Modest Clothing

I thought since this is a sight for covering girls, and girls who dress modestly, i thought we could have a section on modest clothing. So what do you think of when you think of modest clothing? A dress, a skirt, or long pants? What i think modest clothing is, it is a long skirt, a long dress, and a non-gapy, plain shirt. I have no shirts with print on them, because having a whole bunch of things on it makes it VERY noticable! When you wear modest clothing, you aren't trying to show off your figure, you are trying to concel it. So when you wear modest clothing, you don't want it to have, well like big flowers or sparkels. I hope you understand!
Jordyn

i agree but all my cloths have print on them



kayleigh

Well, print is not bad, I think i have one or two shirts with little print on them. But if they have BIG stuff on them, like HUGE flowers, lots of words, a bunch of designs, and sparkles, they attract unwanted attiention. So, you want to keep it plain, but modern. I used to know alot of people in Public School that wore skirts and had long hair, but didn't get made fun of. And anyway, what does it matter? What does it matter that some people make fun. And you don't know, mabey they won't care! But if they do make fun, they weren't real friends. So think on this.
Jordyn

Well, modest clothes for me means clothes which don't attract attention or reveal too much of the figure. Biblical 'nakedness', for women, is anything from the neck & shoulders to the knee. Miniskirts, short shorts, et cetera, don't cover this. I also think shirts and dresses ought to have sleeves - to vests or straps. And no see-through material.

I suppose, in theory, a female could be 'modest' in trousers, but there is a verse in the Bible which tells us not to wear men's clothes. Are trousers 'men's clothes' if they're made especially for women? I suppose not, but are trousers made specifically for woman modest? No, probably not, they're made tighter-fitting, so that they reveal the figure. This isn't modest.

I don't mind prints and patterns on clothes, if it's small and not too garish. A small floral print or checked would be all right, but huge pictures would be a bit odd. You'd also want to check what the pattern is of - you don't want to have something non-Christian printed on your clothes! For this reason, I don't think anyone should wear shirts with writing or logos on them - do people even check what their shirt says? Some of the things written on shirts and other clothes can be pretty suspicious.

If you're interested what I wear, well, I usually wear patterned cape dresses. I make my clothes myself most of the time (it's more comfortable, not to mention cheaper, this way). At the moment, I have two cape dresses with small flowers and one with checks. They're all fairly subdued colours, nothing that is very bright and attention-drawing. I also have a couple of 'jumpers', one in floral print and two just plain colours, which I wear over plain-colour t-shirts. I also have one black skirt which I've had for about 3 years now. All of my skirts and dresses reach to my ankle and are fairly loose-fitting around the bodice. For summer clothes, my sleeves reach to the crease of my elbow; for winter clothes, to the wrist. All of my clothes also have high necklines. The lowest neckline I think anyone should have is if, when they bend over, can people see down their busom? My necklines all cover my collarbone.

Another thing one should be wary of is how thick the clothes are. It's all very well to have long, loose-fitting clothes, if the material is so thin you can see through it! If you're standing in the sunlight, can someone see your legs through your skirt? If so, wear a petticoat! Also, thinner clothing can press against your skin quite revealingly with a slight breeze. This is not good.

I also wear socks or stockings and shoes almost all of the time, definately when I go out of the house. In the backyard, sometimes I go barefoot (although I usually put gum-boots on). When it's really hot in summer, I wear socks with sandals. My sandals are black leather like my shoes and cover most of the foot but are much cooler. If I wear black socks, it's hard to tell that they're sandals and not shoes!

One thing to think about, though, is to differentiate 'modest' from 'plain'. Some things which are 'modest' aren't necessarily 'plain', like patterened dresses.

Also, modest dress isn't only for females! Males should dress modestly, too, in loose and non-revealing clothing. Lots of people forget this!

So, yes, that is basically my opinion on what 'modest' clothing is. Everyone's opinion is different!

from Rachel.

So, Rachel, do you wear a plain solid white veil? In your picture it looks like it has a design on it.
Jordyn

Actually, the one I'm wearing in the picture has blue swirly things, the same as the dress I am wearing. Mostly I wear plain-coloured veils, but not always white. The one I'm wearing at the moment is light blue, I also have light purple, light aqua, and cream, as well as a white one. As there's no specific passage which says exactly what one's veil ought to look like, I wear what matches my clothes. When I make dresses, I often make a veil out of the same material of the dress. I do have a couple of veils with print, but it's all small checks or swirls in similar colours. I hope this answers your question.

