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.
What was the Holy Ghost given for?
59-1217 §64
If the Bible says it's wrong for a woman to put on a garment that pertained to a man, and you wear these little old overalls and slacks out here on the road... You grown women... I guess a little baby would be all ... playing with little boys and things. But look, when you grown women fifteen, sixteen, eighteen years old, and up to grandma, out here on the road... And the Bible says it's an abomination in the sight of God for a woman to wear those things. And you wear them anyhow, and say you got the Holy Ghost? I...
Life Story
50-0200 §46
A little bitty fellow with these little golf playing trousers on, walked up and said, "I'm from Florida. Like to have you over there for a couple of weeks." My, I seen they was just common people after all. So first thing a Indian... A woman come up from the Indian reservation, wanted me to go there. Well, I had enough invitations to last me about a year. My, I jumped in that old Ford, and it half backslid, and down the road I went. I rushed in at home, wife met me, you know, and I said, "Oh, honey, I got something...
Expectation
51-0930 §31
And then when we was going to the platform, well, this man, some businessmen picked him up; he hadn't walked for ten years, he'd been in bed with multiple sclerosis. Tried to lay him there; people was walking over him. We just had what we call a fast line. And the fellow, they pulled him off the platform; and he was about dead. And he was setting in his wheelchair again; he looked up like that. And I turned; I felt the faith pulling, looked down and there he was setting there. He said, "Oh, Brother Branham," he sai...
Hebrews, Chapter 7, part 1
57-0915E §78
And you women who can dress with them little ol' shorts, and run out here on the street, and then call yourself a "believer." You're a believer, but you're a poor example of one, maybe. If you really had Christ in your heart, you wouldn't have to think about such things as that. I don't care what the rest of the women does, and the rest of the girls do, you'd be different, because you love Christ too much. I talked to a woman the other day, in a house, and she throwed her hands up like this, she said, "Rev. Branham...