Do you dress up for church? Just curious. Fun poll.

[...................]

I am just curious. My family is probably under the "Sort of" heading.  We lean towards the "no" heading, only in the sense, that, we all usually look fairly nice wherever we go.  My dd and I tend to dress up a little more than my son and dh.

[Scarlett]

We dress up more than most I imagine. By we I mean my religion in general. My son wears a suit and tie every time. He has since he was 18 months old.

[Dory]

I voted other.

I require that the kids all dress nicely in that they don't wear stained, holey, or wrinkled clothes, but I don't require they wear dresses or button shirts. Sometimes my kids choose to wear bow ties and button shirts, or regular ties and button shirts with dress pants. Sometimes they wear a nice t-shirt or sweater and dark jeans. Sometimes my dd wears a dress, sometimes she wears a cute shirt and sport jacket. They always look nice, but how dressy they get, I leave up to them. I always wear nicer clothes and dress shoes, but I haven't worn a skirt or dress in many years.

[SKL]

My normal everyday dress is jeans and a T-shirt.  For church, I wear business casual or a nice shirt with dockers.  My kids wear their better dresses.

 

We don't "have" to dress any particular way.  Plenty of others come to our church in jeans.  But somehow I don't want to wear jeans to church.

[...................]

Dory, thanks for explaining.  I should revise the poll, lol!  We also have a similar feeling here.  Some of us prefer to dress up a little. Some of us prefer not to.  But everyone is clean and neat.  :o)

[MrsMommy]

I hate to vote "other."

 

I always dress up. Skirt or dress, and often a hat as well. Then again, in the warmer months especially, a skirt or dress is my favorite thing to wear, anyway.

 

But. I don't impose my dressing up standards on other members of the house. My girls often dress in a similar fashion to me, but not always, and I don't care. My boys will usually wear a button-down or polo shirt, but often wear jeans instead of khakis, and that's fine, too. The only time I can convince them to wear a tie is on Christmas and Easter, and even then, I don't press the issue.

 

While I want everybody to be clean and wearing appropriate clothes, I'm just not going to get worried about what kind of pants they're wearing, or if the girls are wearing pants instead of a skirt. What really matters is that we're all there, and glad to be there at that. The rest is just minutiae.

[texasmama]

Sort of. Dh and I wear jeans with a nicer top. Little dd prefers to wear a dress so she does. Older ds wears jeans and a nicer knit shirt. No t shirt and no button up shirt. Younger ds is a clothes horse and prefers to wear khakis and a polo type shirt with dress shoes. He asked for dress shoes for Christmas. He's a funny guy. :)

[trulycrabby]

Fairly casual.

In the fall and winter, I wear navy slacks or dark black jeans and either a nice cardigan or jacket.

In the summer, I wear white jeans with a light jacket or sweater..

Predictable but comfy.

[Kathryn]

On Sundays, I wear a dress or skirt and blouse with dress shoes and the males wear dress pants with polo or oxford shirts and dress socks and shoes. They might occasionally wear a tie or sweater. On weekdays, we usually wear whatever we are wearing that day. Our church doesn't have a dress code and no one is rude to or looks askance at those in jeans and tees, but over 99% are as dressed up or more so than we are. I'd say maybe 1-5 people per Sunday are in jeans and tees. I'd say probably 90% of females wear dresses or skirts while the rest wear dress slacks.

[Cinder]

I voted other. I usually wear jeans and a nice top with slip-ons, not sneakers. Dh usually wears khakis and a button-down shirt. The dc generally also wear jeans.

 

Dress at our church runs the gamut. Some wear suits, sport coats, dresses. Others wear shorts. Most are somewhere in the middle: slacks, khakis, jeans.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Other.  I don't care what anyone else wears but dressing nicer is important for me as part of showing my respect for the occasion and the person of God.  

[TianXiaXueXiao]

On Sundays we dress better than usual. Girls wear skirts or dresses. Dh wears business casual with dress shoes. On weekdays we attend in normal attire. We don't stand out as most parishioners do the same. We live in a hippy/crunchy area and dressed up for us may not pass muster in other churches.

