IX: Women and Dress

THE purpose of dress is twofold, to protect the body and to ornament it. Some women nowadays pervert the use of dress.

It is the nature of woman to be attractive. But her greatest attraction should be her modesty. Any woman can attract by a certain style of dress, or the lack of dress, but it is not the attraction that a Christian woman cares for.

A man whose love is worth having is repulsed by the woman of that kind, whose appeal is only to his lower nature. He may use her as a toy, but he will not love her. The very men who take every concession that a woman will make, respect her less the more she yields. They will amuse themselves with her, but they will not marry her, ordinarily.

God put the instinct of attractiveness in women in order to induce honest love and marriage. The way some women dress now induces only dishonorable love. In fact, it is wrong to call it love at all. It is just passion, sex passion, and implies no esteem, no honest purpose, no idea whatever of true affection.

In women the instinct to be attractive is very strong. But whenever that instinct is gratified by a lack of self-respect, it acts as a boomerang. Any woman who attracts attention or admiration at the cost of modesty is committing moral suicide. She is doing harm to herself and others.

Do not think that I speak thus because I am a priest. It is not only religious people who lament the indecency of modern dress. Physicians, statesmen and moralists join in the condemnation of the present immodest fashions. They condemn them because of their positive harm.

Dr. Foveau de Courmelles, one of the best known physicians in Europe, declares that some of the worst evils now confronting civilized nations may be laid at the door of the feminine craze for indecent dress. Among other things, he says: “Woman’s clothing has reduced itself to the most simple expression by its scantiness. She is dressed in these days when she is undressed.” What a dreadful indictment by a man of the world!

The unusual always attracts. If a woman concedes more than propriety allows, of course she will attract notice. She may even get a certain sort of admiration, the admiration that spells ruin.

Man has a twofold nature, animal and spiritual. An immodestly dressed woman may win the admiration of man’s animal nature; but it is a brutal admiration, not only not worth having, but positively dangerous to both man and woman. A decent woman does not want the admiration which comes from sacrificing her modesty. And a decent man does not want to associate with a woman who disregards modesty.

If a woman wins a man by any improper display of her person, she will regret it. Such a man will treat her in accordance with his brutal instincts. A marriage resulting from such admiration will be a matter of lust, and not love. Lust is cruel, and when it is too late, the woman will realize it.

If all this is so, you say, why is it that in society there is so much immodesty in dress? And I ask you, why is it that in society there are so many divorces and separations, and so many charges of cruelty and incompatibility and so many tragedies?

Unfortunate marriages are frequently the consequence of merely sensual attraction. Nothing fades so fast as the attraction founded on passion. That is one reason why there are so many regrettable marriages now. The scandalous dress of some women exposes them to lustful eyes, generates false love, and lays the foundation for life-long misery.

It is because the Catholic Church seeks the true welfare of women that it insists so much on modesty in dress. The womanly qualities which attract the true love of a man are those not dependent on an unseemly display of the person. And if a woman does not win the true love of a man, she had better a thousand times remain single.

Extremes in dress not only submit woman to the wrong sort of admiration, but moreover, make her the means of the temptation and downfall of man. Women, as a rule, are not aware of the effect which an improper display of their person has on men. Unfortunately it is a fact that, although a man may be disgusted at the first sight of an improperly dressed woman, if he gazes at her he experiences emotions as sinful as they are alluring.

A woman, therefore, who dresses without Christian propriety becomes an instrument of Satan. She does his work. She helps to pull down man to an ignoble and sinful level. Good men have frequently remarked that the way women dress nowadays is a constant temptation even for virtuous men.

