What is the standard of modesty in terms of dress code?

[tonychanyt]

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were both naked and it was okay. After the Fall, Genesis 3:

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Before the Fall, they were naked. Their consciences were okay with that. After the Fall, they covered themselves for conscience's sake. Their patchwork wasn't good enough,

21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Concerning the Israelite priests, Exodus 28:

42 “Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body, reaching from the waist to the thigh. 43 Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die.

Concerning the general Israelite population, Deuteronomy 22:

5 A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.

Fast-forward to the NT, 1 Timothy 2:

likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire

Note that it is not just being modest but it is being respectable also.

I can't find any detailed dress code in the Bible. I think it would depend on the person's conscience, local culture, and local standards of respectability and modesty. Generally speaking, it is immodest to dress in such a way as to bring attention to your private parts.

Can a woman in Canada wear pants?

In Canada, it is normal for both men and women to wear pants. It is okay for a woman to wear pants modestly.

 

[Fireinfolding]

What about this one?

Exodus 28:30 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles,
and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

I don't wear girdles or bonnets thats for the guys,

I thought the men of Jesus day wore those long dresses or robes, not sure what they are called, did the men wear pants?

I do love that he says, "not costly" attire, so if anyone tells me what I am wearing looks cheap I can know I am doing something right lol

As you pointed out God clothed Adam and Eve with skins and we also see John the Baptist was sporting some camel hair attire

Jesus said of John

Luke 7:25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts.

 

[tonychanyt]

What about this one?

Exodus 28:30 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles,
and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

New King James Version
“For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Fashion changes rapidly. What is normal in one generation changes to the next.

That makes any attempt at an objective standard of dress effectively impossible. A modestly dressed person in one time and place would look weird in another time and place.

The virtue of modesty is not about an objective standard of dress. But about denying the selfish impulses of vanity and pride.

In "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody song Amish Paradise we find these lyrics,

"Think you're really righteous?
Think you're pure in heart?
Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art"

The humor in the line "I'm a million times as humble as thou art" is obvious. Humble people don't brag about being humble. Boasting and bragging is the antithesis of humility.

Like humility, modesty cannot be found in a kind of moral competition or contest. And that is where moralistic demands on things such as dress fundamentally fail. Modesty as an enforced moralistic code ceases to be modesty, but becomes immodest. It becomes, for the one who believes themselves modest by following such codes, the source of their own immodesty, it becomes itself vanity.

This was, frequently, the core problem of many of the Pharisees in Jesus' day. Jesus does not condemn the Pharisees so much for observing rabbinical customs and traditions, but in exploiting them for self-serving ends. The Pharisee who, for example, boasts in all his good works and brags about how much better he is than sinners, especially "that tax collector over there" is immediately depicted in all his shame and wickedness when contrasted with the actual piety of that very same tax collector who merely says, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner". Hypocrisy, vanity, the sinful and wicked hunger for glory through good works.

Real modesty does not even consider itself modest. Whether one is naked and shivering in the cold and needs clothing; or if one is a resident of a court and dressed in fine linens or silks--it is at the heart, the core of the person, in their disposition toward God and their neighbor that matters.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[tonychanyt]

Fashion changes rapidly. What is normal in one generation changes to the next.

That makes any attempt at an objective standard of dress effectively impossible. A modestly dressed person in one time and place would look weird in another time and place.

The virtue of modesty is not about an objective standard of dress. But about denying the selfish impulses of vanity and pride.

In "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody song Amish Paradise we find these lyrics,

"Think you're really righteous?
Think you're pure in heart?
Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art"

The humor in the line "I'm a million times as humble as thou art" is obvious. Humble people don't brag about being humble. Boasting and bragging is the antithesis of humility.

Like humility, modesty cannot be found in a kind of moral competition or contest. And that is where moralistic demands on things such as dress fundamentally fail. Modesty as an enforced moralistic code ceases to be modesty, but becomes immodest. It becomes, for the one who believes themselves modest by following such codes, the source of their own immodesty, it becomes itself vanity.

This was, frequently, the core problem of many of the Pharisees in Jesus' day. Jesus does not condemn the Pharisees so much for observing rabbinical customs and traditions, but in exploiting them for self-serving ends. The Pharisee who, for example, boasts in all his good works and brags about how much better he is than sinners, especially "that tax collector over there" is immediately depicted in all his shame and wickedness when contrasted with the actual piety of that very same tax collector who merely says, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner". Hypocrisy, vanity, the sinful and wicked hunger for glory through good works.

Real modesty does not even consider itself modest. Whether one is naked and shivering in the cold and needs clothing; or if one is a resident of a court and dressed in fine linens or silks--it is at the heart, the core of the person, in their disposition toward God and their neighbor that matters.

-CryptoLutheran

Great insights, brother

 

[Fireinfolding]

New King James Version
“For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty.

I must have the more femininize version of the KJV.

It's good to know that the newer version of the KJV replaces the girly bonnets with just hats.

What happened to the girdles?

 

[tonychanyt]

What happened to the girdles?

sashes

 

[Fireinfolding]

sashes

Ever hear the song "May favorite things" where the song goes,

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes"

Are they the same sashes only men should wear (which were formerly called girdles)?

 

[tonychanyt]

Ever hear the song "May favorite things" where the song goes,

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes"

Yes, and you must be as old as me

Are they the same sashes only men should wear (which were formerly called girdles)?

They were specially made for the priests only, Ex 28:

39You are to weave the tunic with fine linen, make the turban of fine linen, and fashion an embroidered sash. 40Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons, to give them glory and splendor.

 

[Fireinfolding]

And why did men give up wearing robes?

And if the men wore robes what form would a woman be dressed in that would land her in the category of wearing a mans attire?

 

[Fireinfolding]

Yes, and you must be as old as me


They were specially made for the priests only, Ex 28:

Yeah, I'm old as dirt.

But what did the average man wear? If a woman could be accused of wearing what a man wears?

Or was that a kind of work around which refers to a woman wearing what pertains to a man in respects to the priesthood rather?

I guess it cant be if a man can wear that which pertains to a woman, so maybe thats a little stretch.

I thought they were all wearing robes, and the sons as well as daughter gave Aaron earrings of gold and bracelets so they both wore things like that. Although in one place (I think Isaiah, not sure) it says something to the effect that certain wore gold earrings because they were the sons of Ishmeal or something to that effect.

Edit typo