[Joker]

Sometimes we dress up and sometimes we don't. We mostly wear jeans/slacks with a nice top. The people at our church are so varied. There are some in shorts and flip flops while others are in suits. We've decided it's not something we are going to worry about too much. I haven't worked outside the home in over 14 years and have no desire to buy clothes that I only wear to church. I'm actually able to pay more attention to the service and homily when I am comfortably dressed in jeans than I am when dressed in a manner I'm not used to, and I think that's more important than my attire.

[Rosie_0801]

I *would* dress up if I went to church. My ex used to wear whatever, even tshirts with stretched necks. I thought that was most shocking!

[mamatohaleybug]

We dress up every week. Suit and tie for DH (sometimes Dockers, a dress shirt and tie), dresses/skirts and our nicest clothing/shoes for the females. I LOVE dressing up for church. Most LDS people I know dress up but you certainly don't have to. In general, our culture in the US = dressing up. I can't speak for LDS members outside the US.

[EndOfOrdinary]

My husband was not raised this way. He wore shorts to church when we visited his parents in the South a few years ago. I could barely handle it. I also cover my head anytime I enter a church - girls in bonnets, women in snoods or head scarves. This was crazy for my husband. He kinda likes it, but as far as he knew no one ever did this. So, my husband does not have to dress up, but my son and I do.

[HS Mom in NC]

Sort of. 

When you cross the border into AZ they issue you a tank top, bermuda shorts and flip flops.  It will be the core of your wardrobe during your stay here.

 

So, I wear nicer flip flops or flats if it's cold but sometimes I wear heels. I wear nicer shorts made out of dress pant fabric, nice dress slakcs, nice cotton knit dresses, nicer cotton knit tops and a little nicer jewelry than my usual plain silver hoops.  We have people show up in everything-a few older gentlemen in suits, most of the rest of them in casual slacks or nicer jeans with polo or button down shirts, some in shorts and t-shirts and flip flops.  One guy cycles to church so he wears exersize clothes.  We have a couple who minister to bikers who may show up in a suit and dress or full biker gear depending on their plans after church.  Some women wear heels and dressier dresses.  Some wear slacks or jeans and flip flops. We have a few families dressed like the Duggars. Anything goes around here..... excpet for swimwear I guess.

 

I go to a Bible Church.  Hear of John MacArthur?  That's us doctrinally.  Listen to contemporary Christian music on the radio?  That's us musically.  You know those churches that forever meet in a private school gymnasium because they don't believe in debt or spending money on staff or buildings?  That's us fiscally.

[sbgrace]

I voted other. My husband and I wear work type dress clothing. I don't work outside the home anymore, but I wear the sort of clothes I wore when I was teaching. Those are the "dress" clothes I own and feel good wearing. Mostly this involves dress pants for me rather than skirts or dresses.

 

My boys, though, usually wear jeans.

 

I see a lot of variety in our services though--everything on your list is represented in the services we attend.

 

 

[Melissa in Australia]

When I go I dress up, I also make my children wear suits.

 

 

When going to the house of God, only the best clothes that I own are good enough.

 

 

 

 

Note, the wearing of dresses is very very common here in Australia. My MIL could not believe it the first time she visited, just about everyone wears dresses in summer (and short and all that as well). just about any social event all the women dress up, even if the men are in singlets and stubbies

[creekland]

Our church is one that is varied.  On any Sunday you'll see anything from suits to jeans & tees.

 

We're in the "sort of" category wearing more business casual - except I never wear dresses.  I've never liked dresses, even as a kid, so I'm certainly not wearing what I can't stand to church and trying to worship.  As a kid, when we got dragged to church by our neighbors or with grandparents or whatever, my sister and I always had to wear dresses, so I grew up hating church.  That's not the way I choose to worship God.  I do not "make" my kids wear anything specific.  They all grew up enjoying church.

 

I merely wear things I'd wear to school (teaching) or out to eat at semi-nicer places - generally colored jeans or khakis and a nicer shirt or sweater.  The boys wear khakis and (usually) a collared shirt - polo or button down.  No ties.

