I am not very old; therefore, all I know about the veil thing is from my mother and from westerns; but otherwise, I do not know when about the whole change occurred. I know that you are probably really busy but I was having trouble finding something. I was figuring since you have more knowledge in the subject than I do, so you may know when generally did women stop covering there heads within the church or maybe just a general year or something. If you have an answer that would be very helpful.<\/p>\n\t
An excellent question, but one that I don’t think I can answer with great precision. As I write this, I’m in my mid-forties so my personal memories only reach back to the 1960s. By that time head coverings of any form had become unfashionable. Only a few elderly ladies wore hats, especially during worship. Older men still wore hats, but these were removed upon entering a building.<\/p>\n
According to several reliable sources, the materials available often dictated what women wore upon their heads. Hence, during the early 1800s cloth bonnets were in fashion. As a greater variety of materials became available and affordable, the early 1900s saw large, elaborately decorated hats. The roaring 1920s brought in short hairstyles for women and hats accordingly shrank as well. The war years, between 1930 to 1950, made materials expensive so simple practicality dominated the fashions. It was during World War II that many women entered the workplace while the men were off at war. Ready-to-wear fashions became favored, and hats started to fade in general usage. By the 1960s hair care products became generally available. This meant that a woman could arrange her hair without all the concerns as to what the wind would do to her hair. As a result, hats all but disappeared except as temporary fashion accessories.<\/p>\n
Though we may wish otherwise, the church is often influenced by societal trends. As women stopped wearing hats in general, they stopped wearing any covering during church services. Popular fashion continues to influence our behavior. I recall debates in the 1970s whether women’s pants-suits were acceptable in worship. Funny thing is most of the objectors saw nothing wrong with them for general wear, they just did think they belonged in the worship assembly. The usual objection was that the pants-suit wasn’t distinctive enough from men’s attire. Today, pants are commonly seen on women in the assembly. Now the fashion trend is toward shorts during the warm months, and men and women are showing up at services in casual attire — something unheard of years ago when people had two basic outfits: every day and Sunday best.<\/p>\n
The Scriptures do not dictate specific outfits that men and women are to wear. Instead, guidelines are given as to what is acceptable or unacceptable. Clothing is to cover one’s nakedness (defined to be areas of a person’s sexual organs) (Genesis 3:7,\u00a010,\u00a021;\u00a0Exodus 28:42-43). Men’s clothing is to be distinctive from women’s clothing (Deuteronomy 22:5). Clothing is to be appropriate, modest, and in keeping with a sense of shame (I Timothy 2:9-10). And the one that has caused much controversy, women are to show submission by covering their heads during prayer and men are to have their heads uncovered during prayer (I Corinthians 11:3-16). These guidelines still leave considerable flexibility in fashions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am not very old; therefore, all I know about the veil thing is from my mother and from westerns; but otherwise, I do not know when about the whole change occurred. I know that you are probably really busy but I was having trouble finding something. I was figuring since you have more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[208,366,117,279],"class_list":["post-1771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-clothing","tag-dress","tag-head-covering","tag-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-women-not-wear-a-head-covering\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":0},"title":"Why do some women not wear a head covering?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do women in the church of Christ overseas don't cover their heads during worship? Is there any difference between Nigerian women and your own people? Nigerian women who worship with your people discovered that they do not all cover their heads during worship. Answer: I'm not in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":603,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-women-wear-a-cloth-on-their-heads-during-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":1},"title":"Why do some women wear a cloth on their heads during worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do some women wear a cloth on their heads during worship? Answer: The wearing of a head covering has been debated for numerous years. I doubt any single article will forever settle the question, but Hiram Hutto wrote probably one of the best articles I have read on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4747,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-a-woman-start-wearing-a-covering\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":2},"title":"How does a woman start wearing a covering?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've read a few of your statements on head coverings and find it interesting. How exactly can a woman begin to wear some sort of head covering within a church where this is not practiced or even mentioned? The key is to not present it as though they are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-priscilla-can-be-used-as-an-example-of-head-covering-why-not-of-women-serving-communion\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":3},"title":"If Priscilla can be used as an example of head covering, why not of women serving communion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reviewing your article on \"Head Coverings\" from your web site.\u00a0 I thought the article was very well presented! I was wondering though why the article used a picture from the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome (under Early Christian Worship), the same catacomb that elsewhere shows Priscilla serving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10249,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-head-covering-be-worn-all-the-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":4},"title":"Should a head covering be worn all the time?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to thank you for the wonderful study of I Corinthians 11:1-16.\u00a0 I have recently felt the need to study this.\u00a0\u00a0I am a new sister in Christ and no one else in my church uses head coverings but I feel that it is what I should be doing.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13476,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-the-husband-is-convinced-of-the-head-covering-but-his-wife-isnt\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":5},"title":"What if the husband is convinced of the head covering, but his wife isn’t?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What if the husband is convinced of the head covering, but his wife isn't? Answer: Since the head covering is a sign of submission, the answer is no different from a husband who is convinced that his wife should be submissive, but she isn't. 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