How should a Christian Woman dress?

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Does it matter how we dress?
CONTINUE- PART 2 DRESS FOR HEALTH!
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What we learned so far
Satan is the designer of Womens Fashions
Womens fashions reached an extreme level of
vanity and unnaturalness in the 1800s. The
fashions required the distortion of the body to
the point that good health was well nigh
impossible! Woman sacrificed health and life on
the altar of foolish pride and fashion.
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GOD urged a change for His People! The Reformed
Dress!! Simple, Neat, Practical, Modest,
Healthful and Convenient! But the blessing was
despised and rejected.
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God allowed the Less Objectionable Dress to be
promoted.
Main Guidelines (1) No one definite pattern or
style. (2) No precise length given but was longer
than the "short dress" (longer than 8-10 inches
from ground) and still avoided the mud of the
street. Approximately ankle length the dress
meets the shoe, or boot, and covered the inside
pants or leggings. (shown open here to reveal the
inside pants)
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(3) It was modest, covering the arms with a
loose-fitting jacket to cover the upper front
body. The dress covered the pants completely. It
was also loose-fitting, not revealing the woman's
form (top or bottom). (4) It was distinctly
feminine. It did not resemble male clothing in
dress or jacket. (5) It was healthful. Lined
pants or under pants could be worn underneath the
skirt to keep the legs at an even temperature
without being exposed. Why was this so
important?
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Dress for health

• Perfect health depends upon perfect circulation.
  Special attention should be given to the
  extremities, that they may be as thoroughly
  clothed as the chest and the region over the
  heart, where is the greatest amount of heat..
  Satan invented the fashions which leave the limbs
  exposed, chilling back the life current from its
  original course.The result is, habitually cold
  feet and hands
• 2T 531
• In all respects the dress should be healthful.
  "Above all things," God desires us to "be in
  health"--health of body and of soul. And we are
  to be workers together with Him for the health of
  both soul and body. Both are promoted by
  healthful dress. MH 288

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Dressing improperly causes disease

• Satan is constantly devising some new style of
  dress that shall prove an injury to physical and
  moral health and he exults when he sees
  professed Christians eagerly accepting the
  fashions that he has invented. The amount of
  physical suffering created by unnatural and
  unhealthful dress cannot be estimated. Many have
  become lifelong invalids through their compliance
  with the demands of fashion. Displacements and
  deformities, cancers and other terrible diseases,
  are among the evils resulting from fashionable
  dress. 4T 634-5

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One of the Least Known Secrets of Health !
When the ARMS LEGS are left bare, they become
colder than the body. This causes the blood to
stay more in the central body head. Excess
blood in the head produces headaches, in the
chest it produces coughs, various types of
discomfort in the intestinal tract, and
inefficient cleaning of the blood in the kidneys.
The nervous system responds to messages from
chilled areas with an alarm reaction.
The heart is forced to work harder to try and
circulate blood though the chilled limbs and deal
with the excess blood in the central body and
brain, heart disease results. People have been
cured of heart disease by simply learning to
dress the limbs warmly!!
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Womens Diseases Much of the feebleness which is
suffered by women is the result of improper
clothing of the extremities. Congestion of the
pelvic organs can lead to cervicitis,
dysmenorrhea, cervical polyps and malposition of
the uterus. During pregnancy the placenta may not
get a sufficient circulation of blood. As a
result of a sluggish exchange of blood, the
development of the fetus may be retarded.
Vitality is expended unnecessarily to supply
heat that is lost with insufficient clothing.
Usually, proper dress also demands warm
underclothing. Absorptive cotton for
underclothing, not synthetic fabrics, are often
required to meet all the various needs of the
body.
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OTHER ORGANS If the breasts are more warmly
clothed than the extremities, the resulting
increased temperature makes them susceptible to
various diseases, from inability to nurse one's
infant, to cystic disease and various tumors.
The normal temperature of the breast is several
degrees below that of the surrounding skin.
Mammary thermograms show an increased breast
temperature in breast cancer and many benign
lesions. The use of brassieres and extra padding
for the breasts is a fairly modern practice and
not at all healthful. The susceptibility to viral
infections is greatly increased if the
extremities are not kept warmly clad at all
times.
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Clothing of infants children
The fashion has been to dress babies (esp. girls)
with lots of body garments and bare limbs. This
actually causes underdevelopment of the arms and
legs of the child and makes them more irritable
from the congestion in brain and organs. The
modern romper suits are much wiser.
TIGHT BANDS Any bands that leave a mark on the
skin or prevent free motion or full respiration,
are unhealthful. The most healthful clothing is
suspended from the shoulder, rather than from
tight bands around the waist.
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Should women dress like men?

• Some people have felt that the answer to the
  health problems of fashionable dress was to have
  both sexes dress in the same styles of clothing.
• While this would solve health problems, God
  warned that morality problems would get much
  worse!

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Should women dress like men?

