For many years now it has been on my mind to write a book on modesty in dress. In that time other books or articles have appeared here and there, giving hope that a true revival of Christian modesty is making its way through the various ranks of our society. There is a need for it, as the fashions in the west in the past one hundred years have gone from slightly provocative to outright immodest and now to utterly vulgar and ugly. Both modesty and beauty have, in large part, been lost, making for a world that is more and more unpleasant to live in. One of the things that kept me from writing this book was the thought that it would be best written by a woman. I have the greatest respect for those women who have in recent years courageously done fine work on this topic. However, it also appears to me that a book by a man has some advantages. Although there is a real risk of undergoing criticism for being judgmental, misogynist, obsessed, or any other list of unpleasant qualifiers, there is also a real advantage in having a male perspective on this question. After all, men are the ones who are primarily affected by the way women dress. My words in this book are not theory, but practice. I am also a priest, and as such receive the confidences of many men and women. I know the problem from the inside as well as from the outside. One of the things I have noticed, however, is that priests have been more and more reluctant to speak to this matter in public. The moral scandals of the clergy have obviously weighed heavily upon many good priests who are fearful of even bringing up the topic, lest they be seen PREFACE 4
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