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Dress
199
Avoid Slavery to Fashion
What a contrast is this to the weariness, the unrest, the disease
and wretchedness, that result from the rule of fashion! How contrary
to the principles given in the Scriptures are many of the modes of
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dress that fashion prescribes! Think of the styles that have prevailed
for the last few hundred years, or even for the last few decades.
Many of them when not in style would be declared immodest. Many
would be pronounced inappropriate for a refined, God-fearing, self-
respecting woman.
Making changes in apparel merely for the sake of fashion is
not sanctioned by the Word of God. Changing styles and adding
elaborate, costly ornamentation not only squander the time and
means of the rich, they lay waste the energies of mind and soul. They
impose a heavy burden on the middle and poorer classes. Many who
can hardly earn a livelihood, and who with simple patterns might
make their own clothing, are compelled to resort to the dressmaker
in order to be in fashion. Many a poor woman, for the sake of a
stylish gown, has deprived herself of warm undergarments and paid
the penalty with her life. Many another, coveting the display and
elegance of the rich, has been enticed into paths of dishonesty and
shame. Many a home is deprived of comforts, many a man is driven
to embezzlement or bankruptcy, to satisfy the extravagant demands
of his wife or children.
Many a woman forced to prepare for herself or her children
the stylish costumes demanded by fashion is doomed to ceaseless
drudgery. For the sake of fashion she sacrifices health and that
calmness of spirit so essential to the right guidance of her children.
Improvement of mind and heart is neglected. The soul is dwarfed.
The mother has no time to study the principles of physical devel-
opment, that she may know how to care for the health of her children.
She has no time for ministering to their mental or spiritual needs,
no time to sympathize with them in their little disappointments and
trials, or to share in their interests and pursuits.
Almost as soon as they come into the world, children are sub-
jected to fashion’s influence. They hear more of dress than of their
Savior. They see their mothers consulting the fashion magazines
more earnestly than the Bible. The display of dress is treated as of