From The Fascination of the Race and Other Essays, by Benjamin L. Sommer

Let us consider, first of all, what is the purpose of dress. It is three fold: first, to protect the body against the elements; second, to cover the body for reasons of modesty and delicacy; and third, to adorn the body.

The first requires but little discussion except to point out that sometimes even this primary function of dress is defeated as people, bowing to the dictates of the Goddess of Fashion, expose themselves in cold weather, to a harmful and even dangerous degree, to the cold. We would advocate moderation in this regard first of all; not that the body should be pampered and coddled with excessive amounts of heavy clothing, thereby making us delicate and sensitive to colds, nor that the body be unduly exposed just because that happens to be the fashion of the day. A great deal of allowance must be made in this regard, however, to individual tastes and needs. Variations in age, the degree of vitality, and the condition of health must be considered. The principle of moderation, that is, the avoiding of extremes, will be a helpful guide.

Fashion

As fashion has a bearing upon all three purposes which are served by dress, we shall discuss that angle of the matter somewhat before going further. Women have a real and just grievance in the way they are treated in the matter of fashion. It is men, in the main, who make the fashions. It is men who criticize them. Women are the victims.

Why do fashions change once, twice, or even three and four times per year? Is it that the designers constantly are designing better, finer, more beautiful things, that new heights of aesthetic perfection are constantly being reached, and that the older and baser must yield to the newer, truer and more perfect? No! Beauty has little to do with changing fashions. They are changed for profit, sordid profit, and little else.

The designers and makers of clothing, particularly women's clothing, must change the fashion often, so that that coat or dress which you bought six months or a year ago, and which is still perfectly good, may be out of style, and that if you are a devoted slave to fashion, you will quickly trot down to your dressmaker or to the store to order another. That makes business; that makes profit. That is the main motive for changing styles.

On the other hand there is no virtue in being old fashioned, except to this extent: If you have the courage to wear your garments until you have gotten a reasonable amount of use out of them, for economy's sake, perhaps in part to use the money so saved for a nobler and more constructive purpose for yourself, or still more, if it is dedicated to an unselfish purpose, that is praiseworthy to a high degree. But to go to the extremes of old fashionedness, to ape the styles of a generation or two ago or of some foreign lands, to go to extremes of severity and simplicity of dress, as though there were merit in ugliness—that is neither sound Christian doctrine nor good sense. That is self-righteousness, and is equally as hideous as it is to be unduly influenced by the ever changing fashions. Neither is it consistent with the sound doctrine, “Be moderate in all things.”

To Cover the Body

Even though we hold that the body is a temple of the soul, even the temple of God, that it is created in the image of God and is of itself just as pure and holy as our mind is capable of conceiving it to be; yet that does not signify that it should be paraded or unduly exposed.

The very sacredness which we attribute to the human body as the temple of the soul and of God, demands that it be reasonably covered. The finest instincts in men and women demand the same thing. It is therefore no wonder that the Holy Scriptures contain sound doctrine to the effect that for the sake of modesty and chastity the human body should be kept reasonably covered.

Therefore, if that mercenary tyrant, Fashion, demands skirts unreasonably and immodestly short, do not follow him to the extreme. Be moderate. If he dictates that dresses be cut unreasonably low, do not obey. Have the courage to act contrary to the dictates of fashion.

But where are the boundaries? How far may we go? No one can tell you in inches how long a skirt must be, how low a dress may be cut, or how long a sleeve must be to come within the bounds of modesty. Outside of the dictates of your conscience and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, moderation will be your best guide. Avoid the extremes of current styles. To a large extent that will protect you from going wrong in the matter. Next, give modesty the benefit of the doubt. If you are not altogether sure that the requirements of modesty are met by a garment, just make sure, to your own satisfaction, that they are; then I believe you will not go far wrong. Give modesty the benefit of the doubt.

Your teachers and leaders dislike to speak very much on this subject. The matter is delicate, and people are sensitive. Save them and yourself all embarrassment by being sure that in the matter of covering the body, your garments thoroughly meet the demands of modesty.

Undoubtedly custom has much to do with our viewpoint in these matters. We must not be too narrow; but on the other hand, history shows that increasing looseness of custom in matters of this and related kinds has led nations and individuals to ruin and depravity. God's people therefore have reason to be watchful in the matter.

