The Fashion Habit
Then there is the fashion habit—perhaps “craze” is a better word. While we are praying for the wearing apparel of our times to be remodeled according to God’s pattern, there is a deliberate program on the part of the powers of evil to force upon us fashions having dangerous elements. Their campaign was launched under the plea of “health,” but behind it is a subtle conspiracy of unclean spirits to invade the senses, steal away moral control, and eventually plunge the race into moral ruin. Here we have an echo of the express warnings of the Spirit of God concerning the “last days.” (2 Timothy 3:1) Paul, by inspiration, foretold that men would have “their conscience seared,” (1 Timothy 4:1-2) and that “silly women” would be “led away with diverse lusts.” (2 Timothy 3:6) So it needs to be seen that the fashion world can become a virulent channel through which this terrible scheme can work.
God has anticipated that there would be peril in a woman’s dressing immodestly; consequently, He has commanded that women are to “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety [lit. ‘In seemly guise, with modesty and discreetness’]… (which becometh women professing godliness).” (1 Timothy 2:9-10) Modesty and discreetness can be violated in a number of ways. Color, style, length, cost, and motive are all involved. Even when dresses were long and necks high there was immodesty, but today the swing of the pendulum has opened a large door for the devil to enter. Do not women realize that there are modes which can fan the passions of men into a flame?
Many fine women err in dress entirely through ignorance. They have no desire to look young or to attract men, and when cautioned on these matters say, “We had no idea that men were influenced by such things.” I hope that what is said here may be some guide to those who honestly desire to dress in a manner well-pleasing to God.
The assault is from all quarters. The majority of the profusely illustrated magazines seem to give precedence and prominence to photographs of scantily dressed women, and the swimming season is a camera harvest for the “lust of the eyes.” (1 John 2:16) Advertising, whether in newspapers, circulars, or billboards, plays up the sex appeal—anything to attract the eyes—and nothing more easily does it. Some theater managers have admitted that many of the dresses used on the stage are deliberately designed to attract the men. Add to all of this the fact that most modern secular fiction is directed to “[setting] on fire the course of nature,” and you see that all around us blazes a furnace of passion which God declared to be “set on fire of hell.” (James 3:6)
True, no matter how women dress, and no matter what conditions prevail, men must encase themselves in Christ in order to triumph. Thank God, they can do this, but you women have a responsibility. By sobriety and wisdom in dress you can do a great deal to stem the tide of the flesh (Romans 13:14), which is always trying to corrupt the church. A few inches added to the length of a dress, or a change of color, may make the difference between modesty and immodesty. Make your clothing a matter of prayer; to neglect prayer here is to weaken your stand with God in the fight and impoverish the value of your witness to Christ and a holy life.
We all, in a measure, conform to custom and fashion, but we must not become slaves to them. What kind of moral judgment is it that has to wait for the prevailing fashion to dictate what is right or wrong? You can be sure that when fashion has worn threadbare one wile, the devil has another ready to launch. If morality exists among certain unclothed races, it is because divine restraint prevails alongside ignorance (Genesis 20:6). We do well to remember our responsibility to weaker brethren (Romans 15:1).
The “cropped hair” question is equally important before God. What He has ordained is right and best, and it is clear from 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 that a woman’s hair should be long, while a man’s hair should be short.