Why do non-Catholics dress so nicely for their Sunday services?

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Most Friends dress to be comfortable. The idea of “plain dress” applies…dress in such a way that attention would not be drawn to oneself…neither dress to “up” or too “down”.

Most of us wear dark pants…jeans…and plain shirts. The women wear pants or plain skirts and blouses. It is very informal…we are at Home in Meeting…we are always in the Presence…life is seen as sacramental…we seek to be 'mindful" of our choices of attire…neither to plain nor to ornate.
 
Hi,

My church runs the gamet. The older people are generally the ones who wear suits, and dresses.

The younger ones wear flip flops.

The 30 something to fifty something are usually casual. I tend to dress more casual because I hate to dress up.:o Im not a slob by any definition but I wear jeans and I wear shorts in the summer.🤷 I think it is a generational thing.

Once my son had to wear sweatpants because I forgot to do laundry and that is all he had left.:eek: He wore black because I figured from a distance they would look like nice pants;) No one even noticed(well at least no one said anything:shrug: ).
 
ALLFORHIM said:
Hi,

My church runs the gamet. The older people are generally the ones who wear suits, and dresses.

The younger ones wear flip flops.

The 30 something to fifty something are usually casual. I tend to dress more casual because I hate to dress up.:o Im not a slob by any definition but I wear jeans and I wear shorts in the summer.🤷 I think it is a generational thing.

Once my son had to wear sweatpants because I forgot to do laundry and that is all he had left.:eek: He wore black because I figured from a distance they would look like nice pants;) No one even noticed(well at least no one said anything:shrug: ).
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Don’t feel so bad. My niece had to wear pajama pants one time, because we didn’t have anything else to share with her that fit her. I’d never taken a kid to church in pajamas before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything!
 
I think this is very true. On average, Catholic parishes are much larger than Protestant churches. If I pulled 100 people out of a Sunday Mass with 400-500 present, I could get 100 in suits and ties level of dress. Those 100 might be the equivalent of the Protestant in church that Sunday morning. The 100 Catholics in shorts and flip-flops could very well be the equivalent of those Protestants who have decided to 'worship God in nature" that Sunday. (The other 200 will be wearing nice but more casual clothing–for example what someone might call ‘business casual’.)

Also at many of the ‘seeker-friendly’ churches–those that also have coffee bars where people can sit and watch the service on closed-circuit TV–people will be dressed much more casually than at a little Methodist church with an average age of 55.
christcnection1 said:
I think dress styles in Catholic churches probably vary more than most churches.

Based on my experience, a typical large parish will have quite an array of dress styles. You will see men and woman in formal attire. Most people tend to be middle of the road in the nice-casual category. However, you will sometimes see people wearing shorts, t-shirts, jeans, and young woman wearing…

…Well, you get the point.

Generally, main line denominations retain better dressers ranging from formal to casual. If you go to more “clappy-happy” and many Evangelical churches, they tend to be more casual than Catholic churches. I’m afraid, some have little sense of modesty.

Come to think of it, it seems the Catholic Church’s dress diversity is also a reflection of the diversity of parishoners. The Church tends to attract many different races, social classes, education levels, and many different types of Catholic spirituality within our glorious religion.

Generally speaking, the Protestant churches tend to be more linear based on each local church. Sometimes this is a strength. Likeminded individuals tend to congregate in one spot. However, there are probably plenty of exceptions.
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mommyof4 said:
Don’t feel so bad. My niece had to wear pajama pants one time, because we didn’t have anything else to share with her that fit her. I’d never taken a kid to church in pajamas before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything!
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LOL It is nice to see Im not the only one out there with clothing problems:thumbsup:
 
In my opinion we dress in accord with the expectations of the majority of folk in our Church community. It isn’t written down anywhere, but we know pretty well what will fly and what will not. There are always a few who will dress well above and a feww well below the expected level. We human animals learn very quickly what fits in without being told.🙂
 
I grew up in a Protestant churches and I can tell you that Protestants do not necessarily dress better than Catholics. It all comes down to the individual. I’ve seen some arrive dressed up in 3 piece suits and fancy dresses - and the next person who walked in was dressed in track shorts and flip flops.

While I prefer to put some semblance of effort into my personal appearance, I also do know that God looks more at the heart than the outward appearance. Overall, we simply need to exercise some of Christ’s Grace and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It’s not worth getting our feathers ruffled over.

CSJ
 
CSJ said:
I grew up in a Protestant churches and I can tell you that Protestants do not necessarily dress better than Catholics. It all comes down to the individual. I’ve seen some arrive dressed up in 3 piece suits and fancy dresses - and the next person who walked in was dressed in track shorts and flip flops.

While I prefer to put some semblance of effort into my personal appearance, I also do know that God looks more at the heart than the outward appearance. Overall, we simply need to exercise some of Christ’s Grace and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It’s not worth getting our feathers ruffled over.

CSJ
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I agree 100%
 
I think it is because of tradition that we dress up. In fact, some protestants only go to church in their birthday suits.

James 2

1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,”** also said, “Do not murder.”[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!**
 
I have another possible perspective for you.

