(...)Working Against Clothing’s Purpose
Thus, when a fashion designer carefully crafts a garment with a hole in a place where it would naturally appear through wear, he is making clothes that deliberately expose to risk the places which need the most protection. When that same designer put holes in sexually suggestive places, he is once again working against clothing’s purpose of shielding modesty.
Deliberately ripped garments work against the purpose of clothes. They are caricatures of what clothing should be. Far from adorning the body, the process of ripping turns that which should be strong, beautiful and orderly into something weak, ugly and frayed. Tattered attire is disordered and therefore should not be worn.
Lost Notion of Modesty
The second reason why ripped clothing should not be worn is that it is immodest.
The second reason why ripped clothing should not be worn is that it is immodest.
Again such a claim raises hackles. Most people would object that as long as tattered clothes stay outside the extreme point of undress that is considered morally and socially unacceptable, you cannot say that it is immodest.
And here is the crux of the problem. People have completely lost the notion of what modesty is and how it is manifested. People lack even a catechism definition of this virtue.
People confuse modesty with chastity and thus only associate it with sensuality. Modesty does play a major role in preserving chastity, but it is much more than that. It is often mistakenly associated only with female attire, but it also applies to men.
The Dignity of the Individual
Modesty is the virtue that safeguards the dignity of a person in association with others. It benefits both the individual and society because it governs the exterior appearance and behavior of the person and thus helps make society civil and harmonious.
Modesty is the virtue that safeguards the dignity of a person in association with others. It benefits both the individual and society because it governs the exterior appearance and behavior of the person and thus helps make society civil and harmonious.
Beyond dress, modesty is concerned with the manner of speech, posture, gestures, and general presentation of the person. Modesty calls upon people to behave well with others and conform to standards of decency and decorum found in the healthy customs of an ordered society.
When you present yourself properly to others, you are modest. When you control yourself in your external actions and manners in society, you are modest. When you act erratically and speak in a manner that offends and disregards others, you are immodest.
Negligence in Attire
In matters of Catholic dress, this means holding to all that is proper to a soul that is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That is to say, you dress in a manner that is ordered, dignified and reasonable to who you are. Adults dress like adults; children dress like children. Authorities dress in accord with their office.
In matters of Catholic dress, this means holding to all that is proper to a soul that is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That is to say, you dress in a manner that is ordered, dignified and reasonable to who you are. Adults dress like adults; children dress like children. Authorities dress in accord with their office.
It also means you should not dress carelessly. Saint Thomas Aquinas states that you are immodest when you are unduly negligent in your appearance and fail to present yourself according to your state in life. You are also immodest when you seek to attract attention to yourself by showing a lack of concern for presenting oneself well (Summa, II-II, q. 169, a. 1).
Immoral and revealing clothing is of course immodest. However, improper, soiled and ripped unisex clothing is also immodest. It is not proper to the dignity of a person made in the image and likeness of God. When Our Lady spoke out against immodest fashions at Fatima, she was referring to this kind of immodesty as well.
Fighting Immodesty
Modesty used to be determined by established notions of decorum and decency that varied from culture to culture. The problem today is that there are few standards of decency left. Indeed, indecency has become the standard.
Modesty used to be determined by established notions of decorum and decency that varied from culture to culture. The problem today is that there are few standards of decency left. Indeed, indecency has become the standard.
In an everything-goes society consumed with the frenetic intemperance of modern life, you are told you must have everything now, instantly and effortlessly, regardless of the consequences. You are encouraged to act immodestly in manners, speech and dress. Is it any wonder society is so uncivil these days? Is it surprising that there is so much talk of the lack of human dignity?
Given the lack of standards, it is hard to know where to begin the return to order. One way to start is by unmasking the myth of mass markets that pressure you to act immodestly. The acceptance of “distressed” clothes everywhere is not an expression of individuality but submission. By accepting them, you become a slave of fashion, not an independent thinker.
If you want to stand out as an individual today, dress properly and modestly. If you are not sure what constitutes modesty in these times, at least avoid all that is not. A very good start is to resist the distressing tattered attire fad.