Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Mrs. White on “Simplicity in Dress,” in 1881

In 1881 Mrs. White wrote at length under the title “Simplicity in Dress,” in which she discussed the broad principles involved in such simplicity. She declared that unwarranted expenditure on clothes, either in time in the making of them, or in money in the buying of them, is contrary to the spirit of true religion, which calls for simplicity in our dress and for sacrificial giving to the Lord of our resources for the advancement of His work. She also sets forth there the principle that in blindly following fashion we make of it a god, because we give it our first interest, and that if the fashion be unhealthful, we harm body as well as soul in following the fashion. In the setting of these principles Mrs. White declared: EGWC 154.4

“To protect the people of God from the corrupting influence of the world, as well as to promote physical and moral health, the dress reform was introduced among us. It was not intended to be a yoke of bondage, but a blessing; not to increase labor, but to save labor; not to add to the expense of dress, but to save expense. It would distinguish God’s people from the world, and thus serve as a barrier against its fashions and follies. He who knows the end from the beginning, who understands our nature and our needs,—our compassionate Redeemer,—saw our dangers and difficulties, and condescended to give us timely warning and instruction concerning our habits of life, even in the proper selection of food and clothing. EGWC 154.5

“Satan is constantly devising some new style of dress that shall prove an injury to physical and moral health; and he exults when he sees professed Christians eagerly accepting the fashions that he has invented.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:634, 635. EGWC 155.1

Then she goes on to discuss further some of the evils of current fashions, particularly the trailing skirts, and adds immediately: EGWC 155.2

“But dress reform comprised more than shortening the dress and clothing the limbs. It included every article of dress upon the person. It lifted the weights from the hips by suspending the skirts from the shoulders. It removed the tight corsets, which compress the lungs, the stomach, and other internal organs, and induce curvature of the spine and an almost countless train of diseases. Dress reform proper provided for the protection and development of every part of the body.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:635. EGWC 155.3