For Mr. Protestant, going to church on Sundays is not obligatory. Therefore if Mr. Protestant doesn’t feel like dressing up, maybe he doesn’t go to church. If he suit is dirty and he can’t find his left dress-shoe, he doesn’t go to church. If he has to work Saturday night into Sunday morning, he doesn’t go to church. If he’s on vacation, he doesn’t go to church. After all, he can always say he was sick or needed a day with the family, and its not considered a sin, so he’ll spare himself the embarrassment.

Now take Mr. Catholic. If he’s an obedient Catholic, he’s going to Mass whether he can find his left dress shoe or not. I’ve seen men come in wearing jumpsuits because they’re going straight to work afterwards. if Mr. Catholic is on vacation and his church clothes are wrinkled, and he forgot to bring good shoes, he’s going to come to Mass in wrinkly clothes and flip flops, because going to Mass is, to use the official terminology… an obligation.

In fact, when I first started going to Mass, even though I personally dressed nicer than I did when going to a Protestant service (skirts instead of jeans), I liked that there were people from all walks of life in all kinds of clothes - it reminded me that Mass is an integral part of Catholic life, rather than a fancy-dress social.

Now, since then I’ve heard a lot of pastoral correction about how people dress for Mass, so some of that has shattered for me, but still - the impression stuck.

p.s. I ask you, my elder brothers and sisters, to try and spare the judgement for those people around you who aren’t dressed well or whose children aren’t dressed well. After all, you don’t know how hard they may have had to fight against the enemy just to make it to Mass that morning. If you feel judgemental, instead thank the Lord that they are there at all, and ask the Holy Spirit to convict their hearts **if **there is an attitude of disrespect that needs to be converted.
 
Elzee said:
I got the idea for this thread reading another in regard to a Catholic dress code. I’ve read stats saying Catholics dress worse going to Mass than Protestants do going to their Sunday services. Based on what I see in my town and especially my parish, I would tend to agree.

I’ve heard many reasons why from Catholics on why they dress so sloppily or shamefully in some cases - God doesn’t care what I wear, at least I’m going, etc.

Non-Catholics - why do you dress so nicely for your Sunday services?
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A nun told my daughter last year, who wears shorts to mass at times–‘God doesn’t care what you are wearing, He cares about what your soul looks like.’ (granted wearing mini mini mini skirts and t shirts that say Hooters is definitely disrespectful) But, if someone wants to wear jeans over a skirt…I don’t see an issue with it. I do see what you are saying…though. I see people dressed up and people not. 🤷
 
I remember when I was growing up in the 80’s that there was often chastizing during the homilies about appropriate dress for Mass.

I remember hearing “Dress for Mass as you would a job interview.”

I think that’s good advice.

Frankly I am disturbed by what some people do wear to Mass.:eek: Very short skirts/shorts, flip flops, spaghetti straps with bras hanging out, cleavage everywhere, etc. And this attire is usually on people that shouldn’t be wearing it at all, let alone at Mass.:eek: Athough sometimes you do find the very attactive young women in such attire and my husband has commented that he can’t look or the stained glass will shatter into a million pieces right into his eyes:p .

I wish those priests would bring some of those homilies because I have not heard a comment/suggestion/instruction on dress SINCE the 80’s.
 
Lehl said:
I remember when I was growing up in the 80’s that there was often chastizing during the homilies about appropriate dress for Mass.

I remember hearing “Dress for Mass as you would a job interview.”

I think that’s good advice.

Frankly I am disturbed by what some people do wear to Mass.:eek: Very short skirts/shorts, flip flops, spaghetti straps with bras hanging out, cleavage everywhere, etc. And this attire is usually on people that shouldn’t be wearing it at all, let alone at Mass.:eek: Athough sometimes you do find the very attactive young women in such attire and my husband has commented that he can’t look or the stained glass will shatter into a million pieces right into his eyes:p .

I wish those priests would bring some of those homilies because I have not heard a comment/suggestion/instruction on dress SINCE the 80’s.
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My pastor put something in the church bulletin about this. He said that the church has A/C, which has just been upgraded, therefore, he expects proper attire for Mass which means, no shorts.👍
 
i guess i would be considered a semi-protestant (although i will be trying out for the Tiber swim team soon!!). in my former church, dressing nicely was an unwritten rule. sure, God still loves you just as much if you show up in jeans and flipflops, but the older generations wont! this particular church has become more of a fashion show, your really not seeking the approval of God, but the approval of the elders.
 
I don’t understand why this thread has this many responses. What is the purpose of it?

In the church that I attend we have a saying on the sign outside… ‘Come as you are. You will be loved.’
 
lak611 said:
My pastor put something in the church bulletin about this. He said that the church has A/C, which has just been upgraded, therefore, he expects proper attire for Mass which means, no shorts.👍
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Having grown up in a different age, I can only add that it is a shame that people have to be told this.
 
RevDrNorth said:
Good point PLUS I like your Spurgeon quote. You must be a fan of Wayne Grudem and RC Sproul.

Rev North
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I like R.C. Sproul. He is one of the most intelligent Protestant ministers I have heard of. He is not anti-Catholic either.👍
 
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