plain dress

File:Rheba Crawford LCCN2014715227.jpg in New York City in the 1920s, wearing her Salvation Army uniform, a dark plain dress and bonnet]]

Christian denominations that observe the wearing of plain dress, such as the Schwarzenau Brethren Anabaptists, do so because Jesus “condemned anxious thought for raiment” in {{Bibleverse|Matthew|6:25-33|KJV}} and {{Bibleverse|Luke|12:22-31|KJV}}.{{cite book |last1=Winger |first1=Otho |title=History and Doctrines of the Church of the Brethren |date=1919 |publisher=Brethren Publishing House |page=218 |language=English|quote=I. We examined prayerfully the scriptural grounds of Christian attire, and found that Jesus and the apostles taught modesty and simplicity of life and modesty in dress and manners. The scriptures bearing on the subject of dress and adornment are of several classes: First. Jesus condemned anxious thought for raiment (Matt. 6: 25-33; Luke 12:22-31). Second. The direct teachings, such as 1 Tim. 2:9, 10; 1 Peter 3:3-5. Third. Teachings on nonconformity to the world in general, and that apply to dress on general principles, such as Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Peter 1:14-15; 1 John 2:15-17. II. Investigation shows that the early church fathers and our own church fathers taught strongly and uniformly against pride and superfluity in dress, and constantly in favor of gospel plainness.}} They teach that the wearing of plain dress is scripturally commanded in {{Bibleverse|1 Timothy|2:9-10|KJV}}, {{Bibleverse|1 Peter|3:3-5|KJV}}, and {{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:5-6|KJV}}, in addition to being taught by the early Church Fathers:

{{quotation|As, then, in the fashioning of our clothes, we must keep clear of all strangeness, so in the use of them we must beware of extravagance. For neither is it seemly for the clothes to be above the knee, as they say was the case with the Lacedaemonian virgins; nor is it becoming for any part of a woman to be exposed. Though you may with great propriety use the language addressed to him who said, "Your arm is beautiful; yes, but it is not for the public gaze. Your thighs are beautiful but, was the reply, for my husband alone. And your face is comely. Yes; but only for him who has married me." But I do not wish chaste women to afford cause for such praises to those who, by praises, hunt after grounds of censure; and not only because it is prohibited to expose the ankle, but because it has been enjoined that the head should be veiled and the face covered; for it is a wicked thing for beauty to be a snare to men. —Paedagogus{{cite book |title=Clement of Alexandria Collection [3 Books] |publisher=Aeterna Press |language=English}}}}

In plain communities, women wear Christian headcoverings in keeping with the teaching of Saint Paul in {{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:5-6|KJV}}, as well as that of the early Church Fathers.{{cite book |last1=Almila |first1=Anna-Mari |last2=Inglis |first2=David |title=The Routledge International Handbook to Veils and Veiling |date=6 July 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-04114-6 |page=296 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Bercot |first1=David W. |title=Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture |date=1992 |publisher=Scroll Publishing Co. |isbn=978-0-924722-06-6 |page=68 |language=English|quote=Hippolytus, a leader in the church in Rome around the year 200, compiled a record of the various customs and practices in that church from the generations that preceded him. His Apostolic Tradition contains this statement: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." This written evidence of the course of performance of the early Christians is corroborated by the archaeological record. The pictures we have from the second and third centuries from the catacombs and other places depict Christian women praying with a cloth veil on their heads. So the historical record is crystal clear. It reveals that the early generation of believers understood the head covering to be a cloth veil...}}

File:Old Order River Brethren women.jpg, an Anabaptist Christian denomination, wearing the cape dress and kapp]]

File:Amish children playing baseball, Lyndonville NY.jpg children playing baseball in plain clothing]]

