Chapter 120—Influence of Dress
We do not discourage neatness in dress. Correct taste is not to be
despised nor condemned. Our faith, if carried out, will lead us to be
so plain in dress, and zealous of good works, that we shall be marked
as peculiar. But when we lose taste for order and neatness in dress,
we virtually leave the truth; for the truth never degrades, but elevates.
When believers are neglectful of their dress, and are coarse and rough
in their manners, their influence hurts the truth. “We are,” said the
inspired apostle, “made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and
to men.” All heaven is marking the daily influence that the professed
followers of Christ exert upon the world....
Simplicity of dress will make a sensible woman appear to the best
advantage. We judge of a person’s character by the style of dress
worn. A modest, godly woman will dress modestly. A refined taste, a
cultivated mind, will be revealed in the choice of a simple, appropriate
attire. The young women who break away from the slavery of fashion
will be ornaments to society. The one who is simple and unpretending
in her dress and in her manners shows that she understands that a
true woman is characterized by moral worth. How charming, how
interesting, is simplicity in dress, which in comeliness can be compared
with the flowers of the field.—
The Review and Herald, November 17,
1904
.
[354]
308