There seems to have been a lot of discussion on the CBMW site lately about what is "appropriate" clothing for women to wear. (Interesting to note that the discussion almost never comes around to what kind of clothing men should wear, unless it is referring to drag queens!). One of the main points that a number of people have been making is about how it is more "feminine" (whatever that may mean) for women to wear dresses or skirts (long, preferably), and how women in trousers consititutes "cross-dressing" and is therefore un-Christian attire.

One post in particular which made me hopping mad contained the article I have copied below. It made me quite sad also to think how far we have _NOT_ progressed from Pharisee-style legalism, and how well-meaning people who honestly do love the Lord can get so narrow and loveless.

I'd be interested in seeing people's replies to how we can respond to this from a biblical stance. They quote extensively from the Bible about what passages tell us about how to dress, and I can see that their approach is rubbish, but I have to say that this seems to be a difficult question to answer from an egalitarian point of view. Any thoughts?

It's interesting to note that this article is authored by both the man and woman, but the second half in particular is written in the first person! (Perhaps the man has decided only to wear dresses? LOL)

Here it is: History of Clothing by Wayne and Susan Theall

The first time we see clothing mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis. We are told that Adam and Eve are naked before they sin. (Gen. 2:25) After they sinned, they knew they were naked, and they sewed clothing for themselves.(Gen. 3:7) After seeing what they were wearing, God made them coats or long tunics out of skins.(Gen.3:21) We can see that the Lord was not pleased with the clothing people made for themselves.

The clothing he made for them was also a heavier, more concealing garment. It is interesting to note that he made them clothing even though they were the only, two people on the earth. In Deut. 2:5 Moses does not stop at saying that women should not wear that which pertaineth to a man. He adds that those that do so are abomination to the Lord. The Bible describes worshipping idols, homosexual behavior, witchcraft as well as seven things listed in Prov. 6:6-19 as an abomination. The Webster's Dictionary defines an abomination as anything hateful and disgusting.

In Isaiah 3:16-24, we see women who are displeasing to the Lord, as well as his punishment for their dress and behavior. They are described as haughty, with wanton eyes, and an affected walk.

Proverb 7:10-23 describes a woman who leads a man into sin. She wears the '"attire of an harlot". She is loud, stubborn (willful, rebellious and defiant), she is in the streets, and not at home, she has an impudent (brazen) face, fair speech (persuasive words), and flattering lips. Her actions are bold and independent; she grabs the man and kisses him. Verse 27 tells us that her house is the way to hell.

If we look at Proverbs 3 1, we see a description of the Virtuous Woman. Which of us does not want to be seen as a virtuous woman by God? We get a few descriptions of her physical appearance. She works with her hands and she has strong arms. We are not told what her face, hair, and figure are like. Verse 30 says, Favour (charm and grace) is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." This woman is described as being more valuable than rubies, and her children and husband praise her for caring for her family, helping the poor, fearing the Lord. In the New Testament, we find many women who love and serve the Lord. A few are Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 2:28), Elizabeth (Luke 1 :40), Anna (Luke 2:36), Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-39), and Tabitha/Dorcus (Acts 9:36). Not one description of these women gives a physical description.

In I Timothy 2:9-10, Paul gives specific instructions as to how women should dress. These include "modest clothes, with shamefacedness and sobriety. not with braided hair or gold, or pearls or costly array".

Webster's Dictionary gives the following definitions: Modest - not vain or boastful, unassuming, not forward, not shy or reserved, behaving, dressing, speaking in a way that is considered proper or decorous, decent, moderate or reasonable, not extreme, quiet and humble in appearance, style, not pretentious. chaste Shamedfaced - very modest or shy Sobriety - seriousness, sedateness We all understand that costly array means expensive clothing. In Titus 2:4 -5, we are told that the older women should teach the young women to be discreet and chaste.

Discreet - careful about what one says or does, prudent Chaste - pure, decent, or modest in nature or behavior, restrained and simple in style; not ornate (Pure implies chastity,' through innocence and an absence of seductive influences. Modest and decent are both applied to propriety in behavior, dress, bearing, or speech as exhibiting morality or purity.) Peter gives instructions on dressing in I Peter 3:3-5. He specifically, tells us to adorn ourselves with a meek and a quiet spirit, not clothing, jewelry and fancy. hairstyles. In order to study this topics, I searched out related verses. and wrote them out. Then. I used the dictionary to find precise definitions of the words used. I also consulted my Bible dictionary,. I tried to ready any Christian tracts I could find on this subject. I prayed that the Lord would open my eyes to see what was appropriate for me as a Christian woman. and what was not. I made two lists. one of words that described what my clothing should be (modest) and should not be (costly,'), and one of words that described what my attitudes should be (meek) and not be (haughty).

We really should mention the subject of temptation. Matt. 5:28 says that for a man to look after a woman with lust is to commit adultery with her in his heart. It is each person's responsibility to resist temptation, but are we as Christian sisters, supposed to put temptation in our brother's path? (Matt. 18:6--7)

The Bible shows nakedness outside of marriage to be sinful. (Gen. 9:22-23, Lev. 18:6-19, Rev. 3:18) Do today's styles constitute nakedness? Many outfits are strapless, show the midriff, then end at the top of the thigh.

