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.
Hear ye Him
60-0712 §42
I said that not long ago and a woman said to me; she said, "Listen, Brother Branham." She met me in the back of the building. She said, "Listen, Brother Branham, I don't wear shorts." Well, I said, "That's very good." She said, "I do wear slacks." I said, "That's worse." That's right. The Bible said it's an abomination for a woman to put on a garment that pertains to a man. God don't change. He made a man to look like a man and a woman to look like a woman. But today men are so sissified, they don't know how to dre...
Questions and Answers, Part 4
64-0830E §71
And you know what? I just heard a few months ago, the American army's going to dress that way. Yep! The army's coming out next year, or year after next, all in shorts. How big a bunch of sissies can we get? God made a man to look like a man, and act like a man, and dress like a man. He made a woman to do the same, dress like a woman, act like a woman, and be like a woman. About this morning---about---the question come up about men [Gap in the audio]. If He wants to...
Questions and Answers, part 1
54-0103M §1
That's fine, and I'm certainly happy to be here this morning to try to answer a few of these questions. And I see some more has come in. And so we're... It may take me just a little bit of time to kind of read some of these, because I just got them this morning. And I want to express my feeling of being here to worship God today on this beautiful Sabbath that He's give us to come together. And a little place that we gather in and for the pastor, our brother, Brother Neville---a servant of God---and for all the deac...
Is your life worthy of the Gospel?
63-0630E §44
Now, they got so that... I was preaching the other night, somewhere, about women to obey their husband. Obey? Yeah. That went out of the marriage ritual, a long time ago. But they ain't going to do that. No, sir. They live in America, and they let you know so. They're not going to obey. But, as long as you don't do it, don't never try to call yourself a Christian, 'cause you're not. I don't care how much you dance and speak with tongues, if you don't obey your husband, you're out of the will of God. A woman that we...
Questions and Answers (God being misunderstood)
61-0723E §28
Here some time ago a man met me out here, aside. And I had a pianist here that had a little, short, little skirt, and wasn't just exactly, I guess, just right. And the lady had short hair. And she was just a babe in this way. And she was playing the piano. And a man met me out there and just tearing me to pieces. He said, "And you're a Pentecostal preacher, and let that woman sit up there! That short hair!" And just going on like everything. "Well," I said, "I think the woman has a good spirit in her. I certainly d...