The practice is generally found among the following Anabaptist branches: Amish (Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Kauffman Amish Mennonites, Beachy Amish Mennonites), Para-Amish (Believers in Christ, Vernon Community, Caneyville Christian Community), Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites, Conservative Mennonites, traditional "Russian" Mennonites), Hutterites, the Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren (Old Brethren, Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference, Dunkard Brethren), and River Brethren (Old Order River Brethren and Calvary Holiness Church).{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |title=The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions |date=2002 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=9781615927388 |page=151 |language=English}} Plain dress is also practiced by Conservative Friends and Holiness Friends (Quakers), in which it is part of their testimony of simplicity, as well as Old Regular Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, Cooperites and fundamentalist Mormon subgroups.{{cite book |author-link= Stephen Scott (writer) |last=Scott |first=Stephen |year=1986 |title= Why Do They Dress That Way? |location= Intercourse, PA |publisher= Good Books}}{{cite web |last= Yoder |first= Jeremy |url= http://emu.edu/now/work-and-hope/tag/plain-dress/ |title= Plain Dress: Wednesday Link Potluck: Not Dressing Like Lady Gaga Edition |date= 15 September 2010 |publisher= Eastern Mennonite University |access-date= 31 August 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160817094301/http://emu.edu/now/work-and-hope/tag/plain-dress/ |archive-date= 17 August 2016 |url-status= dead }}

Among traditional Anabaptist groups, plain dress is an expression of their beliefs regarding modesty and veiling, as well as nonconformity to the world—which they see as consistent with the Bible and teachings of the early Church Fathers.{{cite web|title=Amish People and Amish Culture|url=http://lancasterpa.com/amish/amish-people/|publisher=LancasterPA.com|access-date=2 September 2015}} Plain, simple and serviceable gender-identifying dress is governed by an unwritten code of conduct, called "ordnung" among Anabaptists, which is strictly adhered to by Amish, Old Order Mennonites, and conservative Brethren.{{cite web|title=Amish: Out of Order Facts – What You Probably Don't Know About the Amish|url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/amish-out-of-order/articles/amish-out-of-order-facts/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313204223/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/amish-out-of-order/articles/amish-out-of-order-facts/|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 March 2015|work=National Geographic|access-date=2 September 2015}}

Many Apostolic Lutherans also wear plain dress.{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Stephen|title=Why Do They Dress That Way?|date=1 September 2008|publisher=Good Books|language=en|isbn=9781680992786|page=53}}

Members of the Moravian Church traditionally wore plain dress.

Historically, Methodists were known for wearing plain dress, a tradition carried on by those in the conservative holiness movement, such as communicants of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Wesleyan Church,{{cite book|title=Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection|publisher=Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection|language=en|chapter=I. The Church|quote=Should we insist on plain and modest dress? Certainly. We should not on any account spend what the Lord has put into our hands as stewards, to be used for His glory, in expensive wearing apparel, when thousands are suffering for food and raiment, and millions are perishing for the Word of life. Let the dress of every member of every Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church be plain and modest. Let the strictest carefulness and economy be used in these respects.}}{{cite book|last=Lyerly|first=Cynthia Lynn|title=Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770-1810|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRiddXHU584C&pg=PA39|access-date=19 June 2017|date=24 September 1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|isbn=9780195354249|page=39}} as well as some Holiness Pentecostal denominations in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition. The Church of God (Restoration) also observes plain dress.{{Cite web |last=Grabish |first=Austin |title=Church fighting pandemic restrictions is cult-like, former worshippers, expert allege |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/church-of-god-restoration-manitoba-1.6066688 |website=CBC News}}

Adventists wear plain dress as taught by the founder of that faith Ellen White, who asked that they "adopt a simple, unadorned dress of modest length".{{cite web|url=http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/Dressref.html#"Adopt%20a%20Simple,%20Unadorned%20Dress"|title=Seventh-day Adventists and the Reform Dress|last=Robinson|first=D. E.|date=1990|publisher=The Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.|access-date=17 July 2018}} The Church Manual of the Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches "To dress plainly, and abstain from display of jewelry and ornaments of every kind is in keeping with our faith."{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Ellen G. |title=Evangelism |date=11 April 2021 |publisher=Good Press |language=English}} Adherents of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have historically not worn wedding rings.{{cite book |title=Review and Herald: Official Organ of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church |date=1967 |publisher=Seventh-day Adventist Church |page=14 |language=en |quote=In the United States, Seventh-day Adventist ministers do not baptize a person wearing a wedding ring, nor do they officiate at a wedding in which the ring ceremony is part of the service.}}

Other groups adhering to a conservative dress code include Buddhist and Christian monks, Orthodox Jews, and more conservative Muslims such as Salafis, but these forms of dress normally are not called "plain dress".

