by Clare Horvath
Before I went to Rome this summer, I had heard that Europeans tend to dress more formally than Americans, so I wasn’t too surprised when I found that to be the case. What I didn’t expect, however, was how much my summer would prompt me to think about how one ought to dress. In most of the churches I visited in Rome and other parts of Italy, your shoulders and knees must be covered. If they are not, the security at some churches, such as St. Peter’s, have rough cloth scarves that you must put on to enter. Some, including the Duomo in Florence, will simply turn you away if you are not adequately dressed. An Orthodox monastery I visited in Greece even had a rack full of long skirts ready for female visitors to wear if needed. Following these guidelines could be an annoyance; my peers often complained that it was too hot or too much of a hassle. Unlike most of my classmates, I could not help but appreciate the standard. During one of my first days in Rome, I overheard a security woman who was turning away a tourist in shorts and a tank top giving her reasoning for why she was doing so. “This is a holy place. We have standards,” she said. The way she put it was simple and straightforward, and it made me even more confident in my appreciation of these dress codes. Dressing properly in a church is a way to show respect to God and to those trying to worship him around you.
This was not the only context in which the topic of dress came up. I took two summer classes while in Europe, and my classmates came from several other small liberal arts colleges around the country. I quickly noticed they did not dress like many Hillsdale students do. Though several of these students came from small Catholic liberal arts schools with dress codes, most wore something akin to workout clothes to class, and I felt rather out of place in my casual dresses and skirts. Though the dress codes at their schools insist that everyone must cover their shoulders and knees and that women’s pants and skirts cannot be overly tight, these same students were happy to wear athletic shorts and a t-shirt to class. They would frequently complain about their schools’ dress codes. While colleges should not have a dress code in the first place, it seems these colleges have failed in their attempt at this part of education; they have not taught their students why they have a dress code. Their students have become bitter with dress codes without ever internalizing that dressing nicely for class is an important way to show respect to both your professors and your studies.
It seems these colleges have failed in their attempt at this part of education; they have not taught their students why they have a dress code.
Growing up, I always had to wear a school uniform, which I admittedly didn’t appreciate. Many days I certainly wished that I didn’t have to wear it. When my mom took me to the grocery store, old ladies often noticed my uniform and told me that they had to wear something similar when they were in school. Because of this, when I came to college, I was excited to have the freedom to choose what I would wear every day. I naturally started wearing dresses, dress pants, or jeans with a nice top. This is often the norm at Hillsdale, despite the fact that we don’t have a dress code. But when we choose to dress nicely, are we doing so because that is what everyone does, or are we doing so because we understand why we ought to?
It’s tempting to say that it doesn’t matter what we wear. While we should not allow ourselves to become unhealthily preoccupied with our clothes or to fall into vanity, it is important that we dress properly for what we are doing and whom we are seeing. If you showed up to a wedding in your running attire, this would be a clear sign of disrespect to the bride and groom. If you showed up to the pool in your prom dress, everyone there would be confused. While these are perhaps extreme examples, they illustrate that it does actually matter what you wear. How you dress says something to those around you. It communicates how seriously you take what you’re doing, how much you respect those you are with, and how you think of yourself. At its best, dressing well should even reveal your person to others.
How you dress is a form of respect and communicates to others how seriously you take whatever you are doing. This principle applies well to why one ought to dress respectfully for class. In general, professors at Hillsdale dress business-casual. While most of us don’t think twice about this, we would be shocked if they showed up to the first day of class in sweatpants and an old painting shirt. By dressing up, the professors communicate to us that they think their job is important and that they are putting in effort to teach well. In return, we ought to dress nicely in order to communicate to our professors that we respect them as experts in their fields and that we too see the goal of education as serious and worth working towards. If we showed up to class in pajamas or sweats, this would communicate that we don’t see our education as important enough to look presentable. If you have a job interview, you will dress nicely in order to show your gratitude for the chance to have the meeting and to indicate that you are the best candidate for the job. If you showed up on your first day of class and your professor was wearing his running clothes, you would probably doubt he is a good professor. Not only does dressing nicely show respect to your professors, but it also shows that you respect the pursuit of an education.
How you dress is a form of respect and communicates to others how seriously you take whatever you are doing.
Similarly, entering a church with your shoulders and knees covered is a way of communicating your respect to those praying around you and to God himself. If we were going to a dinner with the queen, or even Dr. Arnn, we would dress formally to see them. Doesn’t it make sense that we also do so before the King of the Universe? One could ask: not all believe in God, and not all people are Christian, so why does everyone in Rome’s churches have to dress in this certain way? Well, their view of God does not change that he is God and deserves respect from all people regardless of how they view him, just as a king is worthy of respect due to his office, even from someone who is not a citizen of the king. So, by having a simple, enforceable dress code, the churches in Rome were able to enforce at least this one form of respect for God, even if their visitors came from a wide variety of places and cultures. Shouldn’t we, who are from the Western culture and believe that these churches are God’s house, be grateful for the dress code?
While these are both specific contexts in which one dresses more formally than normal, we should dress well independently of where we are in order to respect ourselves. If we believe that the human person is both body and soul and that we have great dignity as a human person, then we should dress the body according to that dignity. As Christians, we believe that we are created in the image and likeness of God. From this, we understand the body as good and beautiful. To reflect this belief and to reveal the beauty of our persons to others is a very good reason to dress well. While this will look different for men and women to reflect their inherent differences, every person has a unique beauty that is worthy of being well clothed. If one always dresses in an undignified way, then that beauty will be obscured rather than reflected.
If we believe that the human person is both body and soul and that we have great dignity as a human person, then we should dress the body according to that dignity.
Dress codes both in schools and sacred places have their root in the important principle that dressing well communicates respect for yourself, who you are with, where you are, and what you are doing. Unfortunately, forced dress codes breed resentment when not accompanied by a good explanation. Those who enforce dress codes have a serious responsibility to educate their students about why the way they dress matters. At Hillsdale, we have the opportunity to set this standard for ourselves. With the freedom to intentionally dress for the occasion, we can embrace dressing well as a joy rather than a burden.
Clare Horvath is a Junior studying English with minors in Latin and Classical Education.
Hillsdale Forum 