Skirting the Issue

The mini-skirt was in style in my teenage years. Mennonite girls didn't wear mini-skirts, but I am embarrassed now when I think how short and tight my skirts were. No wonder we heard sermon after sermon on short tight skirts! The dress code of the Mennonite high school I attended required skirts to be three inches below the knees. We thought that was terrible. Only old fashioned mothers and grandmothers wore skirts below the knees. We wanted our bare knees to show when we sat down.

After I was married the style  began to change to longer skirts and before long it was acceptable for women to wear pants everywhere they went (even to church!) and skirts all but disappeared among women in general. Of course, Mennonite girls continued to wear skirts and longer ones than in the mini-skirt years. Three inches below the knee was no longer a problem.

As the years passed, skirts became even longer and finally reached floor length. Mennonite girls followed suit and sermons on short skirts disappeared. I approved of this change but did not lengthen my own skirts. Why? Weren't floor-length skirts more modest? Yes, but I have seen styles change too often and questioned the motive for the long skirts. Was it born of a conviction on modesty or following styles? If I changed to floor-length skirts I would keep them that way after the styles changed. I kept my skirts at mid-calf.

I've been hearing that short skirts are now coming back into style and rising above the knee. I wondered how long it will take Mennonite girls to cut off their floor length skirts. A couple weeks ago I saw a girl with her skirt at the knee. It looked odd among all the other girls with floor-length skirts, but I knew she was making a fashion statement. How long will it be until the rest of the girls jump on the band wagon and preachers have to dig out their short skirt sermons? I'm not saying they need to keep the floor-length skirts the rest of their lives (although that would be good), but they should seriously consider what they are doing and why before they take the scissors to their skirts.

God designed the first clothing to cover naked bodies. The Bible says women are to dress modestly. How do you define modesty? How much skin does your clothing cover? What you wear is your billboard. What are you advertising? God's program or the fashions of the world?