Plain dress is attributed to reasons of theology and sociology. In general, plain dress involves the covering of much of the body (often including the head, forearms and calves), with minimal ornamentation, rejecting jewelry and sometimes print fabrics, trims, and fasteners. Non-essential elements of garments such as neckties, collars, and lapels may be minimized or omitted. Practical garments such as aprons and shawls may be layered over the basic ensemble. Plain dress garments are often handmade and may be produced by groups of women in the community for efficiency and to ensure uniformity of style. Plain dress practices can extend to the grooming of hair and beards and may vary somewhat to allow children and older people more latitude.Reynolds, Margaret C.; Bronner, Simon J. (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=a1LR3w4D0c4C&pg=PA61 Plain Women: Gender and Ritual in the Old Order River Brethren] Penn State Press. pp. 61–96. {{ISBN|978-0-271-02138-6}} In plain communities, women traditionally wear Christian headcoverings in keeping with the teaching of Saint Paul in {{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:5-6|KJV}}.

Within these general practices, distinctions abound. Among some groups, the headcovering worn by women is lacy or translucent; in others, it must be opaque.

The traditional plain dress worn by the Anabaptists and other religious groups has long sleeves with a set waist, long skirt, and no adornment. It denotes "utility, modesty, long wear and inconspicuousness", does not display any trademark, and is not dictated by fashion trends. Shawl, aprons, bonnets and cap are part of plain dress.{{cite book | last = McKean | first = Erin |title= The Hundred Dresses: The Most Iconic Styles of Our Time|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9KzUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20 |year=2013 |publisher= A&C Black |isbn= 978-1-4081-9050-0 |page =20}}

Clothing worn by Bruderhof women includes a headcovering,{{Cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/23/just-dont-call-it-a-cult-the-strangely-alluring-world-of-the-bruderhof|title='Just don't call it a cult': the strangely alluring world of the Bruderhof|last= Wollaston|first=Sam|date= 2019-07-23 |work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-22|language= en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} as well as long skirts or dresses; men wear contemporary clothes of a modest nature.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

As a part of their testimony of simplicity, Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) traditionally wore plain dress; "Ruffles and lace and other forms of ornamentation, as well as unnecessary cuffs and collars and lapels and buttons, were forbidden."{{cite book |last=Hamm |first=Thomas D. |title= The Quakers in America|year=2006|publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn= 978-0-23112363-1 |page=102}}{{cite book|last1= F. |first1=José Blanco |last2= Hunt-Hurst |first2= Patricia Kay |last3=Lee |first3= Heather Vaughan |first4 = Mary | last4 = Doering |title= Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe [4 volumes] |date=23 November 2015 |publisher= ABC-CLIO |isbn= 978-161069310-3 |page=1}} George Fox implored fellow Quakers to wear plain dress:

{{quotation|Friends, keep out of the vain fashions of the world; let not your eyes, minds, and spirits run after every fashion (in attire) of the nations; for that will lead you from the solid life into unity with that spirit that leads to follow the fashions of the nations, after every fashion of apparel that gets up: but mind that which is sober and modest, and keep to your plain fashions, that you may judge the world's vanity and spirit, in its vain fashions, and show a constant spirit in the truth and plainness.{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=William |last2= Evans |first2=Thomas |title= The Friends' Library |url= https://archive.org/details/friendslibraryco01will | access-date = 19 June 2017 |year=1837 |publisher= J. Rakestraw |page= [https://archive.org/details/friendslibraryco01will/page/132 132]}}}}

This classical Quaker belief practice continues to be maintained by Conservative Friends, as well as the Holiness Friends.{{cite book |title=Manual of Faith and Practice of Central Yearly Meeting of Friends |date=2018 |publisher=Central Yearly Meeting of Friends |pages=107–10}} For Conservative Friends, plain dress for men usually includes "a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, trousers with suspenders instead of a belt, and muted colors in the fabrics: blacks, whites, greys, browns", sometimes with "broad-fall trouser cuts". Quaker men traditionally are clean-shaven. Conservative Quaker women practice headcovering by wearing a "scarf, bonnet, or cap" and "wear long-sleeved, long dresses". Most Quakers these days wear simple, practical, unpretentious modern clothes.