In Catholic times and countries modesty in dress is characteristic of women. And that is so of true Catholics everywhere. The Catholic Church, realizing the vital necessity of safeguarding virtue, has always taken a firm stand against lascivious dress. But with the spread of irreligion among the nations, the voice of the Church has not been heeded outside her own children, with the result that fashion has gone mad. Paganism, with the added lure of modern devices, is rampant. Dress is now frequently designed to excite sexual desire. Exposure goes as far as possible, within the law. Indeed, it has even gone beyond the law of civic decency, as we see by the crusades in many places against it. In some social sets, the indecency of dress is so extreme that if it were on the street, it would subject the offender to arrest. And the morals prevailing in these circles are quite in keeping with the indecent styles. The pity of it is that Catholics are affected by all this. Modesty of style depends somewhat on the custom of time and place. The moderately short skirt which shocked some years ago is not noticed now. The Catholic young woman will know how to keep a few steps behind the pace set by extreme styles. Even non-Catholics expect the highest propriety in Catholic women. Certain styles are incompatible with modesty always and everywhere. Fashion is set mostly by Society. By degrees the manners and dress which prevail there tend to make their way among the middle and lower classes. Persons in society, from their early years, are so accustomed to certain conventionalities that they are not at all affected by what would greatly shock others. Moreover, in society, there is a marked restraint, the result of education and environment. Even so, the effect of immodest dress there is deplorable.

But when this same license of dress is transferred to the ordinary walks of life, the result to morals is most detrimental. And it becomes positively ruinous when it pervades certain ranks. When license of dress takes hold of factory girls, or clerks in stores, or office girls, it makes of them so many proximate occasions of sin to those with whom they associate.

I can understand how a flighty girl may indulge in such license of dress through vanity and ignorance of its sinful effects, but how a Christian mother will tolerate it in her daughter is incomprehensible. Mothers have had experience with the pitfalls of life. They know that with every precaution there is nevertheless constant danger for their daughters. Yet they allow those dear to them to risk their worldly happiness and their immortal souls for the sake of fashion.

Of course I know that some mothers will say that they cannot help it. If they cannot, let them blame themselves. The first time that a girl attempts to wear a dress that improperly exposes her is the time to act.

I know a man who took the right kind of action, not only with his daughter, but also with his wife. He had arranged to take them to the opera on the girl’s birthday. The mother, yielding to the girl’s vanity, had allowed her to get a very extreme dress. It was worn the first time this night. When the father saw his daughter, he was shocked.

“Mary,” he said to her, “tell your mother I wish to see her.”

The mother came presently. He privately told her that their daughter’s dress was unbecoming a Catholic girl.

“But, dear,” she replied, “everybody is wearing that style.”

“Everybody is not our daughter, mother dear,” he answered. “We are responsible for her, not for everybody. I will not go out with her in that dress. You may go to the opera with her if you like. I have done my part.”

The mother, for a moment, was dumbfounded.

Then the tears came to her eyes, and she said: “God bless you, John, you have expressed what was in my heart, but I did not have the courage to speak out.”

That is it, the weakness of mothers. Men do not like to interfere in these matters. It is the mother’s place. A girl will not be a bit more extreme than the mother allows. But you cannot permit your daughter all sorts of license while she is growing up, and then expect to control her when she is a young woman. No. You must begin from the beginning. Let your daughter see by your own dress and ideas what will be proper for her.

Of course I know that many excuses will be given for indecency in dress. Some girls say that they cannot spare the time or money to have a dress made, but must buy it ready made, and they can only get what is in style. But many of the dresses that are objectionable, are not obtained at the stores, but are made to order.

Moreover, if the store style is extreme, it is because the demand for it is great. If Catholic girls insist on the proper style, it will be found on the counters. In most of our cities, the Catholic trade is worth having, and stores will supply that trade. But even if the stores are to blame, which I do not concede, a modest girl will know how to make a modest alteration.

Why should Catholics take up the fashions of those who are living merely for the life that is passing? Our forefathers suffered confiscation, imprisonment, exile and death for the Faith. Were they all fools? Millions of martyrs endured indescribable torture for the Faith. Were they wrong?

