What to wear to Mass?

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keri6789

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I have no idea if this is the right place for this post or not…

My parish has Mass at 5:30 some days during the week. I would really like to go but I don’t want to look underdressed. My work is really layed back - Today I have on jeans and a shirt - I get off at 5:00 so if I want to go I would have to play super Keri and would probably get there around 5:20. Is it wrong to go in my jeans? I don’t want my work to see me all dressed up and think I’m going to a job interview!!

I know that on Sundays I need to be in my “church clothes”, I’m just wondering about during the week!! 🙂
 
keri6789 said:
I have no idea if this is the right place for this post or not…

My parish has Mass at 5:30 some days during the week. I would really like to go but I don’t want to look underdressed. My work is really layed back - Today I have on jeans and a shirt - I get off at 5:00 so if I want to go I would have to play super Keri and would probably get there around 5:20. Is it wrong to go in my jeans? I don’t want my work to see me all dressed up and think I’m going to a job interview!!

I know that on Sundays I need to be in my “church clothes”, I’m just wondering about during the week!! 🙂
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My opinion is that it is better to go in jeans than not at all.
 
I wear jeans to Mass on Sundays sometimes…
I’ve seen folks in shorts and jeans all the time during weekday Mass…

No stress… going to Mass in jeans isn’t a big deal.
(there are no “official” rules on dress at Mass that I know of)
 
Em_in_FL said:
I wear jeans to Mass on Sundays sometimes…
I’ve seen folks in shorts and jeans all the time during weekday Mass…

No stress… going to Mass in jeans isn’t a big deal.
(there are no “official” rules on dress at Mass that I know of)
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Some TLM masses have more or less official dress codes. Jeans (clean and unripped please!) are fine for daytime NO masses - perhaps you can change into a slightly dressier top or slip a collared shirt on over whatever t-shirt or other top you may be wearing. That should be sufficiently respectable 😃
 
You could keep a skirt or a pair of nice pants in your car. When you get to the church just change in the bathroom.
Otherwise…go in jeans at least you’re going to church!
Good Luck
 
People who attend daily Mass directly before or after work wear their work clothes. If that’s jeans for you, so be it. No problem. It’s great you can go to Mass.

Betsy
 
baltobetsy said:
People who attend daily Mass directly before or after work wear their work clothes. If that’s jeans for you, so be it. No problem. It’s great you can go to Mass.

Betsy
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That’s ok; I know some job where you can’t dress up and it will take you time to change to a nice dress. However, if one has a choice to dress nice for Mass, then please do.

At my work, we can only wear Jeans on Friday, but I don’t wear it although I would love to. I prefer to dress a bit formal at work so that I can go to daily mass without taking time changing.

If a workplace forces you to not to wear Jeans, then what we should wear when we are in the House of the Lord?

Just a thought.
 
Suppose you go to a daily Mass and you see there (1) a janitor wearing his uniform, (2) some guy in a three-piece suit, (3) a teenager wearing a fast-food shirt, (4) a woman in clothes that might work in an office but might be casual clothes, (5) a mom in sweats with three toddlers, and (6) a bunch of kids in clean sports uniforms, obviously planning to go to a game afterwards. Would you have any problem with any of their clothes? I wouldn’t, and I suspect you wouldn’t either. Go!
 
Godfollower said:
Suppose you go to a daily Mass and you see there (1) a janitor wearing his uniform, (2) some guy in a three-piece suit, (3) a teenager wearing a fast-food shirt, (4) a woman in clothes that might work in an office but might be casual clothes, (5) a mom in sweats with three toddlers, and (6) a bunch of kids in clean sports uniforms, obviously planning to go to a game afterwards. Would you have any problem with any of their clothes? I wouldn’t, and I suspect you wouldn’t either. Go!
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I wouldn’t. That is what I was saying…it depends.

However, to some of us, we are aware of this, but to others, they are not. They learn what they see.

I’ve seen people wear extreme short skirt to Mass. I’ve seen girls dressing the way they dress to a night club to the Mass.