File:Tabernacle of Wesleyan Methodist Campground.jpg girls enter the tabernacle at a camp meeting.]]

{{further|Outward holiness}}

Early Methodists wore plain dress, with Methodist clergy condemning "high headdresses, ruffles, laces, gold, and 'costly apparel' in general". John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, recommended that Methodists read his thoughts On Dress, in which he detailed acceptable types and colors of fabrics, in addition to "shapes and sizes of hats, coats, sleeves, and hairstyles";Journals of Wesley, Nehemiah Curnock, ed., London: Epworth Press 1938, p. 468. in that sermon, John Wesley expressed his desire for Methodists: "Let me see, before I die, a Methodist congregation, full as plain dressed as a Quaker congregation."{{cite web|url= http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-88-on-dress/ | work = The Wesley Center Online | title = Sermon 88 – On Dress|last= Wesley|first=John|year=1999|publisher= Wesley Center for Applied Theology |access-date=19 June 2017}} He also taught, with respect to headcovering, that women, "especially in a religious assembly", should "keep on her veil".{{cite book|last=Wesley |first=John |title=Wesley's Notes on the Bible|publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |isbn= 978-1-61025257-7|page=570|quote= Therefore if a woman is not covered — If she will throw off the badge of subjection, let her appear with her hair cut like a man's. But if it be shameful far a woman to appear thus in public, especially in a religious assembly, let her, for the same reason, keep on her veil.|year= 1987 }}{{cite web |last1= Dunlap |first1=David |title= Headcovering—A Historical Perspective |url= http://www.uplook.org/1994/11/headcovering-a-historical-perspective/ |publisher=Uplook Ministries |access-date=24 June 2019 |date=1 November 1994 |quote=Although women were allowed to preach in the Methodist ministry, the veil covering a woman’s head was required as a sign of her headship to Christ. Concerning the theological significance of the veil, Wesley wrote, “For a man indeed ought not to veil his head because he is the image and glory of God in the dominion he bears over the creation, representing the supreme dominion of God, which is his glory. But the woman is a matter of glory to the man, who has a becoming dominion over her. Therefore she ought not to appear except with her head veiled as a tacit acknowledgement of it.”}} Those who tried to attend Methodist services in costly apparel were denied admittance.Rupert Davies, A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain, London : Epworth, 1965, p. 197. Wesley's teaching was based on his interpretation of {{Bibleverse|1 Timothy|2:9-10|KJV}} and {{Bibleverse |1 Peter|3:3-4|KJV}}, which he stated led him to conclude that "expensive clothes puff up their wearers, promote vanity, incite anger, inflame lust, retard the pursuit of holiness, and steal from God and the poor."{{cite book|last1= Yrigoyen|first1=Charles |last2= Warrick|first2=Susan E.|title= Historical Dictionary of Methodism|date=7 November 2013|publisher= Scarecrow Press |isbn= 978-0-81087894-5 |page=124}} The 1858 Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection stated that "we would not only enjoin on all who fear God plain dress, but we would recommend to our preachers and people, according to Mr. Wesley's views expressed in his sermon on the inefficiency of Christianity, published but a few years before his death, and containing his matured judgment, distinguishing plainness—Plainness which will publicly comment them to the maintenance of their Christian profession wherever they may be."{{cite book|title=The Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection, of America|year=1858 | via = Archive | url = https://archive.org/details/disciplineofwesl0000wesl/page/75/ |publisher= Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America |pages = 75–6}} The 1859 novel Adam Bede portrayed the Methodist itinerant preacher, Dinah Morris, wearing plain dress, with the words "I saw she was a Methodist, or Quaker, or something of that sort, by her dress".{{cite web|url= http://www.quakerjane.com/spirit.friends/plain_dress-onecloth.html |title=A Few Historical Quaker Plain Dress References |year=2007|publisher=Quaker Jane |access-date= 19 June 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170914145423/http://www.quakerjane.com/spirit.friends/plain_dress-onecloth.html|archive-date=14 September 2017|url-status=dead}} Peter Cartwright, a Methodist revivalist, lamented the decline of wearing plain dress among Methodists, stating:{{cite book |last= Cartwright |first=Peter |title= Autobiography of Peter Cartwright: The Backwoods Preacher |url= https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofp00incart | access-date = 19 June 2017 |year= 1857 |publisher= Carlton & Porter |page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofp00incart/page/74 74]}}