• There is an increasing tendency to have women in
  their dress and appearance as near like the other
  sex as possible and to fashion their dress very
  much like that of men, but God pronounces it
  abomination..God designed that there should be a
  plain distinction between the dress of men and
  women, and has considered the matter of
  sufficient importance to give explicit directions
  in regard to it for the same dress worn by both
  sexes would cause confusion and great increase of
  crime. CG 427

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Do we not see this in our modern world? Confusion
of sexual roles, breakdown of families, and
increase in various abnormal sexualities result
when a society refuses to honour Gods wise
division between the gender roles. We see this
prediction truly fulfilled today the same dress
worn by both sexes would cause confusion and
great increase of crime. Eventually the
breaking down of family structure will destroy
the society.
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Modesty Societys Morals
While a few of the problems faced by dress
reformers in the 1800s are no longer with us,
Modesty has become a much deeper problem. Females
have been urged by fashion to accentuate the
feminine sexual characteristics by padding and
partial exposure. Immodest, sexy dress has
become so common that few realize how truly
immodest we have become in our attitudes. Notice
this illustration supposed to depict a pure
godly woman.
The low neck line, accentuated breasts, scantily
hung gown and bare shoulders and arms are totally
immodest! Yet this is shown in our churches as
godly!
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We will list only a few of the modern immodest
practices assumed to be normal by the average
Christian today. Bathing suits Mixed
Bathing Shorts Miniskirts Tight jeans and
sweaters Halter tops Sleeveless dresses Split
skirts
IT IS CERTAINLY TIME FOR REFORM !
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You may not realize it, but it has been mainly
since the start of the TIME OF THE END in the
late 1700s that womens fashions have shown such
unhealthy and immodest extremes. For centuries
the average womans clothing did not differ all
that much from Bible times.
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What about jewellery?

• True refinement does not find satisfaction in the
  adorning of the body for display. The Bible
  teaches modesty in dress..This forbids display
  in dress, gaudy colours, profuse ornamentation.
  Any device designed to attract attention to the
  wearer or to excite admiration is excluded from
  the modest apparel which God's Word enjoins.
  Self-denial in dress is a part of our Christian
  duty. To dress plainly and abstain from display
  of jewellery and ornaments of every kind is in
  keeping with our faith.
• CG 423

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History of jewellery
The practice of wearing gold and jewelry comes
from pagan sun worship. God was considered to be
the earthly flesh of the sun god. The ring
represented the serpent god. Various talismans
were worn to provide magical and mystical
protection to the wearer. They were worn to
please and placate pagan gods. The use of
cosmetics to paint the face was also a pagan
idea. Surely no true Christian would want to
follow in the steps of these heathen Idolaters!
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Principles in Dressing

• Healthy - Make sure the limbs are at least as
  well clothed as the rest of the body
• Modest - It should not expose the female form
  to public view (no low necklines and skin
  tight clothes)
• Simple no extras, adornment, gaudy colours,
  writing, to attract attention to self
• Feminine Womens dress should manifest a clear
  distinction from the general clothes of men
• Christian should not be a style identified
  with, or promoted by, unacceptable special
  interest groups, i.e. the feminist movement or a
  false religion

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Focus on the Lord

• Dress is an index of the mind and heart. That
  which is hung upon the outside is the sign of
  what is within.
• 1MCP 289
• There is no need to make the dress question the
  main point of your religion. There is something
  richer to talk of. Talk of Christ and when the
  heart is converted, everything that is out of
  harmony with the Word of God will drop off.
• CG 428-9

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Do you want the presence and power of God?

• Human reasoning has ever sought to evade or set
  aside the simple, direct instructions of the Word
  of God. In every age a majority of the professed
  followers of Christ have disregarded those
  precepts which enjoin self-denial and humility,
  which require modesty and simplicity of
  conversation, deportment, and apparel. The result
  has ever been the same--departure from the
  teachings of the gospel leads to the adoption of
  the fashions, customs, and principles of the
  world. Vital godliness gives place to a dead
  formalism. The presence and power of God,
  withdrawn from those world-loving circles, are
  found with a class of humble worshipers, who are
  willing to obey the teachings of the Sacred Word.
• CG 430

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Do you want to shed a holy influence upon all?

• Why is it so hard to lead a self-denying, humble
  life? Because professed Christians are not dead
  to the world. It is easy living after we are
  dead. But many are longing for the leeks and
  onions of Egypt. They have a disposition to dress
  and act as much like the world as possible, and
  yet go to heaven.
• Such will have no excuse. Many dress like the
  world to have an influence. But here they make a
  sad and fatal mistake. If they would have a true
  and saving influence, let them live out their
  profession, show their faith by their righteous
  works, and make the distinction great between the
  Christian and the world. I saw that the words,
  the dress, and actions should tell for God. Then
  a holy influence will be shed upon all, and all
  will take knowledge of them that they have been
  with Jesus. Unbelievers will see that the truth
  we profess has a holy influence, and that faith
  in Christ's coming affects the character of the
  man or woman. If any wish to have their influence
  tell in favor of the truth, let them live it out,
  and thus imitate the humble Pattern. MYP 127

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PROPER DRESSLet your Earrings be Attention,
encircled with Pearls of refinementLet your
Breastpin be Modesty, set with simplicityLet
your Necklace be Charity, set with
CompassionLet your Rings be Industry, with
Pearls of EnduranceLet your Shoes be Wisdom,
secured with Buckles of Perseverance Let your
Guard be Virtue your Drapery, PolitenessWith
such Garments and Ornaments? The Blessing of God
and man will attend you!
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