort to dress in a way that honors Christ.
 
There is LITERALLY nothing wrong with scrubs. They meet the modesty requirement in spades. Depending on if one wears the normal long sleeve shirt underneath they are probably more “modest” than that.

I don’t think men appreciate how long it can take for a women to dress in the male-demanded “modest” style.

There is NOTHING that is dishorning Christ about coming to Mass in work clothes.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
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Emperor_Markus:
Dress or skirt, below the knee; no tight clothes, no jeans/pants.
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Where does this ludicrous notion of no pants on women come from? This isn’t 1900. Women wear pants. We even have gasp nice pants.
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Toxic “traditionalist” sites/blogs
 
I think you missed the part where I have to rush to get to the mass. Since the Church is across town from the hospital, I’m already running five minutes late for mass as it is. Add another five minutes and I start to miss readings and people would probably glare at me as I walk in. God doesn’t care that I’m in my scrubs. What matters is that I work hard all day to sacrifice my weekend for others and still get to mass every week.
 
LittleWay16 said:
I think you missed the part where I have to rush to get to the mass. Since the Church is across town from the hospital, I’m already running five minutes late for mass as it is. Add another five minutes and I start to miss readings and people would probably glare at me as I walk in. God doesn’t care that I’m in my scrubs. What matters is that I work hard all day to sacrifice my weekend for others and still get to mass every week.
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You are fine. As someone who’s had to work–I totally get it. I think many who come up with these ideas have absolutely no concept of the choices that someone must make on a daily basis.

Then again, some people are going to perpetually remain completely ignorant.

Like the pompous guy who “spoke” after a late Campus Mass on behalf of the dioceses. He said that the women who dressed nicely were great examples and should be copied.

Except, every last student there knew EXACTLY why those women were dressed nicely–they were going out drinking after. The vast majority of students who were not dressed “nice”–myself and others etc had either rushed from work, volunteer positions (including tutoring low-income kids where ‘dressing down’ helped break down cultural barriers) and study groups.

The man was never invited back to speak, and I think the dioceses even issued an apology. But people will always carry disgusting prejudices with them.
 
Here’s an idea : we each talk to the Lord personally in our own way about how we honor Him, such as by rushing from our work or other activities to attend Mass, and ask our Lord to please grant us patience with those on earth who wish to impose their “dress code” hangups on others, and pray that all of us come to a greater understanding of each other; then pray in praise of our Lord and express our confidence that He judges us on what is in our hearts rather than on our backs.
 
I beg to disagree. If you don’t even make an effort to dress appropriately for Mass, that’s a problem.

Also, why are you “rushing” to Mass? If you cannot attend weekly Mass due to work reasons, just go on Sunday instead, the day you won’t be working. Then you’ll have time to prepare, and absolutely no excuse not to dress according to the perennial fashion customs of the Church - dresses for women and below the knee.

See: http://www.traditioninaction.org/Cultural/C031_ChurchDress.htm
 
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I beg to disagree. Your own imposition of rules on a person beyond what the Church requires is a problem. The other person does not have this problem, you do. You created the problem, you own it, and it is yours to live with, not the other person’s.
 
No, doing simply what the Church requires - aka the “bare minimum” (pun intended) - is about as logical as following only the Four Creeds, and calling that sufficient.

Barring invincible ignorance, our Lord Jesus Christ expects us to show him proper respect. He is present, literally, body blood soul and divinity, in the Eucharist within the Tabernacle at the Altar. It is absolutely inappropriate to wear immodest clothes in the presence of our Divine Saviour.

Pants on women are immodest. Only after the Cultural Revolution of the 60s did people begin to think otherwise. We Catholics must not follow the immoral trends of this age. Instead, we must stick with our morals, which prevent us from dressing inappropriately, especially at Mass, but in public places also.
 
The opinion that women may, in good conscience, wear pants, is one that emerged in the 1960s. Prior to this, women rarely if ever wore pants, except out of extreme necessity.

Even women who rode horses would ride “saddle side” - i.e., sitting sideways on the horse, since the dress prohibited her from sitting comfortably on the saddle.

This opinion has been condemned consistently by Holy Mother Church.
 
News flash: on my weekend to work, I have to work Saturday AND Sunday, 7am to 7:30pm. I have researched all mass possibilities. This is the only one that is not during my shift. People get sick on the weekends and somebody has to take care of them. It is required for every single nurse to work every third weekend. No exceptions.
 
Have you considered changing careers?

That sort of work schedule has a name: slavery.

No one should have to work such absurd hours, nor Sundays.
 
Emperor_Markus said:
Pants on women are immodest. Only after the Cultural Revolution of the 60s did people begin to think otherwise. We Catholics must not follow the immoral trends of this age. Instead, we must stick with our morals, which prevent us from dressing inappropriately, especially at Mass, but in public places also.
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Oh please. Pants are cultural. Men in saudi still wear tunics.

There is NOTHING immoral or immodest about pants on women. Even the Pope allows women to attend Mass in pants.
 
And tunics are fine as well. It’s no different than men (priests) wearing cassocks.

But pants are not suitable for women. And for some men (e.g. priests) they are not suitable, either.

Moreover, the Pope allows many things, and that is his business. Just remember that the old Popes did not permit women to wear pants in their presence. This notion of women wearing pants is a new invention.
 
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Sacrificial love and service of others is completely legitimate activity on Sunday. Visiting and caring for the sick is a corporal work of mercy and is suited to Sunday.

CCC 2186 …Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly…
 
Emperor_Markus said:
Have you considered changing careers?

That sort of work schedule has a name: slavery.

No one should have to work such absurd hours, nor Sundays.
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You do know that the Church directly address the needs of people who provide food and medicine/health care in their Sunday Obligations, right? They actually say that their need to go to Mass is forgiven should it be impossible.

Women do not stop having babies from Friday at 5 to Monday at 9am. I, for one, am very grateful that I had a nurse by my side for my Sunday baby who’d also been in the day before when I was in labor. She knew me and was so kind. She was not a slave–she was a nurse.
 
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