[73349]

My church is casual. I wear khakis and a polo shirt. Some people are a little more dressed up in that; many wear similar or more casual clothes. If I see someone in a suit, my first thought is that it's our guest speaker. :)

[Pamela H in Texas]

We dress up more than most I imagine. By we I mean my religion in general. My son wears a suit and tie every time. He has since he was 18 months old.

 

This :)

At least, young boys are wearing slacks, dress shirt, tie, and vest. 

Girls and women always wear dresses.  

 

My kids, all foster kids included, really like this aspect of going to "the meeting," "the Hall."  

 

No one would dream of saying anything if a person wasn't wearing these things, had hair up in blue liberty spikes, whatever.  

[a27mom]

Our church also runs the gamut, jeans/shorts to suits/dresses. As for our household, it is only about 5 yrs ago that I stopped wearing skirts every Sunday. I was pregnant in the winter and did not want to invest in maternity hose. Of course around that time people stopped wearing hose in general, and I never went back to skirts all the time. I do wear skirts to church in the warm weather. Dh always wears khakis and a button down, sometimes a tie. This is his choice. The girls almost always wear skirts/dresses by choice. I would enforce that they wear "nicer" clothes, but it really hasn't been an issue yet. As they get older I will insist they wear clothes that are clean and in good condition. But I don't think I will intervene much as long as the clothes aren't distracting to others.

I enjoy wearing my nicer clothes to church, I don't see myself switching to jeans soon. But I don't care if others wear them.

[ktgrok]

I voted other. We TRY to dress up but sometimes life gets in the way, and skipping church because you aren't dressed up isn't an option. So if the kids are being crazy and I got spit up on and I end up in jeans and a tshirt, I still go to Mass. If I'm out running errands and it becomes a good idea to go to the evening service on Saturday, and there isn't time to change, i'll go in what I'm wearing. But MOST sundays I do put on a skirt, or at least a nice blouse with my "dressy" jeans. Something a step up. 

[Crimson Wife]

I don't require a dress or skirt, but the girls and I are typically in one. Dressy pants with a nice blouse or sweater is fine.

We used to walk 15 minutes from our apartment in Boston over to our church near Harvard Square and in the winter I definitely wore wool pants with long johns underneath.

[Aspasia]

We dress up more than most I imagine. By we I mean my religion in general. My son wears a suit and tie every time. He has since he was 18 months old.

This is us. Our church is pretty formal--women in dresses, men (and most boys) in suit and tie. I'm kind of an agitator, so sometimes I wear dress pants to church (which is officially acceptable but officially does raise some eyebrows). And you know what? They are much more comfortable, especially when it's cold. And frankly, they look much nicer than many skirts or dresses.

[Amira]

This is us. Our church is pretty formal--women in dresses, men (and most boys) in suit and tie. I'm kind of an agitator, so sometimes I wear dress pants to church (which is officially acceptable but officially does raise some eyebrows). And you know what? They are much more comfortable, especially when it's cold. And frankly, they look much nicer than many skirts or dresses.

I'm with Bucolic. Especially in the US, people who to go my church dress quite formally, but I like to wear pants. It seems odd that wearing pants to church in 2014 would raise eyebrows, but there it is. It's so easy to be a rebel.

I think I'd encourage my older boys to wear less formal clothes, but they do need a white shirt and tie for some things (we skip the suit for teenagers, thanks), and I can't get them to own more than one decent outfit each.

[Paige]

It depends on the church. We have been members of lots of churches (military) and don't choose our church based on the level of dress of the congregation. I always start visiting a church dressed up a little. I'll wear a dress, skirt, or dressy pants with appropriate tops, the girls will wear dresses and bows, DS will wear dress pants and a nice shirt but no suit, and DH will wear whatever he wants. I don't dress him. He tends to be more casual than the rest of us but will typically wear something about the same level as DS. If we decide to keep attending a church, we will adjust our dress according to the types of clothes that the majority of the congregation wear. Our current church is on the casual side. I prefer a not so casual church, but I think it looks like showing off if I show up in a nice dress and everyone else always wears jeans. I don't think I would feel comfortable in jeans, but I let my kids wear them if they want. The girls usually don't want to, but DS likes that he can. I don't allow shorts and t-shirts even if the other parents do, however, but I wouldn't send DS in a suit and I only wear my more "churchy" dresses on special occasions. At other churches, the culture was more dressy every week so I would never have allowed jeans or casual shoes.

