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Pythias, the accomplished daughter of Aristotle, the famous pagan sage, was annoyed with idle questions as to what color and what dress she most admired. Her answer was brief and much to the purpose: “The modest, bashful blush on the cheek of innocence.” And certainly she was right; for the most beautiful dress is not the fairest ornament for a maiden, but rather innocence of heart. Very often, however, dress becomes a menace, a real danger to the lily of chastity. And I must now speak of this foe in the guise of external attractions, namely, of pride and sinful ostentation in the matter of dress. If you wish to remain pure and chaste it is absolutely necessary that you should be on your guard against this enemy. You must not be afraid that I am about to enter into particulars concerning dress and fashions that is not my business. I have only to lay down principles, to insist upon reason and decorum in regard to these matters, and then earnestly to exhort and entreat you to shape your conduct in accordance with these principles.
First of all, listen to what I have to say in regard to beauty of person. Beauty is a gift from Heaven, bestowed more especially on the feminine sex. However, in the case of too many young girls this gilt serves no good purpose, but is the means not only of causing them to lose their chastity but of leading others into sin. Therefore are we told in Scripture: “Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” And St. Peter writes: “Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel: But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a meek and quiet spirit, which is rich in the sight of God.”
Personal beauty is fraught with danger to a young girl. The flatteries bestowed on it are so many temptations to vanity, and too often prove the first step in the downward road which finally ends in the loss of innocence.
Wherefore be on your guard against the enemy which is found in the guise of personal attractions, namely, against vanity and an over-weening desire to please. Earnestly strive to render your heart beautiful, even more beautiful than your physical form, by adorning it with virtues. Beauty is a fleeting thing, but virtue will not pass away. How painful it must be for a vain woman when the bloom of youth has departed, when lines begin to furrow her cheeks and silver threads to mingle with her abundant tresses, if, when she turns her gaze to the state of her soul, she perceives the thistles of sin where the flowers of virtue ought to be!
Take care that this lot shall never be yours; see that when, as a later period in life, your youthful beauty shall become a thing of the past, you may be able to take delight in the beauty of a heart rich in virtues.
In regard to dress make it a first, an unalterable rule that it be suitable and decorous. It can be decorous only when it covers and conceals that which no modest, delicate-minded woman could desire to display. If, on the contrary, a vain votary of fashion by her extravagant attire seeks to attract licentious glances, and to kindle the flame of impure thoughts and desires in the breasts of those around her, or even becomes the occasion thereof, she is guilty of sin, and often grievous sin.
St. Cyprian of Cartage says: “Only maidens who have lost all sense of shame and women of depraved manners love to be overdressed, and seek to draw attention to their beauty of face and figure by means of gaudy raiment.”
A second rule in regard to dress is to practice prudent moderation. It is no sin to dress in a becoming and suitable manner. You ought not, however, to aim at heightening the effect of your youthful charms only to be noticed and admired, or to attract in particular the attention of young men. Thereby you may become the occasion of sin. Beware of indulging an overweening desire to please, for this frequently proves an enemy to chastity.
The third rule I would lay down for you is, not to be a slave of fashion. I do not mean that you are to disregard fashion altogether, and pay no heed to the prevailing style of dress. It is quite permissible, and sometimes even necessary, to accommodate yourself to the customs of the day. However, it is something very different to run eagerly after and appropriate every fad and foolish fashion, and to allow your thoughts to be completely engrossed by the consideration of what you shall wear. You ought not to imitate the vain and foolish girls whose constant and anxious study seems to be to compensate, by means of cosmetics and other aids of art, for the lack of beauty which nature has denied them. I do not allude to artificial teeth, for they are often both useful and necessary. The poet castigates some fashionable follies thus:
False teeth and rouge and borrowed hair
May give to age a youthful air:
But when Death comes to call us hence
There is an end of all pretense.
Do not allow your mind to dwell upon dress, good looks, and other like vanities. transitory and unimportant, you would be foolish to make so much of them. But as I have already indicated, an enemy to your innocence lurks in the guise of external attractions; for this reason it is all the more important that you should not allow your heart to cling to such vanities. Dress neatly and in a manner becoming to your circumstances. Moreover, seek so to conduct yourself at all times that the words of Scripture may be applicable to you: “All the glory of the king’s daughter is within.” Keep your heart pure and fair, for it is this beauty alone which leads to the blissful contemplation of the beatific vision of God.