Just out of curiostity, dosen't it make it more notice able and draw more attition? I mean, that is just my opinion, but what ever suits you is good.
jordyn

I'm not sure. I try not to have 'loud' coverings or ones with big patterns. I can't stand wearing anything that doesn't match, so my coverings always match pretty well with what I'm wearing. It could be argued that a plain white covering with colour clothing stands out, though.

I guess it's just a matter of what people prefer. As I said,the Bible just says to cover the head... it doesn't say anything about style, shape, size, colour, patterned or not (although one can infer that one's covering must be a reasonable size so that it actually covers your hair and head... I know some churches who practice headcovering wear 'coverings' which sometimes cover basically just the bun...).

But I do wear plain-coloured coverings most of the time. I am wearing a very pale blue one (almost white) today.

Rachel.

I was just asking, and your right, the Bible doesn't say size, shape, color, or pattern. I just prefer white myself. I know some churches the women have little bitty lace circles, hanging down from the bun, but NOTHING on their head. And some it is vise-versa, there is lace on the head, but nothing any where elce, and you can't even tell there is one there unless you are that denomination.
Jordyn

That's true; while no size, shape, or colour, was specified, I think it's safe to draw lines somewhere. For example, all of my coverings are opaque and reasonably large, and none are very 'loud'. I wouldn't think a little lace circle was a sufficient headcovering, especially as lace is mostly see-through and has lots of holes. Take a look at some Jewish tichels (that's the main sort of Orthodox Jewish headcovering). I think from them it's safe to assume that Paul expected some women to wear patterned headcoverings!

Actually, recently I have been wearing my plain white oval veil more. It's good for summer, mostly because it's lighter I think, but when winter comes around again, I'll probably go back to wearing darker, patterned coverings. I don't know; I'll see what happens. But I think the important thing is that the head is covered properly; most of the hair rather than just the bun and not see-through, because neither of those things is really covering!!

That said, I think it's all right to wear small coverings or maybe a bandanna and loose hair when you're just starting to cover; to get you used to wearing something on your head. I feel awkward now when I don't have something on my head, but I can remember when I was unused to it! I started small.

But I do think that the style of one's covering is ultimately between the person wearing it and God. We have no right to judge whether someone's wearing a kapp, a veil, a tichel, a bandanna, a bun-cover, a full conservative Russian Orthodox veil (similar to a Muslim hijab, if you don't know, some more conservative communities in Europe wear them. Look it up here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8095474.stm), or even nothing at all. After all, one sin is as bad as another and none of us are without sin. God will judge; it's not for us. We just need to make things right between us and God.

And anyway, here I am going off on a tangent about goodness only knows what, even when I've (hopefully) thoroughly answered your question!!

from Rachel.

Yes, I agree. It dosn't matter about the stlye, shape, color, or size. I just personaly like white. I like it better. I really think it is a personal choice about the color, sixe, etc. you know? Well, Bye!
Jordyn

However, I would just mention that I have been wearing a white 'oval' veil more regularly over the past month or so (most days, actually). Mostly because it's cooler and I really need cooler at the moment.

I never thought of wearing dark colors in the winter and lighter colors in the spring and summer! What a good idea! I might try it, but right now, i will stick to the white oval veil for myself. I know where to get some dark ones.
Jordyn

Actually, I hadn't really thought of it, either... I only realised recently that I was doing it!

It's just something people do out here with their clothes in general. You can see it in the school uniform; winter clothes are dark colours, summer clothes are light colours. It happens everywhere, in summer, whites and other pale colours, and patterns with white backgrounds, are the most common materials people wear.

I guess since I'm mildly obsessed with my clothes matching (I can't stand to wear clothes which clash), I just did it automatically; if I'm wearing lighter/paler clothing, I wear a light-coloured or white headcovering; and in winter, when I wear darker, woolen clothing, I wear a darker headcovering which matches (a lot of my headcoverings are made from the same material of the dress they match; I usually have enough left over).

And now for the science-y bit:

White repells heat/light rays, whereas black attracts them. All colours, as far as light is concerned, when combined, make white. What's happening when you see something white is that all the light rays on the spectrum of colours are reflecting off it, and bouncing back at you. Whereas when you see something black, it's reflecting hardly anything at all. In fact, this is why black holes are black; they're sucking in everything, including light! Nothing bounces back out for you to see, thus it looks black. I'm probably not explaining it very well, but that's why you see colours: all of the colours of the light spectrum are absorbed and one only colour (or several, in the case of some colours) are bouncing back for you to see.