To Adorn the Body

Some have said that to adorn the body with dress is an abuse of dress and is a sinful vanity. Very few hold this extreme view, and still less act upon it. I remember hearing of only one man who actually declared that when he buys a suit of clothes, he does not choose the one that pleases him best, as he held that would be yielding to the lust of the eye. I heard this same man declare solemnly that “whatever pleases the eye is lust of the eye.” What nonsense. It borders on blasphemy.

Who puts the blue in the sky? Or the brilliant colors in the rainbow? Or the red, the orange, the purple and a thousand other delicate hues and tints into the sunset?

Who makes the lily white? Or the rose red? Or the larkspur blue? Who gives a thousand forms of beauty to leaf and limb of the woods? Who gives the grandeur to the waterfall? Who designed the myriad varieties of crystalline beauty of the snowflake? The almighty God through Jesus Christ, “by whom He made all things.” To decry beauty as being unholy and sinful is nothing less than slander upon God and His creation.

Can you imagine that vicious people live in that little cottage with a neat little grass plot and well-kept flower beds in front of it? Do not the violets and the daisies therein whisper to you an assurance that there is something noble about people who love and cultivate beauty? Next to godliness, there is nothing more wholesome nor more ennobling to human nature than the love and cultivation of beauty in its various forms.

One of the important functions of dress is to adorn the body. Even the language used in the Holy Scripture, where extravagance, wantonness, and excess in dress are reproved, speaks of dress as an adornment: “that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array." (I Tim. 2:9; I Peter 3:3.)

Our clothes are also quite an index to our personality and character. Often they reveal more to the world than we suspect. If we are vain and haughty, our clothes are apt to reveal it. If we are slovenly and careless, they will do likewise. If we are self-righteous, our clothes are apt to betray it. If we are sensible and have good taste, our clothes will reflect it.

Vanity is one of the commonest vices of man. His self-love often seems to know no bounds. Natural man (and woman) have therefore shown a strong inclination to go to all kinds of excesses in adorning the body, often displaying barbaric tendencies in this direction wholly inconsistent with soberness and modesty. No wonder then that the apostles, in laying the foundation of the church of Jesus Christ, gave admonishment on the subject, counseling women not to go to extremes in this adornment, but rather to let modesty and moderation be the rule; to avoid the use of gold and jewels as ornaments and rather to adorn themselves with spiritual virtues of meekness, gentleness, and quietness.

The very fact that there is a strong tendency in man to go to excesses, wholly unbecoming to Christian modesty and humility has caused some to go to the other extreme; that is, of extreme plainness and severity. How hard for man to take the middle course, to find the golden mean! How important to emphasize moderation, of avoiding both extremes in the matter of dress.

There are a few specific rules laid down for us in the Scripture, such as admonishment to avoid the use of gold or pearls. Besides this I know of no other rule to follow than the rule of modesty and moderation.

Avoid the extremes. Do not go too far in ornateness of dress. Do not go too far in stressing the value of plainness of dress.

But how far may we go? No one can give an absolute rule that has any value whatever. Moderation and modesty must rule. Since it is evident that some will put a more strict, others a more liberal, interpretation upon what constitutes modesty and moderation, it is plain that some toleration must be employed; otherwise, we might “bite and devour” one another about such questions and do infinitely more harm than would the excesses which were intended to be corrected.

It must be remembered that the advocates of each extreme only tend to strengthen those of the other extreme and to weaken those who advocate Christian moderation. Those who would insist on extreme plainness, by their unreasonableness arouse the resentment of those who are more liberally inclined; and those who overstep the bounds of moderation, only put ammunition into the hands of those who are extremists. Both hamper the work of those who would exert their influence in favor of Christian moderation in dress.

But I must come back once more to what Paul writes to Timothy, “not with costly array.” There are good garments offered on the market that are in such elegant good taste that no one could say they are overly ornate. But their price alone puts them outside the bounds of moderation. If we pay excessive, extravagant prices for garments, or anything else, for that matter, we are diverting money into unnecessary channels, which should be used to do good and to relieve suffering among our fellow men. This does not necessarily mean that we should buy cheap clothes. Sometimes the higher priced ones offer better value, but excessively, extravagantly expensive clothes, houses, and cars should be avoided for the above reason; namely, that we "may have to give to him that needeth." (Eph. 4:28.)

Let us be moderate in all things, including dress. Also let us be tolerant. Let us walk in love.