Before we consider scriptures that deal specifically with clothing and other ways one may “beautify themselves,” it is vital to know what “true beauty” is to God. In Proverbs 31:10-31 God describes the “virtuous (excellent) wife” and throughout His description of her He focuses especially on her “moral traits.” She is VALUABLE to “her husband” (verses 11-12), “her household (verses 13-15, 21-22, 27), “her community” (16-18, 24), and “the poor” (verses 19-20). What is the secret to her devotion to her family, community, and the poor? Verse 30 gives us the answer: “Charm is deceitful, and BEAUTY VAIN, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” All of her precious moral qualities are the results of “fearing the Lord!” It is NOT “outward beauty that produces a virtuous woman, but a love and reverence for the Lord. The “inner beauty” will be manifested outwardly in all of the lovely traits seen in verses 11-27. May we take this truth to heart and remember the words of the Lord to the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7, “Do not look at HIS APPEARANCE or at the HEIGHT OF HIS STATUE, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the “outward appearance,” but the Lord looks at “the heart.”

Your mention of beautifying oneself MODESTLY made me think immediately of 1 Timothy 2:9-10, “In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves with MODEST APPAREL, with PROPRIETY and MODERATION, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness, with GOOD WORKS.” When a woman (or a man) professes to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, are people attracted to them because of their “physical appearance” or by their “good works?” We know we live in a world that majors on one’s physical appearance and minors on their actual behavior. We are bombarded daily by the “fashions of the day” in magazines, on television, in movies, and on websites with gaudy and costly clothing and jewelry and extreme hairstyles These things are what the world uses to MEASURE BEAUTY and they are constantly seeking to draw the Christian into their worldly standards. But we must resist their attempts by heeding the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

This does NOT mean Christian women and men should dress in shabby clothes and take no care for their hair. We saw in our passage above that they should “adorn themselves with MODEST APPAREL” and it adds “with PROPRIETY and MODERATION.” I believe this means we should dress “decently” and in “good taste,” avoiding expensive and gaudy clothes on the one hand, and drab and old-fashioned clothes on the other hand. Regarding one’s hair, it should be “simple hairdos” (and “neat and clean”) instead of expensive and showy hairdos. The bottom line is we want to be “presentable” but avoiding the goal of “drawing attention to ourselves.” I should add too that the world’s fashions for clothing seems to be “less is more;” that is, women (and men) are wearing clothing that is “revealing” body parts that God never meant to be exposed.

To answer your specific question, it would be “worldly” to dress in gaudy and expensive clothes and jewelry, and it would be “sinful” to dress in clothes which attract others to bodily parts that serve to cause men and women to lust after you. If we take to heart the scriptures presented above (from Proverbs 31, 1 Timothy 2 and Romans 12), we will avoid these things and allow God to be glorified by showing others the “inner beauty of our hearts.” This is what God looks for and hopefully this is what we want others to see.  (DO)  (620.4)