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.
Shalom
64-0119 §55
No more than... See the young man out here---fine, big, fine-built fellow---with his hair (what do you...?) curled up like the women do, and leotards on, and a big long sweater hanging down, and purple shoes on. Masculine? Oh, my! What a horrible thing to call a man. What a thing to call a man! That's right. See some woman, supposed to be dainty and loving, come out with a pair of man's trousers on, a cigarette in her mouth, and bobbed hair. What a thing to call a woman! Jesus called Mary "woman." Shouldn't be even...
Why cry? Speak!
63-0714M §55
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And knoweth it not
65-0815 §68
That's why that woman will wear them shorts. She's counted a prostitute the same as the woman in the act, see. She doesn't know that that spirit... How does she know her ultimate? What is an ultimate? It's the last word. The ultimate is the Amen; it's the end of all strife---your ultimate. And if your church ... a Pentecostal church that tells you that long hair stuff is just fanaticism---"You've got a spare tire on the back of your head," and so forth and them kind of things---the man is possessed of the devil; fo...
A thinking man's filter
65-0822E §38
Notice. But the woman who wants to have short hair and wear shorts or wear paint and anything, she can go right through a Pentecostal filter just as easy as pie. Nothing about it. Right into death. Because he that... She said, "Well, there's no harm in that." "If you love the world or the things of the world, it's because the love of God's not even in you." Down through this spirit then, she can pull down into her soul things that isn't of God and against God's Word if that's the taste in the soul. It can come thro...
The door inside the door
58-0209E §34
I've had this remark and I don't mean it personally---I don't mean any harm by it---but sometimes when I get ready go to church, my wife will come over and say, "Billy, do you think that that tie matches that suit?" I say, "I don't know, honey." And I will have on a pair of red socks and black trousers and a blue tie and, oh, I don't know. She said, "That don't match." I said, "Honey, I'm not concerned whether my trousers match my coat, or whether my tie matches my suit. I'm concerned about one matching: I want my...