No education can be complete that does not teach right principles in regard
to dress. Without such teaching, the work of education is too often
retarded
and perverted. Love of dress, and devotion to fa****on, are among the
teacher's most formidable rivals and most effective hindrances.
Fa****on is a mistress that rules with an iron hand. In very many homes the
strength and time and attention of parents and children are absorbed in
meeting her demands. The rich are ambitious to outdo one another in
conforming to her ever-varying styles; the middle and poorer cl*****
strive
to approach the standard set by those supposed to be above them. Where
means
or strength is limited, and the ambition for gentility is great, the
burden
becomes almost insup****table.
With many it matters not how becoming, or even beautiful, a garment may
be,
let the fa****on change, and it must be remade or cast aside. The members
of
the household are doomed to ceaseless toil. There is no time for training
the children, no time for prayer or Bible study, no time for helping the
little ones to become acquainted with God through His works.
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There is no time and no money for charity. And often the home table is
stinted. The food is ill selected and hastily prepared, and the demands of
nature are but partially supplied. The result is wrong habits of diet,
which
create disease or lead to intemperance.
The love of display produces extravagance, and in many young people kills
the aspiration for a nobler life. Instead of seeking an education, they
early engage in some occupation to earn money for indulging the passion
for
dress. And through this passion many a young girl is beguiled to ruin.
In many a home the family resources are overtaxed. The father, unable to
supply the demands of the mother and the children, is tempted to
dishonesty,
and again dishonor and ruin are the result.
Even the day and the services of wor****p are not exempt from fa****on's
domination. Rather they afford op****tunity for the greater display of her
power. The church is made a parade ground, and the fa****ons are studied
more
than the sermon. The poor, unable to meet the demands of custom, stay away
from church altogether. The day of rest is spent in idleness, and by the
youth often in associations that are demoralizing.
At school, the girls are by unsuitable and uncomfortable clothing unfitted
either for study or for recreation. Their minds are preoccupied, and the
teacher has a difficult task to awaken their interest.
For breaking the spell of fa****on, the teacher can often find no means
more
effective than contact with nature. Let pupils taste the delights to be
found by river or lake or sea; let them climb the hills, gaze on the
sunset
glory, explore the treasures of wood and field; let them learn the
pleasure
of cultivating plants and flowers; and the im****tance
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of an additional ribbon or ruffle will sink into insignificance.
Lead the youth to see that in dress, as in diet, plain living is
indispensable to high thinking. Lead them to see how much there is to
learn
and to do; how precious are the days of youth as a preparation for the
lifework. Help them to see what treasures there are in the word of God, in
the book of nature, and in the records of noble lives.
Let their minds be directed to the suffering which they might relieve.
Help
them to see that by every dollar squandered in display, the spender is
deprived of means for feeding the hungry, clothing the ****d, and
comforting
the sorrowful.
They cannot afford to miss life's glorious op****tunities, to dwarf their
minds, to ruin their health, and to wreck their happiness, for the sake of
obedience to mandates that have no foundation in reason, in comfort, or in
comeliness.
At the same time the young should be taught to recognize the lesson of
nature, "He hath made everything beautiful in its time." Ecclesiastes
3:11,
R.V. In dress, as in all things else, it is our privilege to honor our
Creator. He desires our clothing to be not only neat and healthful, but
appropriate and becoming.
A person's character is judged by his style of dress. A refined taste, a
cultivated mind, will be revealed in the choice of simple and appropriate
attire. Chaste simplicity in dress, when united with modesty of demeanor,
will go far toward surrounding a young woman with that atmosphere of
sacred
reserve which will be to her a ****eld from a thousand perils.
Let girls be taught that the art of dressing well includes
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the ability to make their own clothing. This is an ambition that every
girl
should cherish. It will be a means of usefulness and independence that she
cannot afford to miss.
It is right to love beauty and to desire it; but God desires us to love
and
to seek first the highest beauty-- that which is imperishable. The
choicest
productions of human skill possess no beauty that can bear comparison with
that beauty of character which in His sight is of "great price."
Let the youth and the little children be taught to choose for themselves
that royal robe woven in heaven's loom --the "fine linen, clean and white"
(Revelation 19:8), which all the holy ones of earth will wear. This robe,
Christ's own spotless character, is freely offered to every human being.
But
all who receive it will receive and wear it here.
Let the children be taught that as they open their minds to pure, loving
thoughts and do loving and helpful deeds, they are clothing themselves
with
His beautiful garment of character. This apparel will make them beautiful
and beloved here, and will hereafter be their title of admission to the
palace of the King. His promise is:
"They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy." Revelation 3:4.
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