Are sleeveless shirts that are covering everything immodest? I had a skirt that was right on my knee and I wore it to church. I had an older man come up to me and tell me how sinful I was for wearing such a thing. It revealed my knee he said and it could make lustful thoughts in guys. I understand that guys are more physically stimulated, but is a skirt right on my knee immodest because you can see my knee? I would like to know the true Christian standards of modest clothing. Please let me know. Thank you.<\/p>\n\t
Many people resort to subjective ideas concerning modesty because they are unable to define what is or is not modest in a definitive way. The problem is that subjective answers only tell you what a particular person’s opinion is on the subject and those opinions vary over time. In addition, we are all influenced by what the society we live within accepts. For example, in the late 1800’s it was considered immodest for a woman to show her ankles, which led to long skirts and high top boots being the fashion. Today, few think twice about it in the United States.<\/p>\n
I’ve written several articles on the matter, so I won’t repeat the contents here, but take a look at:<\/p>\n
There are several aspects to the topic of modest dress. One is whether the chosen outfit covers one’s nakedness, but this only governs the minimal standard. The second is whether an outfit is appropriate for the occasion. The third is whether an outfit makes a person stand out in a group. The fourth is what meaning society assigns to the selected clothing.<\/p>\n
Let me give you an example of the latter. Many years ago, prostitutes wore veils over their faces (Genesis 38:14-19; Song of Solomon 1:7). But at other times, a veil signified modesty (Genesis 24:65; Song of Solomon 4:1; 5:7). I assume the difference was the type of veil in use, but notice that certain items of clothing carried meaning to the society at large. “And there a woman met him, with the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart<\/em>” (Proverbs 7:10).<\/p>\n All factors must be taken into account when deciding whether a particular outfit is modest. Using your example, a plain knee-length skirt would create a different reaction from a very tight skirt with a slit up the side. Both are knee-length, but both cannot be called modest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Are sleeveless shirts that are covering everything immodest? I had a skirt that was right on my knee and I wore it to church. I had an older man come up to me and tell me how sinful I was for wearing such a thing. It revealed my knee he said and it could…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[208,366,365],"class_list":["post-7625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-clothing","tag-dress","tag-modesty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32406,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-men-and-women-who-dress-immodestly-urged-toward-promiscuity\/","url_meta":{"origin":7625,"position":0},"title":"Are men and women who dress immodestly urged toward promiscuity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are men and women who dress immodestly urged toward promiscuity? Answer: Webster's Dictionary defines immodest as: not modest; not decorous; indecent; not shy or humble; bold; forward. Immodesty doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with promiscuity.\u00a0 It can lead to promiscuity,\u00a0but it is not a given.\u00a0 A person can\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":18312,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-saying-that-some-societies-standards-of-dress-are-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":7625,"position":1},"title":"Are you saying that some societies’ standards of dress are wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, I agree with you on modesty but was wondering what you would say in the case of societies like some in Africa where women are bare-chested as well as the men. Is this like the case similar to an ankle in the Victorian age or 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":1647,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modest-apparel\/","url_meta":{"origin":7625,"position":2},"title":"Modest Apparel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"Therefore I desire that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-my-attire-match-those-around-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":7625,"position":3},"title":"Should my attire match those around me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have read the articles and sermon outlines you provide on modesty. I believe I am clear on how the Bible addresses modesty and feel secure in how I dress as being modest. The question I have is: if the standard of modesty for other Christians in the church\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":61941,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-length-pants-or-shorts-should-men-wear\/","url_meta":{"origin":7625,"position":4},"title":"What length pants or shorts should men wear?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I attend a church of Christ here in a small town. I had a question regarding modesty. I've studied tremendously on this topic and am still left with questions. Your articles are very sound and accurate so I figured you could help: Are shorts ok to wear that\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":43389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-yoga-pants-bikinis-and-short-shorts-immoral\/","url_meta":{"origin":7625,"position":5},"title":"Are yoga pants, bikinis, and short shorts immoral?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are yoga pants, bikinis, and short shorts immoral? Most women in my area wear these, even pastors' wives, so it confuses me greatly because I feel sometimes like they're immodest and that I should avert my eyes. Answer: They can be immoral. When clothing no longer hides a person's\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}