[Xuzi]

Yup, we dress up. DH has a suit he wears (although not every guy is in a suit, most are in just a shirt and tie, and others are in polos), and our boys wear oxford shirts and slacks (no ties, because they always pull them off. :p ) DD and I both wear dresses, and I sometimes wear hats as well. I LOVE dressing up, and feel it helps set the mood for the day, it being a Holy and special day, by taking the extra effort to wear something nice.

[marbel]

I had to vote other.

 

My husband wears suit and tie, or sport coat, dress shirt and tie, every time.

 

I wear a skirt and top, usually, though if I have nursery duty or it's really cold/stormy, I wear nice slacks.

 

My daughter wears either a skirt, slacks or even nice jeans and a nice top.

 

My son wears docker-type slacks and either a dress shirt or polo shirt.  Jeans on a very rare occasion, such as if we didn't get laundry done and the slacks are too crumpled up to wear.  No t-shirts.

 

Our church sees a range of everything, from suit/tie to jeans to shorts and flipflops.   Every now and then my son complains a little about being better dressed than most of the guys at church but when questioned he admits it's really not a burden.  I admit I don't like to see ratty clothing on people I know can do better --> Example of that - people who work in offices and have to meet a certain standard, but come to church in ragged cutoffs and paint-stained t-shirt. 

 

[mumto2]

We normally try and dress up.  Not necessarily suit and tie every time but not our normal.  We normally have some highly rescheduled Sunday's and on those days we wear what we need to in order to be able to do both the activity and the service.  If we can't do both and change clothing.   Attending the worship service is what is important,  as a dear friend of mine recently said "God doesn't care what you wear just that you are there!"

[MysteryJen]

I voted other. We used to dress nicely, especially when the kids were little. Now, I am just glad that they go without too much complaining. Also, and this is only my personal experience, when we raced into mass (either on the way to or from a swim meet) dressed in sweats/hoodies/ wet hair we were on the receiving end of quite a few looks. Even my kids noticed- dd1 whispered to me that she could feel the judgment waft over to us. From then on,  the "good" homeschool families with dresses, suits etc decided that we were not part of their group. Hurtful definitely and part of the reason that my ds1 has labelled Catholics as the most hypocritical Christians in the world. Now, we come as we are. Sometimes late with wet hair, some times in team gear. But we are there.

[Chris in VA]

Depends on the culture, but at most of our churches, we've dressed up a little. I told my boys they had to wear collared shirts; all we could afford was polos and khakis. As they got older, they went more in the jean direction. One stopped attending, and the other now attends but wears casual clothes. My dd is not allowed to wear jeans. I don't have a lot of clothes--only 4 or 5 things I can wear to church if I don't want to wear jeans or sweats. I have two dresses and one pair of pants and one skirt, so I usually wear the dresses. 

 

I hate not having clothes, but then I think of my Franciscan friend, Heather. She has a picture in her closet--it is of a little boy dressed basically in strings--It says "I have nothing to wear." Brings me up short and stops my whining. 

[JessReplanted]

I make sure that the kids look decent. My son has to wear a nice shirt and at this point the girls want to wear dresses. They definitely look nicer than they would for a trip out to the store. But, I do not dress up myself. On a good morning I manage to take a shower and dry my hair.

[freeindeed]

Our church is very casual, but I dress up when the mood strikes me.

[TeacherZee]

I attend a church without walls (online UU) and have been known to "go to" service in my jammies and dressing gown :lol:  The service I go to finishes shortly after 8pm here and I often go to bed to mull over what has been said, if I have to change and get ready for bed I lose mulling time. If I went to a B&M church I would probably wear something a bit dressier :001_smile:

[Calm37]

I was raised to have "church clothes" and my family just happily continued on that way until I was in my 50s. A change in pastors at our church brought in a group of people that were not raised that way. They just wore their everyday clothes. It was a shock to my sensibilities at first, I will admit.

