Are Christian Woman Permitted to Wear Shorts, Slacks or Trousers?
1) Direct answer
No. A Christian woman should not wear shorts, slacks, or trousers. She should dress in modest, feminine apparel that does not expose the thigh and does not borrow the man’s garment.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Deuteronomy 22:5: “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man… for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD.” Pants/trousers are the man’s garment. When a woman takes that pattern to herself, God calls it an abomination, not a style choice.
- 1 Timothy 2:9: “Women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety.” Modest apparel means a decent, humble, and covered manner of dress—loose, not form-fitting; feminine, not masculine.
- Exodus 28:42: “Make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.” God defined the thigh as part of nakedness that must be covered. Shorts expose the thigh—so they expose nakedness.
- Isaiah 47:2–3: “Make bare the leg, uncover the thigh… Thy nakedness shall be uncovered.” Uncovered thigh equals uncovered nakedness.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3–15: God set a visible order and distinction between male and female. Our outward appearance should honor that headship order, not blur it.
- Matthew 5:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–7: We are to walk in holiness and not stir lust. Immodest, tight, or revealing clothing defrauds others.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- God made male and female distinct. Clothing is part of that testimony. When a woman puts on a man’s garment (trousers), the line God drew is crossed. Calling them “women’s slacks” doesn’t change what they pertain to or the way they shape and display the body.
- Shorts reveal the thigh. The Bible calls that nakedness. No believer needs a new rule—just obey the plain Word.
- “Culture changed.” Did God’s Word change? If the Scripture still says it, then the disciple still does it.
- Holiness is not bondage; it is freedom to please the Lord. The Holy Spirit will never lead a woman to dress in a way that denies modesty or blurs the sexes.
Practical counsel
- Choose modest, feminine dresses or skirts that fall well below the knee, not tight, not sheer, not split to reveal the leg when walking or sitting.
- For work or weather, add layers underneath, but keep a modest, feminine covering outwardly. There is always a way to honor God without violating His Word.
Short reinforcement
Now notice, this is not about legalism; it’s about love and obedience. The Bible says what it says. A Christian woman, led by the Spirit, will gladly keep the distinction of the sexes and walk in modesty. That’s the testimony of a heart sanctified unto the Lord.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Satan's Eden
65-0829 §71
She took off the clothes that God dressed her in, back in Eden, for her journey through this wilderness---she took them off. She stripped herself down, when God had her wrapped all over in skins; she's begun to shave a little off each time. Now, she's back to where she was at the beginning. Now, she's got her Adam to wearing her underneath clothes. A man, put on them little old sissy looking shorts, and get out here, I don't think there is much man to him. He is the biggest sissy I know of. See, she's got her perve...
Life Story
51-0415A §74
So after they got through with all the jubilee part, then he said, "Last night on the platform, there was a young minister by the name of Billy Branham." I thought, "Oh, oh." Said, "If he is in the building, tell him to come forth and speak for us this morning." Well, I never even seen a microphone before. And I was sitting back there with a pair of seersucker trousers on and a little T-shirt. I just hunkered down real easy, you know. So they said... That fellow come up again, Mr. Kurt, you all may know of him. Yea...
Hear ye Him
59-0424E §37
Oh, someone said to me not long ago, said, "Brother Branham," said, "you see, I don't wear those shorts. I wear those (you know, what is it you call them?) slacks." That's worse than ever. The Bible said that a woman that'll put on a garment that pertains to a man, it's an abomination in the sight of God. What's happened? It used to be wrong for you Pentecostal people to do that. Somebody let down the bars somewhere. If it was wrong then, it's wrong now. That's right. But the Holy Spirit has to take record up befor...
Life story (William Branham)
50-0820A §80
And then I... But these people... I remember going on and praising the Lord. And I went out and I prayed, "God, let me get some of that. That's what I want." Next day, I went out to church about ten o'clock. They just got through breakfast, and I'd had my rolls. And I come down and got me a drink at a fountain down there in the city, drove my old Ford up, got out. I put on a pair of them seersucker trousers that morning, and a little old tee shirt. "Nobody knowed me, not a soul." I walked in, set down by a colored...
Spiritual Amnesia
64-0411 §10
And then, I said that to a woman here not long ago and she said, "Why," she said, "Brother Branham, said, "that's just like the rest of the women." I said, "But we are not supposed to act like the rest of the people. We're different. We are a different character." Reminds me of a woman, said, "Well, Brother Branham," another one, said, "I don't wear those shorts." Said, "I wear slacks." I said, "That's worse. God said it's an abomination in His sight for a woman to put on a garment pertains to a man." That's exactl...