Now, would you have problems with these?
I think you would. 😉
 
there are at least a dozen threads with this discussion, but be warned, some of them degenerate into pettiness and acrimony. For daily Mass where whatever you are wearing for the activities of the day that follow Mass. You will see most of the congregation dressed that way, either in business attire, work clothes or casual. If you are headed to the beach of course you will be wearing regular clothing over your bathing suit. You would not of course wear shorts, halters or anything immodest at any time.
 
if it makes you feel under-dressed then just invest in a nice jacket or sweater or shirt to wear over your t-shirt and maybe a pair of dressier shoes—assuming you wear regular tennies to work. something to keep in your car. If it is the jeans themselves making you self-conscious, then a pull-on skirt or pair of pants and a quick trip to the restroom before you go in the Sanctuary should do the trick.
Your dress should be clean, modest and not extreme. I have seen work clothing fit that definition and I have seen $300 dresses NOT fit that definition!
I personally find t-shirts with sayings on them to be immodest at times, and short skirts or sleeve-less skimpy blouses–eg beach wear or shorts on teenagers who COULD have chosen something else to wear (I live near a lake resort and some of the dress is too casual for me.)
Ravyn
 
LilyM said:
Some TLM masses have more or less official dress codes. Jeans (clean and unripped please!) are fine for daytime NO masses - perhaps you can change into a slightly dressier top or slip a collared shirt on over whatever t-shirt or other top you may be wearing. That should be sufficiently respectable 😃
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Would you wear jeans to a formal concert or going out to a formal dinner? Are these more formal than the Mass?

 
keri6789 said:
I have no idea if this is the right place for this post or not…

My parish has Mass at 5:30 some days during the week. I would really like to go but I don’t want to look underdressed. My work is really layed back - Today I have on jeans and a shirt - I get off at 5:00 so if I want to go I would have to play super Keri and would probably get there around 5:20. Is it wrong to go in my jeans? I don’t want my work to see me all dressed up and think I’m going to a job interview!!

I know that on Sundays I need to be in my “church clothes”, I’m just wondering about during the week!! 🙂
Click to expand...
In my parish for the Holy Days of Obligation, there is a Mass at noon. Many people who work the second shift come to this Mass before work. There are a lot of blue-collar workers at this Mass who are wearing their work uniforms and work boots. I do not see any problem with you wearing jeans to Mass since they are your work clothes.
 
keri6789 said:
I have no idea if this is the right place for this post or not…

My parish has Mass at 5:30 some days during the week. I would really like to go but I don’t want to look underdressed. My work is really layed back - Today I have on jeans and a shirt - I get off at 5:00 so if I want to go I would have to play super Keri and would probably get there around 5:20. Is it wrong to go in my jeans? I don’t want my work to see me all dressed up and think I’m going to a job interview!!

I know that on Sundays I need to be in my “church clothes”, I’m just wondering about during the week!! 🙂
Click to expand...
This is a late post to this thread, but thought I’d put in my two cents. I had a Protestant roommate who was appalled when I ran off to weekday Mass in jeans. In my opinion (for what it’s worth): you’re going to be with family for a family dinner (the family of God, and a sacred dinner, but family all the same.) If your family at that particular parish dresses up for dinner, so to speak, than you should try your best to do so. I don’t wear jeans to Mass at St. Peter’s in Rome, nor would I wear them when visiting ANY Catholic church in Spain. At my parish, however, in Downtown San Diego, its the universal church in a nutshell – the sick and the healthy, the rich and the poor – one big hodgepodge of humanity. If you’re in jeans or a suit, it’s appropriate there, as long as you show proper reverence for the Mass. Hope that’s of some help.
 
StMarkEofE said:
Would you wear jeans to a formal concert or going out to a formal dinner? Are these more formal than the Mass?

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No - but then again if we were going to a ball I’d wear a ballgown, possibly borrow my mother’s fur coat if it was cold, since I don’t own a nice coat or wrap, and you’d wear a tuxedo. That’s more formal than either of us would dress for Mass. Why would a ball, by your reasoning, be more worthy of your best clothes than the Mass??
 
I think we all recognize that although our best is the goal for going to the house of the Lord, there are circumstances that might pull down what we are reasonably expected to wear. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like the OP was asking more what level of effort was reasonable to put into dressing nicely than simply asking whether it was okay to show up with other than your Sunday best.

You don’t need to put in any superhuman effort, but it seems like there are lots of little things that could be done. For instance, a blue-collar worker may not have time to take a shower and still get to Mass after work, but maybe he has time to at least wash his face off. Or maybe you can’t change your whole outfit before Mass but you could keep a button-up shirt in the car that would tidy up your appearance a little bit. An important thing, though, with issues such as these, is knowing that you are living up to your own standards of striving for God. If you’re honest with yourself about the distinction between inconvenient and unreasonably burdensome you’ll be fine. You’re already doing something inconvenient by going to daily Mass, so we know you’re willing to put in some effort, now just use your best judgement as to what kind of effort is reasonable for you to put into your appearance there. There is no universal answer other than prudence.
 
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