To the random customer at my place of employment, thank you. Thank you for pointing out the skirt I was wearing. Genuinely, thank you. You were used to show me the importance of dressing modestly all the more. Thank you for asking me about my church. It proves the relationship between what one wears and the influence they can have. To the fellow-shopper of Walmart, I noticed your stares. They do not upset me, quite the contrary actually. I recognize I catch people’s attention in a different way. Even if simply out of mere curiosity. To those who have had questions of why I wear a skirt, it has been encouraging to recognize that my God is noticed through it all. I want to apologize for my often frantic grab for words to give a surface answer as to why I wear a skirt, or even simply not having enough time to go into it. I was not prepared to apply 1 Peter 3.15 in my life as I thought I was. I realize it is a popular conversation everywhere I go lately and y’all have had incredible opposing arguments, some of which I had never thought about. It has laid heavy on my heart, so given the time, this would be my response to the question, “why do you wear skirts?”
“Modesty”. Modesty is not a bad word, it is a way of living. According to Mr Webster it means, the quality of not being too proud or confident about yourself or your abilities; the quality of behaving and especially dressing in ways that do not attract sexual attention; the quality of being decent or not boastful. Modesty reveals the attitude of a woman who lives to honor God. It is more than a ruler, hemline, a sleeve length, or a neckline, it is an “interior disposition that influences not only our dress, but our thoughts and actions.” (Leah Darrow) Modesty does not start with what you wear and then affect your heart. Modesty begins with your heart, and then affects what you wear. It is not really about clothing, guys, or your body, it is about Jesus, and we need to be glorifying Him in everything we do – including how we dress. Our dress is an obvious way to display Christ. Wearing modest clothing, a skirt in particular, is an outward expression of what is already in you. Marc Jacobs, a well-known American fashion designer said this, “To me, clothing is a form of self-expression – there are hints about who you are in what you wear.” Our dress is a way others can see who you are simply by looking at you. In a sense, you are literally wearing your faith. You are a daughter of the King of Kings. Does your appearance reflect your royal status? A quote I have heard many times is this, “Preach Christ. If necessary, use words.” Your actions and the way you carry yourself speaks volumes. I constantly say, “If you have to tell someone you’re something, you’re probably not.” People should be able to look at you and instantly see Christ in you. They should see a higher standard of living. How you dress doesn’t even matter does it? Well, if it didn’t have any effect other than on yourself then why would businesses have uniforms and schools have rules set for clothing. Clothing says something about who you are. People judge you by what you are wearing. Whether it is in style, wrinkled, mismatched, people will judge your outfits by how ‘in’ they are. By taking one look at how you are dresses, people will already have formed an opinion on who you are. So dress how you want to be addressed. You cannot act like flip flops and expect to be treated like Louboutin. What you wear is your billboard, so what are you advertising? People, whether you like it or not, label you by your clothing choices. They place you in a particular social group by what you chose to wear. As well as strangers will already get a glimpse of who you are by what they see on you. It may be stigma, but it is fact. People will treat someone differently that is wearing a frumpy old tshirt and jeans versus a nice, pressed suit. They just do. Clothing triggers things in people’s mind that causes them to associate the person wearing the said clothing to a certain person or genera in a sense. They can, simply by looking at a person, label them as preppy, classy, athletic. They will instantly know if someone is a cowboy, a fire fighter, or a nurse. Proverbs 7.10, And, behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. Just as you think that how you dress doesn’t matter, you realize that it can actually play a huge role in providing opportunities to tell others in what you believe and how others will perceive you. “The way we dress affects the way we think, the way we feel, the way we act, and the way others react to us.” (Judith Rasband) You will never influence the world by trying to be like it, so make it a goal that when people look at you, they will notice the light of Christ in your eyes, and the radiance of your smile, rather than being distorted by the outline of your body. Now, certainly I have went into enough detail onto how important your clothing is, but I go back to the original question to keep me on track, why do you wear I skirt? Essentially, it all boils down to this one statement, because I believe my God told me to. He made me a woman, and if He did that, He expects me to act and dress like one. Femininity is getting lost in the times with chivalry. But even the world sees skirts as feminine. It is still today an emblem of femininity. The labels on bathroom doors prove it. As a young lady, a skirt is the easiest and most effective demonstration of that. Deuteronomy 22.5, 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. God provided and desires a very clear distinction between the clothes of a man and that of a woman. It was clearly a matter of importance to God, as breaking this command was referred to as an abomination. God's original creation of male and female and created the very distinctive natures and functions of each. Any blurring of these distinctions in the realm of clothing may also blur the differing roles God prescribed for each, or at least encourage the actions. Though women today wear pants almost as much as men, still our culture views pants as men’s clothing. Look at the restroom signs. Consider expressions we still use, like, "Who wears the pants in the family?" By this we mean who is the true leader of the family (the role God ordained for the husband, but often usurped by the wife). My God also told me to be separated from the world. As Christian girls, it is our responsibility to raise the moral bar, not lower it. It is our duty to lead culture toward modesty and decency, not away from it. Dressing modestly is my way of telling the world, I don’t play by your rules – I play by God’s rules. It is better to have God approve than the world applaud so I would rather dress for the desires of a King than the desires of man. I