 

After some self-examination I realized that, though I had always said that I thought it was important to dress up for church, for me it was really just a tradition. I still have friends that feel it is meaningful to them. That is great! 

 

I do have a new blouse that I am saving to wear for the first time on Easter, though, ha!

[Ellie]

I think it's a good thing to recognize that some activities are more formal than others, requiring more formal dress than others. Cultures all over the world recognize this. I'm all about comfort, and I know that God sees our hearts, but our outward appearance shows our inward beings to others, and that's not a bad thing. There *should* be a sense of reverence when we go to church, and no matter what, jeans and cut-offs and Tevas just don't speak of reverence.

[JessReplanted]

I voted other. We used to dress nicely, especially when the kids were little. Now, I am just glad that they go without too much complaining. Also, and this is only my personal experience, when we raced into mass (either on the way to or from a swim meet) dressed in sweats/hoodies/ wet hair we were on the receiving end of quite a few looks. Even my kids noticed- dd1 whispered to me that she could feel the judgment waft over to us. From then on,  the "good" homeschool families with dresses, suits etc decided that we were not part of their group. Hurtful definitely and part of the reason that my ds1 has labelled Catholics as the most hypocritical Christians in the world. Now, we come as we are. Sometimes late with wet hair, some times in team gear. But we are there.

 

That's terrible! I'm sorry you were treated that way. :(

[Erin]

This is my church, getting ready for the junior high/high school's part of the Christmas program:

 

The people wearing hats ALWAYS wear hats...  It's not a show just for church.  

(Though of course everyone removes cover to pray!)

 

Ours is a "cowboy church" not for an excuse to have some new, themed-church (like most of them seem to be), but rather because most of us are, or were, in the cattle business.  And frankly, I've found more true believers there in that dusty salebarn than I ever did in any of the "real" churches I attended previously.  It's a good iron-sharpens-iron group who truly extend the love and grace of Christ.  

 

And it's not at all unusual to see people in their Sunday duds (Sunday hat, best jeans, snazzy shirt, nice vest, etc.) sitting next to those just in from an afternoon branding.   ;)

[TechWife]

I said "sort of." My husband usually wears jeans, a polo or oxford and a sweater w/athletic shoes. It's not dressing up for him because it's what he wears to work also.  I wear jeans & a sweater or slacks & a sweater. I wear casual maxi skirts in the summer when it's too hot for jeans, but often I just have a t-shirt on with them. In the winter I wear boots, in the summer sandals for flip flops. DS wears jeans and a shirt w/athletic shoes. Our "rule" for him is that his shirt must have a collar. He usually wears a t-shirt under it and pulls the collared shirt off as we exit the building. He has a few Hawaiian print shirts that he likes to wear ("the girls dig them, Mom"). 

[Seeking Squirrels]

When we went to church we wore the same clothes we wore any other time we went out. Neat and clean but nothing special. I do NOT like dressing up. They had to twist my arm to wear a dress to MY wedding. And I still wore sneakers! Yes, I wore sneakers under my wedding dress! Brand new white ones though.

I would sometimes dress up dd, age 0-4 at the time. But that was more because SIL bought her tons of cute dresses and I needed opportunities to use them!

[Amber in SJ]

We are in the dressy category as well.  Women in skirts or dresses, men in suits, or button downs, slacks & ties.  Boys mostly dress like dads, but occasionally you will see one in khakis & nice collared shirt.  My Spring/ Summer uniform is maxi skirt, nice knit shirt, light cardigan & sandals.  Fall/ Winter uniform is just heavier skirt, heavier sweater & boots or closed toe flats.

 

Amber in SJ

[ktgrok]

I voted other. We used to dress nicely, especially when the kids were little. Now, I am just glad that they go without too much complaining. Also, and this is only my personal experience, when we raced into mass (either on the way to or from a swim meet) dressed in sweats/hoodies/ wet hair we were on the receiving end of quite a few looks. Even my kids noticed- dd1 whispered to me that she could feel the judgment waft over to us. From then on,  the "good" homeschool families with dresses, suits etc decided that we were not part of their group. Hurtful definitely and part of the reason that my ds1 has labelled Catholics as the most hypocritical Christians in the world. Now, we come as we are. Sometimes late with wet hair, some times in team gear. But we are there.