Anyway, since light and heat are very often the same thing, and dark colours absorbed more light rays, that means that the material gets hotter quicker, whereas light colours repell the light rays and stays cooller for longer. Try just putting out a black piece of material and a white piece of material out in the sun for a few hours, and then go out and touch them and see which is hotter. You'll notice it so much more when you're wearing it!

I get a lot of comments in summer about how my headcovering is surely making me hotter. Something like 90% of body heat escapes through the head and I'm trapping it... surely I'm overheating? Well... no. I have brown hair, heading towards the darker end of the scale. So if I'm not wearing a covering, all that dark hair is attracting heat. Whereas if I'm wearing a white or light-coloured covering, it's repelling the heat. I feel so much cooler that way! Amazing, isn't it? I thought so.

However, in winter, I *want* that extra heat, so I wear a darker headcovering, and darker clothing.

I hope this explanation makes sense.

from Rachel.

Rachel this makes sence! Wondeful explanation!
Jordyn

Thanks!

Your welcome. I think that this makes lots of sence. I do think black veils are pretty. I might get a black one, if my daddy and mommma say yes.
Jordyn

Where would get 'get' a veiling from? I usually make mine. I think if you could find good material, you could just trace around the white one you already have and use that, probably hem it or something though. Most material shops have a 'scraps' bin - the pieces are usually about thirty or forty centimetres wide and a metre or two long, more than enough to make a couple of veils from. See if you can find something 'drape-y', usually pure polyester. A scrap from the scraps bin would probably be less than a dollar.

Oh, I'm not sure I mentioned it, but I don't think lace veils count. They're see-through, and that's not covering, if you know what I mean?

yeah, I agree. I do think one could get too fancy with the lace coverings with the design and lace and stuff. I don't think that dolies count because they aren't really coverings, or not much of one. What do you think about the net coverings some Mennonites wear? I think they are okay because they cover most of you head and they are simple.
Thanks
jordyn

I agree about it being fancy. I'm also not sure about how some ladies put lace trimming on their veils, just around the edge - sure that looks fancy? If the object of dresing plain is to look modest and un-'adorned', why put lace on it? I wouldn't put lace on my clothes because it's fancy - it's the sort of thing that even before I started dressing modestly, I only ever had on my best clothes - so why put it on my veil?

When lace becomes the entire veil, that just seems far to frilly, apart from the fact that it has holes in it and doesn't cover. Doilies are basically lace anyway - so it's small as well a having holes in it!

I'm not sure what you mean by 'net coverings'. What do they look like? I know that some Mennonite make kapp-style coverings out of Swiss organdie - is that what you mean?

I'm not sure what I think of them. I do think that a hanging veil fits more with what the verse says, but I suppose any covering is better than none. I'm not sure about when the kapp-style covering gets too see-through (that's like lace in my mind), and when people start wearing it far back on their head, so that it covers their bun and a bit at the back of their head, but most of the front of their hair and a good deal of their head is still uncovered. I don't want to judge or anything, but to me that is not covering the head.

I hope I've answered your question and I don't want to offend anyone. These are just my thoughts on the matter and everyone's going to think differently on it.

from Rachel.

I agree about it being fancy. I'm also not sure about how some ladies put lace trimming on their veils, just around the edge - sure that looks fancy? If the object of dresing plain is to look modest and un-'adorned', why put lace on it? I wouldn't put lace on my clothes because it's fancy - it's the sort of thing that even before I started dressing modestly, I only ever had on my best clothes - so why put it on my veil?

When lace becomes the entire veil, that just seems far to frilly, apart from the fact that it has holes in it and doesn't cover. Doilies are basically lace anyway - so it's small as well a having holes in it!

I'm not sure what you mean by 'net coverings'. What do they look like? I know that some Mennonite make kapp-style coverings out of Swiss organdie - is that what you mean?

I'm not sure what I think of them. I do think that a hanging veil fits more with what the verse says, but I suppose any covering is better than none. I'm not sure about when the kapp-style covering gets too see-through (that's like lace in my mind), and when people start wearing it far back on their head, so that it covers their bun and a bit at the back of their head, but most of the front of their hair and a good deal of their head is still uncovered. I don't want to judge or anything, but to me that is not covering the head.

I hope I've answered your question and I don't want to offend anyone. These are just my thoughts on the matter and everyone's going to think differently on it.

from Rachel.

Look on www.prayercoverings.com and click on Tratitional Caps. The see through ones are 'net'.
jordyn

I still wear modest clothing. I wear skirts (long) and modest tops. But, i do not wear a covering anymore due to the wishes of my parents