dress

Female display

Views on female display have also changed dramatically. In “primitive” societies living in hot climates, almost total nudity was acceptable for both sexes. However, with the rise of Christianity, and 600 years later of Islam, covering of the female form became compulsory. Meant to simultaneously demonstrate and inculcate modesty, both religions exhorted women to be clothed from head to foot. St. Paul wrote to Timothy “that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion.” St. Peter expressed similar views, and St. Augustine of Hippo censured makeup as well, although he allowed that a woman might adorn herself slightly to please her husband if the practice was carried out in private. Traditions of modest dress are expressed today in the apparel worn by women who are conservative Muslims or members of “plain” Christian groups such as the Amish and Mennonites.

From 381, when Theodosius I made Christianity compulsory in the Roman Empire, Christian views on modesty dominated women’s apparel. These views not only mandated the covering of the body and hair but ... (200 of 28,823 words)