{{quotation|The Methodists in that early day dressed plain; attended their meetings faithfully, especially preaching, prayer and class meetings; they wore no jewelry, no ruffles; they would frequently walk three or four miles to class-meetings and home again, on Sundays; they would go thirty or forty miles to their quarterly meetings, and think it a glorious priviledge to meet their presiding elder, and the rest of the preachers. They could, nearly every soul of them, sing our hymns and spiritual songs. They religiously kept the Sabbath day: many of them abstained from dram-drinking, not because the temperance reformation was ever heard of in that day, but because it was interdicted in the General Rules of our Discipline. The Methodists of that day stood up and faced their preacher when they sung; they kneedled down in the public congregation as well as elsewhere, when the preacher said, "Let us pray." There was no standing among the members in time of prayer, especially the abominable practice of sitting down during that exercise was unknown among early Methodists. Parents did not allow their children to go to balls or plays; they did not send them to dancing schools; they generally fasted once a week, and almost universally on Friday before each quarterly meeting. If the Methodists had dressed in the same "superfluity of naughtiness" then as they do now, there were very few even out of the Church that would have had any confidence in their religion. But O, how have things changed for the worse in this educational age of the world!}}

While few wear plain dress in mainline Methodism today, Methodist Churches of the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, continue to dress plainly,{{cite book |last= Elwell |first= Walter A. |title= Evangelical Dictionary of Theology |year= 2001 |publisher= Baker Academic |isbn= 978-0-80102075-9 |page=564}} also avoiding the wearing of jewelry (inclusive of wedding rings).{{cite web |url= http://www.biblemethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2014-Bible-Methodist-Discipline.pdf |title= Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches |year=2014 |pages=33–34 |access-date=19 June 2017}} The Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, which continues to observe the ordinance of women's headcovering, stipulates "renouncing all vain pomp and glory" and "adorning oneself with modest attire."{{cite web |title=Brief Description |url=http://fimc.org.uk/about_us.htm |publisher=Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches |access-date=3 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126234944/http://fimc.org.uk/about_us.htm |archive-date=26 January 2022 |language=English |date=26 January 2022}}

Historically, members of the Moravian Church wore plain dress:

{{quotation|Their strait, unlapelled, dark brown coat, the broad-brimmed, low-crowned hat, the knee-buckled small clothes, the broad, round-toed shoe, were consistent characteristics of a Moravian brother; whilst the plain drab or black silk bonnet, the three-corned white kerchief, the plain silk gown (Sunday dress), the comfortable hood-finished cloack, the "stuff" shoe, for comfort and convenience, were the sisters' concession to St. Peter's advice, "whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel."{{cite book |last= Ritter |first= Abraham |title= History of the Moravian Church in Philadelphia |url= https://archive.org/details/historymoravian01rittgoog |id= Accessed 19 June 2017 |year=1857 |publisher= Hayes & Zell |page= [https://archive.org/details/historymoravian01rittgoog/page/n173 145]}}}}

The haube is a Christian headovering that has historically been worn by women who belong to the Moravian Church, at least since the 1730s.{{cite web |title=New Acquisition: 18th-Century Haube |url=https://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Voices-14_June-2011.pdf |publisher=Moravian Archives |access-date=18 January 2025 |date=2011}} Nicolaus Zinzendorf, a Moravian divine, "likened the Haube to a 'visible diadem' representative of Jesus' burial cloth." In 1815, Moravian women in the United States switched to wearing the English bonnet of their neighbors. Certain Moravian women continue to wear a headcovering during worship, in keeping with {{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:5-6|RSV}}.{{cite web |title=Why to visit the Moravian village of Elim, Western Cape |url=https://www.roxannereid.co.za/blog/why-to-visit-the-moravian-village-of-elim-western-cape |website=Roxanne Reid |access-date=19 January 2025 |language=en |date=25 March 2020|quote=After service and communion, the mostly middle-aged and elderly people stumble into the sunshine, women wearing black dresses and soft white headscarves, the men stiffly sweating into their suits.}} Additionally, in the present-day, Moravian ladies wear a lace headcovering called a haube when serving as dieners in the celebration of lovefeasts.{{cite book |last=Crump |first=William D. |title=The Christmas Encyclopedia|edition=3rd |date=2013 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476605739 |page=298 |language=en}}

