Female habit carries with it a twofold idea--dress and ornament. By "dress" we mean what they call "womanly gracing;" by "ornament," what it is suitable should be called "womanly disgracing." The former is accounted (to consist) in gold, and silver, and gems, and garments; the latter in care of the hair, and of the skin, and of those parts of the body which attract the eye. Against the one we lay the charge of ambition, against the other of prostitution; so that even from this early stage (of our discussion) you may look forward and see what, out of (all) these, is suitable, handmaid of God, to your discipline, inasmuch as you are assessed on different principles (from other women), --those, namely, of humility and chastity.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Women in Clothes is a book unlike any other. It is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities—famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old—on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives. It began with a survey. The editors composed a list of more than fifty questions designed to prompt women to think more deeply about their personal style. Writers, activists, and artists including Cindy Sherman, Kim Gordon, Kalpona Akter, Sarah Nicole Prickett, Tavi Gevinson, Miranda July, Roxane Gay, Lena Dunham, and Molly Ringwald answered these questions with photographs, interviews, personal testimonies, and illustrations. Even our most basic clothing choices can give us confidence, show the connection between our appearance and our habits of mind, express our values and our politics, bond us with our friends, or function as armor or disguise. They are the tools we use to reinvent ourselves and to transform how others see us. Women in Clothes embraces the complexity of women’s style decisions, revealing the sometimes funny, sometimes strange, always thoughtful impulses that influence our daily ritual of getting dressed.
The following work is the second book of a larger whole by Tertullian, which deals with the subject of modesty in female dress. The idea presented is one that is indisputably Christian in nature, but the application of that idea in the mind of the earliest believers in Christ may seem very foreign to the modern reader. However, one must consider the nearness of the apostolic teaching to those presented here and wonder, did this teaching migrate more in the first 150 years, or the next nearly 2000 years?Upon reading the comments of others about it in the present day, some have found Tertullian's explanation hard to understand, others have called it ascetic, or outright legalism. I, for one, profoundly disagree with these assessments. When the apostle Paul says, “women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self - control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - - with good works” (1 Tim 2:9 - 10), what else is meant except that it is right for a woman to do exactly as stated? Are we living now in a day when obeying a commandment is considered legalism? Yet the logic of Tertullian is sharp and astute, simply providing the explanation of the doctrine, and its reasoning behind it. Rather than a case for legalism, Tertullian uses the issue as an apt means to show the motives and conditions of the heart.“A tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33), said the Master. Should not a modest woman dress modestly? Should a woman who is not vain not revel in vanity? And yet in many churches, the women of God dress no differently, with no less vanity or frivolity than those that do not know God. Some may want to show how “blessed” they are with their finery, still others want to show “excellence” in all they do so they come in their Sunday Best. Though I understand such logic, it still defies the repeated Scriptural command, as well as the unified view of the early church, the former of which ought to be our uncompromising guide in all manners of life.While simply dressing with conscience is no means of salvation on its own, it ought to adorn those whose hearts have been made tender through the conviction and sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. What is being presented is not a 'work,' but the fruit of a changed life.This topic, probably considered minor by many, is unique in its ability to expose the tension between faith and works that so many seem to struggle with. However, the Bible is clear, works on their own, or as a means to impress God, or earn His love, are entirely without value. However, works are the natural and inevitable product of a living and vibrant faith. The one produces the other. Likewise, dressing modestly gains nothing for one who is already separated from God – it does not bring them one inch closer – but for one who has been bought with a price, it ought to be their natural desire to be pleasing to their Master, not begrudgingly, but as an act of love and thankfulness.Walking with Christ is not a “fake it until you make it” endeavor. One does not want to be as the pharisees, who outwardly were as “whited sepulchers, but inside, full of dead men's bones” (Matt. 23:27). Looking the part outwardly is just another deception if it is not first found inwardly. In the same manner though, let what is found inside be manifest on the outside.May the Lord use this work of gravity and pointed insight in a day where its message is much needed.
Female habit carries with it a twofold idea-dress and ornament. By "dress" we mean what they call "womanly gracing;" by "ornament," what it is suitable should be called "womanly disgracing." The former is accounted (to consist) in gold, and silver, and gems, and garments; the latter in care of the hair, and of the skin, and of those parts of the body which attract the eye. Against the one we lay the charge of ambition, against the other of prostitution; so that even from this early stage (of our discussion) you may look forward and see what, out of (all) these, is suitable, handmaid of God, to your discipline, inasmuch as you are assessed on different principles (from other women), -those, namely, of humility and chastity.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury shares a collection of inspiring true stories from women whose faith has sustained them through monumental trials. For mothers, wives, sisters, and friends, this book will uplift the hearts of its readers through accounts of faith proving triumphant over any obstacle.
Apparel manufacturing in the American South, by virtue of its size, its reliance upon female labor, and its broad geographic scope, is an important but often overlooked industry that connects the disparate concerns of women's history, southern cultural history, and labor history. In Striking Beauties, Michelle Haberland examines its essential features and the varied experiences of its workers during the industry's great expansion from the late 1930s through the demise of its southern branch at the end of the twentieth century. The popular conception of the early twentieth-century South as largely agrarian informs many histories of industry and labor in the United States. But as Haberland demonstrates, the apparel industry became a key part of the southern economy after the Great Depression and a major driver of southern industrialization. The gender and racial composition of the workforce, the growth of trade unions, technology, and capital investment were all powerful forces in apparel's migration south. Yet those same forces also revealed the tensions caused by racial and gender inequities not only in the region but in the nation at large. Striking Beauties places the struggles of working women for racial and economic justice in the larger context of southern history. The role of women as the primary consumers of the family placed them in a critical position to influence the success or failure of boycotts, union label programs and ultimately solidarity.
Presents the history of twentieth-century lingerie. This book examines the ways cultural meanings are orchestrated by the 'fashion-industrial complex, ' and the ways in which individuals and groups embrace, reject, or derive meaning from these everyday, yet significant, intimate articles of clothing.
