Anonymous
05/12/2025 15:18
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We are heading to Italy and facing the same thing. Pick out one or two cute midi or maxi sundresses and have her wear those on the days you visit houses of worship. That will cover her knees, and then the shawl can cover shoulders.
Can teen boys show their knees?
It might vary by country, but in Italy, shorts weren’t allowed in a church we visited.
So boy/men wear pants – good to know we have not planned to bring any pants as we’re going to be there in July.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 15:16
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Carry a thin scarf of two. One for shoulders and one as sarong. It's not that hard. I did that 20 years ago as a teen.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 15:14
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Anonymous wrote:Wondering if anyone who has been to Spain recently can help with this. Will be going to Spain this summer with my teen daughter and I know it will be HOT. Like most teens, most of her shirts are cropped and most of her shorts and skirts are pretty short. Will we have difficulty getting into any churches for viewing? (If we go to mass, she'll wear something more modest, but she really doesn't have enough modest clothing to cover a whole week of touring.) I did buy shawls to cover our shoulders. Looking online at the Spanish stores for teens, they are all selling crop tops and short shorts/skirts, so I'm wondering if this won't be an issue. Of course I'll try to get her to pack some of the less revealing stuff, but I don't want to buy her a whole wardrobe she won't wear.
A whole wardrobe? Your teens gonna be miserable and not because of her clothing if you’re forcing her to go into churches every single day on a trip to Spain.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 13:38
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Some churches make you wear these big paper bibs. Show your kid that and they'll play ball on carrying a backup.
My experience is personally that carrying a cardigan and popping it on was sufficient. They were much more strict about shoulders than knees from what I saw (I was generally wearing jeans). But you could find a.long skirt with an elastic band that could be rolled up and carried in a purse and just slip that on over shorts as a backup.
My experience is personally that carrying a cardigan and popping it on was sufficient. They were much more strict about shoulders than knees from what I saw (I was generally wearing jeans). But you could find a.long skirt with an elastic band that could be rolled up and carried in a purse and just slip that on over shorts as a backup.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 13:38
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Buy her appropiate clothing and teach her how to dress. If you can afford a trip you can afford a few outfits.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 13:37
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Showing belly, shoulders, and legs at knee or above will always be an issue. Even if they don’t forbid you from entering they will consider you very rude. Bring large shawls and sarongs if you can’t dress decently all the time.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 13:22
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
pack a long skirt (old navy or target should have something) and a sweater or something to cover her shoulders and stomach - she can throw them in her backpack and put them on before going into the churches and take them off when she is done. and maybe buy a longer t-shirt or 2 for the trip.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:52
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We are heading to Italy and facing the same thing. Pick out one or two cute midi or maxi sundresses and have her wear those on the days you visit houses of worship. That will cover her knees, and then the shawl can cover shoulders.
Can teen boys show their knees?
It might vary by country, but in Italy, shorts weren’t allowed in a church we visited.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:49
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Anonymous wrote:We are heading to Italy and facing the same thing. Pick out one or two cute midi or maxi sundresses and have her wear those on the days you visit houses of worship. That will cover her knees, and then the shawl can cover shoulders.
Can teen boys show their knees?
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:49
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Thanks for asking OP- we are doing the same this summer. But how many churches are you going to?? We just have one outfit that will work. Its a maxi dress that's super cute (they have a ton in the jrs section at marshalls/tj maxx) and will wear a shawl around the shoulders.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:27
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Hollister has some basic fitted tees right now you could get. One version is almost bathing suit material but another is cotton (DD strongly preferred these).
They are just simple and classy but fitted and stylish. Come in white, black, navy and pale pink.
She doesn’t need to dress like a middle aged woman or a pilgrim. But it’s ok to teach your kids to dress for the occasion. I told my daughter you don’t need to be super modest, but Europe is not a frat party, so don’t dress like it is. She actually found some great cathedral/art museum appropriate tops at Hollister and Pac Sun (with my guidance).
They are just simple and classy but fitted and stylish. Come in white, black, navy and pale pink.
She doesn’t need to dress like a middle aged woman or a pilgrim. But it’s ok to teach your kids to dress for the occasion. I told my daughter you don’t need to be super modest, but Europe is not a frat party, so don’t dress like it is. She actually found some great cathedral/art museum appropriate tops at Hollister and Pac Sun (with my guidance).
Anonymous
05/12/2025 11:36
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
If you can afford a trip to Europe you can afford to buy your child maxi dresses or long shorts and a modest shirt. Using the it’s hot excuse is lame. Get white linen.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 11:33
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
We did the same as 11:25 and my DDs packed cute sundresses. At one church, they were definitely enforcing the "no shoulders" rule, although seemed pretty lax about knees. As I pointed out to my DDs, it wasn't about what they could potentially get away with. It was about going into the place and showing the appropriate respect.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 11:25
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
We are heading to Italy and facing the same thing. Pick out one or two cute midi or maxi sundresses and have her wear those on the days you visit houses of worship. That will cover her knees, and then the shawl can cover shoulders.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 11:09
Subject: Spain, teens, modesty, churches
Wondering if anyone who has been to Spain recently can help with this. Will be going to Spain this summer with my teen daughter and I know it will be HOT. Like most teens, most of her shirts are cropped and most of her shorts and skirts are pretty short. Will we have difficulty getting into any churches for viewing? (If we go to mass, she'll wear something more modest, but she really doesn't have enough modest clothing to cover a whole week of touring.) I did buy shawls to cover our shoulders. Looking online at the Spanish stores for teens, they are all selling crop tops and short shorts/skirts, so I'm wondering if this won't be an issue. Of course I'll try to get her to pack some of the less revealing stuff, but I don't want to buy her a whole wardrobe she won't wear.