Certain Holiness Pentecostal denominations enjoin dress standards for their members; the Calvary Holiness Association, a Holiness Pentecostal denomination, teaches:

{{quotation|We urge people to dress with simplicity and modesty, as becometh holiness. Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God, of greater price (I Peter 3:3-4; I Tim. 2:9). We consider wearing shorts, bathing suits, ladies' pants, makeup and men without shirts immodest.{{cite book |title=2016 Minutes of the Fortieth Annual Session of the Calvary Holiness Association |date=6 August 2016 |publisher=Calvary Holiness Association |location=Coffee County, Georgia|page=23}}}}

Plain dressing Christians cite Paul's advice to the Romans, "Be not conformed to this world," as one Biblical basis for their distinctive dress. Other scripture passages counsel women to wear head coverings while praying ({{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:5|kjv}}), not to cut their hair ({{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:14-15|kjv}}), and for men not to shave or cut their beards ({{Bibleverse|Leviticus|19:27|kjv}}).Torrey, Mary Ide (1838). [https://books.google.com/books?id=h0cZAAAAYAAJ Ornament, or the Christian Rule of Dress] Crocker & Brewster.

The rejection of extravagant clothing is further established in {{Bibleverse|1 Timothy|2:9-10|kjv}}:{{cite book |last1=B. Schwertley |first1= Pastor |title= Modesty in Apparel: Bringing a Believer's Attire into Subjection to the Word of God |chapter-url= http://www.reformedonline.com/uploads/1/5/0/3/15030584/chapter_3_modesty.pdf |access-date=4 September 2015 |chapter=3: Modesty and Extravagance}}{{cite journal |last1=Cap Ehlke |first1=Roland |title=A Woman's Place: The Evangelical Debate over the Role of Women in the Church |journal=Christian Research Journal |year=2000 |volume=22 |issue=4 |url=http://www.equip.org/PDF/DW252.pdf |access-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924001622/http://www.equip.org/PDF/DW252.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=bot: unknown }}

{{Blockquote|text=[T]hat women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.}}

Some Mormon Fundamentalist groups such as the FLDS wear plain dress, referring both to Biblical and unique Latter Day Saint Scriptures, such as the Book of Alma and the Doctrine and Covenants, which states, "Thou shalt not be proud in thy heart; let all thy garments be plain, and their beauty of the work of thine own hands" (42:40).{{Cite news|last1= Winslow|first1=Ben |title=Web site sells FLDS-style clothes|date=June 25, 2008 |access-date=14 December 2020|language=en |url=https://www.deseret.com/2008/6/24/20260185/web-site-sells-flds-style-clothes|work=Deseret News}}

Plain dress may establish a sense of belonging within the community while also marking the group's members as different in the wider society. Some practitioners describe their dress as a protection from unwanted attention. Quaker minister Elizabeth Fry considered her plain dress to serve as "a hedge against the world", and "a sort of protector".Caton, Mary Anne (2003). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=xfZGThbyn-AC&lpg=PA246 The Aesthetics of Absence: Quaker Women's Plain Dress in the Delaware Valley, 1790–1900"] in Emma Jones Lapsansky and Anne A. Verplanck, eds., Quaker Aesthetics: Reflections on a Quaker Ethic in American Design and Consumption, 1720–1920. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 246–271. {{ISBN|978-0-8122-3692-7}} Marketing through the internet has these sites which propagate plain dress: "Quaker Jane", "Plain and Simple Headcoverings", "Rachel's Seamstress Services" and "Mennonite Maidens".