Is what Christ says true, or not? “What does it profit to gain the whole world and lose your soul?” The life is more than the body, and the soul is more than life. Because there is a sort of Christianized paganism abroad, are we going to be swallowed up by it?

In the early days of Christianity, the followers of Christ had to take their stand. If they had not, there would have been no Christian civilization. And are not we going to take a stand to preserve what was established in their blood!

If our religion is worth anything, it is worth making sacrifices for. The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and only the violent bear it away. If we want to be followers of Christ here, we must do violence to our licentious tendencies. The Religion of Christ means restraint, a restraint on anything that tends to lead us astray. But it is a restraint for our true welfare.

A man crossing a precipice on a plank would not complain that a railing was a restraint. It restrains him, yes, but from instant destruction. So modesty restrains from immorality. Immorality leads to a hell on earth, as well as to hell hereafter. Any victim of impurity will admit that.

Indecent dress is a torch to inflame the passions of men, passions bad enough without adding fuel to the fire. And that is what young women do by their extremely lascivious dress. Some of them know it. Others do not.

Some parents find it hard to instruct their children on these matters. It is hard. It is hard for me to touch on this subject. But it is better for me to do it beneficially than to let them remain in ignorance or learn through harmful sources.

The way some girls dress, you would think that the object of life was just to amaze people. I am not setting myself against attractive dress, but against the improprieties of dress. A girl should dress well. A man is not likely to respect a girl who is carelessly or unbecomingly dressed.

Charm of person is one of God’s gifts to women. That charm is not lost, but enhanced, by modest dress. Any charm of person shown at the expense of decent dressing detracts from women in the estimation of honorable men. And who will court the esteem of any but the honorable?

Attractiveness which comes from good taste in dressing is a desirable quality in a woman. Men admire very much a girl who shows individuality and character in her dress. A girl who dresses well is apt to do other things well. Fine taste in dress is one of the best gifts a woman can possess.

But when a girl, instead of winning admiration by exquisite taste in dress, does so by vulgar display of her person, she shows not only her vulgarity, but also her incapability of dressing intelligently and decorously. A girl of brains and taste does not have to depend upon impropriety to make herself charming.

I might go into details, but there is no need of it. All know what I mean. There is an instinct which tells one when one oversteps. I have known women who pretended that their extreme style was perfectly proper, but on the approach of a really proper person, they hastily covered themselves with a shawl or wrap. When I say proper persons, I do not mean prudes or so-called church people. I mean men and women of the world who realize that woman is too sacred to become a mere object of lustful admiration.

It requires no talent or art to be licentious. It is no credit to anyone. If a young woman wants to be attractive, let her do it in a way that implies the possession of good qualities. Her manners, her mental equipment, afford fine means for displaying her charms.

Such charms are distinctive. Immodest charms are vulgar. They are the property of any woman who cares little enough about herself to show them. A young woman, I am sure, desires to be distinctive, “to be somebody.” She can be that, and at the same time be a good Catholic woman, without in any way aping the fashion of false and fatal fads. Fashions which are now quite accepted in some social sets were, a few years ago, the stock in trade of the demi-monde. Is that not enough to show the significance of such styles? Does that not show their inherent purpose?

When we consider the seriousness of life, and it is serious even for the butterflies of fashion, as they learn too late, it is amazing how we multiply misery for ourselves. Even when a good man or woman is on guard and takes every precaution, it is not easy to continue virtuous. Why then make it harder for oneself and for others by playing into the hands of Satan?

By all means, let us cultivate the niceties of life. Let us endeavor to be exquisite in dress, charming in manners and person. But above all, we should remember that life is only the path to eternity. For the sake of a few flowers by the wayside, we should not wander from the way that leads to the blessedness of life eternal.

Sin comes too high, it costs too much. It asks us to give everlasting life for the pleasures of a moment. It would have us exchange the inheritance which the Son of God came on earth to give us for the deceptive promises held out by Satan. Even in this life, the wages of sin is death. And hereafter!