Ugh, I've been there a time or two, but never noticed any weird looks. Probably because I'm in florida, where if you aren't in a bikini you are "dressed up", lol. I will admit to once or twice throwing on clothes over a bathing suit in the parking lot, brushing the sand off, and going in with wet hair. But you know what, I was there. 

 

A few times I've caught myself being uncharitable, and thinking "I can't believe her mom let her wear that!" when I see a teen girl in very short shorts or tank tops. Then I chastise myself, and thank God that her teen daughter is IN church, every week. And bless that mom for realizing that's the important thing. 

 

At the parish I go to now, in Central Florida, most men are in short sleeved button down shirts and dockers type pants, women are in pants an tops or dresses, but there are a LOT of men in jeans, and quite a few women as well. Kids wear anything from dresses/khaki pants to shorts and t-shirts. 

 

I prefer to dress up when I can, but am more grateful than I can say that I know that I don't HAVE to, especially on those days when my maternity stuff was too big but my regular clothes were too small and everything looked awful and nothing that was nice that fit worked for nursing the baby. I was so happy I could show up in my nicer jeans and a clean shirt and know that it wouldn't be a huge faux pax. 

[Upennmama]

In our urban church, we dress slightly nicer than normal- nice jeans, cute tops, flats or low heels, etc. Plenty of people in our church dress up, and plenty of homeless people wander in in rags, too. I think as a culture, the American church should think about the lessons we impart to our poor communities when we make dressing up a prerequisite for worship. I don't think Jesus cared about dress much (of course modesty is important) or class, and the Bible talks about partiality and not excluding the poor. If you attend a church with a formal or informal dress code, I think it can alienate those without much money. 

[newhsmom]

I love to dress up for church because it is my only time to dress up all week.  I don't care what other people wear.  We all dress up for Sunday morning, but are more casual at other church functions.  Our church is a real mix of dress up and very casual. 

[NicAnn]

Oh yes. We are very formal-full suit and tie for the men, dress for the women. My husband made me get a tie for our newborn his first trip to meeting!

[Word Nerd]

We don't attend regularly anymore, but when we do we're more casual than dressy but not too informal. DD8 likes to get dressed up and I do too sometimes.

[hillfarm]

I voted Other. I would like to dress a little nicer than I do but it wouldn't be practical for me.

We live in a rural area and often roads are in such bad shape that we wear warm pants, hiking boots or mud boots, and sturdy jackets on the drive to and from church. It is a tremendous hassle to take an entire change of clothes every time we go. So especially this winter, we have slid to a very casual standard of clean, mostly unwrinkled, but definitely very casual. (In reality, most of my Carharts, hiking boots, etc. cost much more than my more stylish attire!)

Here lately I have to dash out of church and zoom off to a youth activity where I teach an outdoor sport. So while I try to look as presentable as possible, I usually wear utilitarian base layer garments with a skirt and blouse or sweater over top for church and casually dressy shoes, but then pop into the restroom and change my outer layer to much more rugged clothing and shoes, then off we go! My friends joke that I "step into my phone booth" and change from Church Mom to Survival Mom.

[ScoutTN]

I voted the second yes. We do dress up, but what than means varies with the season. In the summer or in very cold or very wet weather we are more casual. I prefer to wear a skirt or dress and my dd loves to wear pretty things. Ds is in khakis (shorts in the summer) and a collared shirt.
Dh likes to dress up too, but sometimes goes with ds and a golf shirt in the summer. We look nice, but are comfortable.

We don't wear jeans or athletic clothing to Sunday church, but it is fine with me if others do. We have a formal worship service and a large, neo-gothic sanctuary and the atmosphere lends itself to dressing up a little.

Midweek, we just wear whatever we already had on,Adams long as it is clean and fits appropriately.