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Where do you live?  I’ve rarely received any such compliments or found myself treated better. I’ve never really been a big on pants lady.  I have been groped on a number of occasions, every one of which I was wearing a dress or skirt and well covered, nothing at all immodest. 

The hat and gloves phenomena is a city, more than small town or rural practice.  I suspect it was that way in London when Bp. Williamson was young. My grandparents from NYC never went out in public except in formal attire. My grandma E. fled NYC with the children to a then very rural eastern Long Island, 1920’s. She wore hat, gloves, matching purse to Mass or formal occasions. If just walking to the post office, to her cleaning job, she didn’t dress up so much.

As for a woman never going out without a man, if that’s what you like, Iran and Afghanistan put women to death for that crime. I’m afraid I’d have perished long ago, shriveled up from dehydration.  I’ve always been single and if I need something done, need to go out of the house, it’s either do it myself or do without. I’ve never seen traditional Catholic men falling over themselves to escort me to my car when Mass or whatever lets out after dark. The chapel is in an unsafe area, especially at night. Ever heard of Defensive Driving? I practice Wide Awake Walking.

Thank you for comparing hundreds of years of Catholic practice to Iran and Afghanistan.

The royal art of missing the point is not lost I can see.


For those of good faith, it seems obvious that the Bishop was talking about the essential idea of modesty in public.Which includes a womans head. And how it signifies belonging. Belonging to a family, a man, either a father, husband or brother. No woman, even a single one, should be "independent". If she must go out alone, it should be with a certain trepidation.

All women are dependent. The problem is modern women are just dependent on their Jew masters in hidden corridors rather than their fathers or husbands.


I am noticing in your response that you not once mentioned any male relative. If you are truly on your own because of death or whatever, I'm very sorry about that. But that is not normal at all, and should rarely be talked about, as it creates the impression in women's minds that this situation is kind of an acceptable way for a woman to be. It is not. It is desperately lonely for them. And damaging. I say so as a man who loves the women in my life, and cares about whats best for them.

Where do you live?  I’ve rarely received any such compliments or found myself treated better. I’ve never really been a big on pants lady.  I have been groped on a number of occasions, every one of which I was wearing a dress or skirt and well covered, nothing at all immodest. 

I am sorry that this happened to you. There are, of course, men who are not deterred by anything. It is equally important to invoke Our Lady and our guardian angel everyday, for protection, if there is no one else to protect us, as I am sure you do.

If I may ask, were your legs bare? I know that men will admire bare legs, even if only the calves are showing. Men used to drool over ankles once upon a time. Lust will find anything to desire. Opaque stockings = unattractive to an impure man.

Moreover, traditional Catholic men who are devout, have told me themselves, that they wish women, especially their wives and daughters, would wear ankle length skirts, or skirts just above the ankle. This is the type I always wear, and what I was wearing when being treated respectfully by men. One older gentleman in public, actually thanked me for demonstrating to him that I was a woman, through my skirt.

The events I described above all occurred in a big city, known for its successful business men and impurity. Encountering even disreputable homeless men and women, I was always treated very well. I would sometimes tell them about Our Lady and give them miraculous medals. One man was maybe 6'6 and a negroe, very strong looking man, and yelled at me angrily for telling him about Our Lady, because he was a Protestant. It was terrifying. But I somehow managed to calmly defended her honour, and to my surprise he softened, and actually bowed down with his hand extended to receive the medal. I hesitated to see if he was joking, but he was not, and he insisted on receiving it.

Perhaps part of it is my deportment. Women do not realize that men are enticed or feel invited by two things: fear and desire. If a woman is insecure, appears to be a woman who has no one, etc., she is an easy target, having the appearance of being defenceless. A sad or slightly fearful look in the face, slouched posture and the like, all give this impression. Men who do improper things with female strangers are predators. Think of lions who love the chase with their prey. The more timid the prey, and the more the prey struggles, the more the lion wishes to conquer and devour. It is the same with these men.

Encouraging the male stranger in any way through eye contact, prolonged staring (even slightly), smiles, polite conversation, etc. is a big NO NO. If I ever noticed a man staring at me in public and I was alone, usually at a train station, I would give him a good angry glare and wait until he looked discouraged and intimidated, and look away, never looking back, as I kept myself confidently upright, my walk determined, and carried myself as though I belonged to a King, and that this man was utterly beneath my dignity.

This is beautiful and very true, thank you for sharing!

As a woman, I can testify that wearing long skirts immediately inspired me to practice virtues such as humility, purity and that sweetness which is so characteristic of truly feminine women. It felt to me that if I didn’t act that way, it would not match what I was wearing.

Men, both in public and in private, began treating me with greater respect, automatically, merely from me changing what I wore. Chaste compliments, opening doors, etc. One little boy I met with his Grandmother was in awe it seemed, it was adorable. He seemed quite taken by the purity my clothing represented, and wanted me to know how beautiful he thought I was in his childish, innocent way. How many boys would treasure and keep their purity if more examples like this were around them!

I have had men and women in public, who I do not know, compliment my modest outfits many times. It seems there is this deep, universal longing in everyone to see people in more modest, dignified clothing. The way they compliment is not in a worldly way, but in a way that is admiring something truly good.

I also found that lustful men lost interest. Even walking in more dangerous parts of the city, I personally found that because I was modestly dressed, men of ill-will would see that I was not in the business of doing improper things, and I felt safer than before, than when I used to wear trousers.

I have always found the image of a woman in modest skirt to resemble flower petals. The woman transforms herself from a female of the species to something of beauty like a walking flower. What cretin wants to destroy a flower?

I have rarely had the luxury of seeing this, the novus ordo here the elder ladies wear trousers, hold their deacon husband by the nape of his neck.

Bp. Williamson helped articulate my perspective when he said, "The mother of God is strong and tender and gentle." 

Not one woman exemplifies this trait in my family, nor my community, but hearing of the Saints, the Mother of God, hearing examples like yours, gives me hope.