was not called to draw attention to myself; I was called to draw attention to my God and be a witness for Him. Immodesty catches the eye. Modesty catches the heart. Modest dress is covering and non-revealing. It is to keep my body protected from the eyes and minds of the world. Now the Bible does not specify SKIRT,I mean, skirts did not exist back then, but it does specify modesty. It is respecting and honoring to God, my parents, and my future husband. It is a witness of Christ and my beliefs. Being asked, “what church do you go to?” by a total stranger, that proves it. Now there have been many arguments on why pants are better that have been thrown at me. Some I can understand and can say they are valid. But I will address a few of them. Why would I not wear pants if pants cover more skin? I am not dressing modestly to cover my skin, I am covering the minds of the world. Certainly pants do cover more skin than a typical skirt, but modestly isn’t a hemline or the amount of fabric used to make a garment. Pants are 99.999% of the time too tight for women. Actually I just made that statistic up. I have never seen a ‘modest pair of pants’. The purpose of pants is to attract they eyes and cause wrong thinking. When looking at a woman wearing a pair of pants, the eyes are immediately drawn to her body rather than her face. The lines defined by the garment naturally draw your eye there. If you’re showing your shape by what you’re wearing then you’re not truly covering yourself even though you are using more fabric. Sheer, tight… etc. If chosen properly, skirts aren’t form fitting to your body shape. Notice I said, if chosen properly. Why would I not wear pants when it is easier to be raped in a skirt? First of all, that argument is invalid. For this reason, they are NOT wearing pants for rape control. I have never met a person who use that as a reason they wear them. Skirts are not an instant target nor do they cause on to be immune to abuse. However, the person wearing pants is certainly not wearing them to prevent being raped. They wear them to attract attention to themselves, and they carry themselves in the same way. The same ones explaining why that is why they would not wear a skirt are the same ones who would wear short shorts, tank tops, and bikinis around town. And that sort of dress is not alluring to rapists? So like I said, that argument is invalid. Why would I not wear pants when they are so much more practical? I can see that. As a child it would probably have been a whole lot more practical and safe to have put a pair of pants on me as crazy as I was. But that never stopped me from doing activities. You name it, I have done it in a skirt. Swimming, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, running, rock climbing, tree climbing, and then some. Skirts don’t make it impossible to participate in activities, they just force me to act like a lady to remain modest. Which, by the way, is what we as women are to do anyway. I recently watched a video on the Evolution of the Bikini by Jessica Rey. I don’t agree with everything that was said, but certain aspects of it were just really cool to me. Go back to before immodesty ruled society. Women wore full outfits to swim in complete with poofy dresses and bloomers, all of which never showed even their knees. However, they were embarrassed to be seen in their swimwear. So there would be these houses. Bath houses which they would change into their swimwear, and then either by horses or people, they were pulled into the water and the women would get out and go swimming to be sure no one ever saw them. Such a time has changed but it was really cool to think about how they were embarrassed to be seen in what they were wearing. Not that those were immodest at all, but in their day it was. There is a natural shame in exposing your body. It was really cool to see that illustrated with pants. Put a pair of pants on a young lady who has grown up dressing modestly and there will be a natural shame to wear them. There is something in her that knows it is wrong, whether she will admit it or not. Genesis 3:7 & 3:21. In Genesis 2:25, we read that before they sinned, Adam and Eve were naked but not ashamed. Immediately after their sin, they became aware of their nakedness. In verses 7 and 21, we read of their first clothes. Verse 7, "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." … 21 "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." From the very first humans to us today, there is a natural shame from the sin of not being clothed properly. That was just really cool and effective in strengthening my standard. Another thing that stood out to me was a few studies that were mentioned. It intrigued me and upon further research I find it is backed by many different studies. It seems obvious, but not it is proven. New research shows that, in men, the brain areas associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis. Women wearing bikinis or otherwise immodest clothing are viewed as objects to be used rather that humans to be interacted with. How’s that for the “rape protection argument”? ;) 1 Timothy 2.9, 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; Modest apparel" (KJV) come from the Greek words, "kosmios katastole". "Kosmios" means orderly, well arranged, decent, modest. "Katastole" refers to a garment, the word being derived from the verb meaning ‘to send or let down, to lower’ (kata, "down," stello, "to send"). By its meaning, it is believed to refer to a long, flowing garment. This is not the only Greek word used for clothing or a garment. "With shamefacedness and sobriety" (KJV) are the Greek words, "aidos" and "sophrosune". "Aidos" refers to a sense of shame, honor, modesty, bashfulness. "Sophrosune" refers to soundness of mind, self-control, and sobriety. This was evidently a matter of some concern to Paul. His concern seems to be that the Christian women be good testimonies for the Christian faith, even in their attire. Many pagan women dressed indecently, immodestly, without any bashfulness or shame, with costly clothes and jewelry and extravagant hairstyles. So, for these reasons, I chose to wear skirt. Does that mean I walk around and point out everyone who doesn’t, or think that they are these wicked people if they do? Of course not. This is not to say that I believe everyone should have the same standards as I do, I have simply explained what I believe is right for my own life. Why do I wear skirts? See above.
2 Comments
Gloria Quinlan
9/1/2016 03:28:23 pm
Excellent article! My thoughts exactly!
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Rocky
11/12/2016 10:14:47 pm
You've definitely put some thought into this. Well done.
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