Simple dress, considered "sensible and useful" and necessary, is sometimes hard to find as the clothing market is dictated by fashion-conscious people who consider plain dress dull.{{cite web|author=Rose, Hilary|url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-joys-of-a-perfectly-plain-dress-pv6k3gqzz39|title= The joys of a perfectly plain dress|date= 29 August 2015|work=The Times}}

Dressing heroines in Victorian literature in plain dress is often assumed to be a way of making characters appear classless and sexless.{{cite journal |last1= Keen |first1= Suzanne |title=Quaker dress, sexuality, and the domestication of reform in the Victorian novel|journal= Victorian Literature and Culture|year=2002 |volume= 30 |issue= 1 |pages=211–36|jstor= 25058582 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S1060150302301104|pmid= 20707027 |s2cid= 32093540 }} Others argue that authors like Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Anthony Trollope use plain dress to highlight the marriageability of the character, sexualizing her by emphasizing the female body within.{{cite journal|last1= Connerley|first1=Jennifer L.|title= Quaker bonnets and the erotic feminine in American popular culture |journal=Material Religion|year=2006|volume=2|issue=2|pages= 174–203|doi= 10.2752/174322006778053636|s2cid=153955468 }} Additionally, plain dress may signify a character's rejection of societal norms and willingness to leave the household to act on her desires.

File:Mennonite Women Dressmaking Pennsylvania 1942.jpg|Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite woman in 1942

File:Mennonite Family - Campeche - Mexico - 02.jpg|An Old Colony Mennonite family in Campeche, Mexico

File:Mennonites on New River, Belize detail.jpg|Old Colony Mennonites on New River, Belize

File:Menonite Children.JPG|Two plain dressed Old Colony Mennonite boys near Lamanai in Belize

File:Hutterer-Crystal Schule1.jpg|Schmiedeleut Hutterites at school

File:Hutterer-Chor1.jpeg|Schmiedeleut Hutterites singing a hymn

File:Hutterer-Frauen bei der Arbeit.jpg|Schmiedeleut Hutterite women at work

File:Hutterite Sunset.jpg|Schmiedeleut Hutterite women return from working in the fields

File:Amish Family in Aylmer, Ontario.jpg|Amish in Aylmer, Ontario

File:Femmes-Amish.jpg|Amish women at the beach, Chincoteague, Virginia

File:Amish - On the way to school by Gadjoboy-crop.jpg|Amish children on the way to school

File:AmishRakingHay.jpg|Amish man from one of the very plain "one suspender" groups in southeast Ohio

{{portal |Islam|Christianity|Fashion|}}

• Plain people
• Peace churches
• Cape dress
• Prairie dress
• Journeyman uniform in Germany
• Normcore
• Modest fashion
• Sufism
• Tazkiyah

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book|title=Manual of Bible Doctrines|url=https://archive.org/details/manualofbibledoc00kauf|first=Daniel|last=Kauffman|date=1898|publisher=Mennonite Publishing Co.|location=Elkhart|pages=186–204}}
• {{cite book |first=Merle |last=Ruth |year=2022 |title=The Significance of the Christian Woman's Veiling|publisher=Christian Light Publications|location=Harrisonburg|url=https://www.anabaptistresources.org/en/resources/details/986/the-significance-of-the-christian-womans-veil}}
• {{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Cory A. |title=The Ornament of a Spirit: Exploring the Reasons Covering Styles Change |date=2013 |publisher=Ridgeway Publishing |location=Stoneboro}}
• {{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Cory|last2=Anderson |first2=Jennifer|title=Fitted to Holiness: How Modesty is Achieved and Compromised among the Plain People |date=2019 |publisher=Acorn Publishing |location=Millersburg}}

• [https://justplainmarie.ca/why-do-mennonites-dress-like-that/ Understanding Plain Dress] (Mennonite)
• [https://www.quakerranter.org/resources_on_quaker_plain_dres/ Plain Resources] (Quaker)
• [https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-88-On-Dress On Dress by John Wesley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716111811/https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-88-On-Dress |date=16 July 2018 }} (Methodist)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080605012516/http://www.fldsdress.com:80/about.php fldsdress] (Mormon Fundamentalist, archived)

{{Simple living}}

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Category:Anabaptism

Category:Clothing by function

Category:Methodism

Category:Modesty in Christianity

Category:Simple living