I love wearing dresses

I like to be inspired to be modest, and so I often search online for articles regarding the topic. Most of the websites I have found are religious, and most Christian. Many of these Christian websites believe that women should always wear dresses that are plain (or perhaps a better word is “drab”) as well as modest. My problems with this idea are the following:

They almost always quote one or all of these scriptures:

“Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel”. -I Peter 3:3

“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;” -I Timothy 2:9

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”-Deut. 22:5

And neglect to quote the following verses:

Rebekah was a total babe:

“And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.” Genesis 24:16

She wore expensive jewelry:

“And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;” Genesis 24:22

“And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.” Genesis 24:47

She was so beautiful that her husband was afraid that men would kill him for her:

“And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon”. Genesis 26:7

The Virtuous Woman in Proverbs wears beautiful clothes:

“She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.” Proverbs 31:22

I don’t know any Christian woman who would think that Rebekah or the Virtuous Woman are immodest or vain. Other examples of beautiful women in the Bible are:

Abigail

Esther

Sarai

The daughters of Job

The Bride of Christ, a figurative woman symbolizing the Church

In fact, almost all of the women in the Bible are described as being beautiful, and many are described as wearing beautiful clothing and jewels. Obviously the problem does not lie in being beautiful or wearing beautiful things. The problem starts when we
begin to think that our apparel makes us better somehow. The truth is, I believe, that God does not really care how expensive or inexpensive our clothes are. I believe He wants us to find happiness in looking beautiful and modest, and at the same time be humble and charitable.

“…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” I Sam. 16:7

I like the way President Susan W. Tanner put it in her Conference talk which can be found here:

“You must do everything you can to make your appearance pleasing, but the minute you walk out the door, forget yourself and start concentrating on others.”

Or the way President Hinckley put it:

“Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth”.

Regarding the verse in Deuteronomy, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”-Deut. 22:5 :

A few of the Christian websites use this verse to show that women should always wear dresses and men should always wear pants. To me, this is not logical. I do not know much about Old Testament history, but I am pretty sure that both genders wore long, loose robe-type things and that neither wore pants at the time this verse was given. Obviously, though, there was some kind of distinction between what a woman wore and what a man wore. There was a cultural distinction between what apparel looked feminine and what looked masculine.

To my mind, this idea of distinguishing the genders with apparel is still in practice, but not in the way that these Christian websites would have it. Truly, a dress is a very feminine look, in today’s western culture. But what about other cultures? In a great many areas of the world, men wear what might look like dresses or skirts to us westerners (or if they don’t look like dresses, they definately do not look like pants). However, these men are, without question, considered masculine. So what does this mean? To me, it means that “that which pertaineth to a man” and woman, regarding clothing, is cultural. In today’s culture in this part of the world, it is commonplace for a woman to wear pants and still look feminine. The cultural distinction is still there. Therefore, in my mind, women do not have to always wear a dress to please God.

Having said all of that, I really love wearing pretty dresses, own several (far more than I do pants), and wear them often. I find pants rather uncomfortable unless they are somewhat loose and soft. Dresses are comfortable and really not cumbersome unless you are going to be rock climbing, motorcycling, riding a horse, etc. In winter, I love to wear dresses with thick socks or stockings and boots. It is an outfit not in the least colder than wearing pants.

My own experience with dresses has led me to believe that, in our culture, by wearing pretty dresses more often a woman can very soon develop more gracefulness, more confidence, and better posture. However, perhaps that statement deserves its own post.

*Please note that all of these ideas are my opinion and that you do not have to believe what I believe or do what I do, etc. Think about this topic on your own and decide from there.