It is interesting to study the history of clothing in America. From the time the first Pilgrims arrived, to the beginning of this century, clothing for women did not change that much. Women basically wore long skirts with blouses, or long dresses. Can you guess who started the move, toward the shorter skirts and pants? It was the first feminists in , the late 1800's. They insisted that women had miserable lives, and should be liberated. The feminist thought the answer was for women to dress and act like men. One of these women was named Mrs. Bloomer (we still use the word bloomer to describe the baggy, pants she advocated). In 1851 the early feminists were denied admission to most churches and buildings even though they had a skirt past the knee and bloomers to their ankles. When she realized it was hurting the women's movement, she gave up trying to wear men's clothing, and no more was heard of women wearing pants for 40 wears. As the feminist movement grew, the push to dress like men grew too. Shorter hair, pants, and suit jackets are all socially acceptable today, less than one hundred years later. Wouldn't these early feminist be pleased to see the way most women dress today? Are we truly surprised that currently feminists support abortion and lesbian rights?

How does the Lord want you to dress? Only you and your husband can determine that. But for a Christian woman, this decision should come after prayer and Bible study, not after consulting the latest fashion magazine. As a result of our Bible study and much prayer, our family has developed our own standards for how we should dress. The result is that we dress fairly differently from the people around us. I would like to share some of the common questions I hear from other women about this important area.

1. Why don't you wear pants? We decided that pants were not appropriate for the women in the family. Deuteronomy 22:5 states the Lord's opinion on women who wear men's clothing. I do not want to do anything that is an abomination to the Lord. Notice that throughout the Bible the Lord prescribes different but complimentary roles for men and women, provider/helpmeet, husband/wife. father/mother. God clearly wants there to be a difference between men and women. Pants only became acceptable 30 to 40 years ago as the feminists urged women to act like men. Pants, no matter how loose, still show the female figure much more than a loose skirt or dress. The Lord really opened my eyes when I noticed the women I was standing or walking behind when I was out in public. 2. Does everyone have to dress alike? What is modest on a particular women is largely determined by the shape of the figure. As I am only 5 feet tall, most low V- neck tops are not modest on me. On a tall woman, these would probably be modest. I have an easy time finding skirts and dresses of a modest length. A tall sister would have a tougher time as so many dresses and skirts are short on an average size person. As I am full-figured, I try to avoid blouses that button up the front unless they are very loose, or to be worn under a jumper. Otherwise, every time I move my arms, they pull at the buttons. I also find that outfits with a gathered waist can really accentuate full hips. Someone above average height might also want to watch out for the length on blouses, to make sure her stomach does not show ever, time she lifts her arms. 3. Don't you want to look attractive? Society teaches us that we should dress to be attractive and sexy. We should strive to be noticed. We must always have something different on and never wear the same outfit. How many magazines are filled with articles on how to look thinner. how to change an outfit with new accessories. how to have a new wardrobe on a budget? The Bible gives us a different picture of clothing. Clothing was created to hide our nakedness. Peter tells us to adorn ourselves not with jewelry or a fancy hairstyle. but with a meek and quiet spirit. (I Peter 3:3-4) Please notice that I am not trying to say that we should go out of our way to wear unattractive things. I always buy clothing and fabric in colors and prints that I like. 4, How are we supposed to dress? God gave us very clear and specific guidelines as to how we should dress. The key words are modes, discreet and chaste. Each of us is given the same principles, and has to apply these to our wardrobe. For myself I have determined that I will not wear flashy, shiny, metallic, fluorescent or showy fabrics. I will not wear styles that reveal bare shoulders, the midriff, or my legs above the knee. I also do not wear clingy styles or fabrics that show my figure. There is an ad for pantyhose that claims that no one will see a line where your underwear is. For me any article of clothing that reveals the undergarments is too clingy to be modest.

(the rest is on our website) http://www.bravewc.com/sis

One of the replies contained the following comment:

Most of what passes for girl's clothes are just boy's clothes cut to fit the female form. Modesty is another issue, but it can be a problem in both masculine & feminine clothing. The lack of suitable clothing selection in the marketplace is a big problem, but if you are commited to this principle of not cross dressing you can make it work. My girls love to wear jeans & overalls. One trick we've used is to sew on butterflys, flowers, lace, etc. to feminize them.

So the message here is that it's okay to wear men's clothes (overalls) as long as you trick people and God with your decoration?!?!!!

Thank goodness that my pastor's point of view about what we wear on the platform on a Sunday morning is basically, "Be sensitive to other's feelings, but I don't want to make rules about this because that's likely to hurt people." It's far better to have the "big picture" perspective on these issues.

(Bronwen)

Perhaps it should be mentioned that in Biblical times, men did not wear "pants" (as far as I know). Clothing styles were culterally determined, as they are now. I presume that this means a man in biblical times wore a man's robe, and a woman wore a woman's robe...just as men these days wear men's pants and women wear women's pants.

The references in the NT, it will be noticed, refer to heart issues. Women of the time Paul wrote in demonstrated their social status by the nature of dress and particularly head dress. Paul seems to have been saying that a godly spirit is more important than extravagant dress.

Where these well meaning folk go wrong is where they insist that those who do not do things the way they do them, are sinning. I notice that the writer of the article quoted for us claims that we have the freedom to decide for ourselves what to wear, whilst simultaneously suggesting that women who do not dress the way she does are "cross-dressing" and are 'an abomination". This is, simply, legalistic.

God bless

(Ruth)