As far as can be observed, headcovering in 1 Corinthians 11 was either a veil which concealed the sister’s head and thereby her beauty from masculine gaze, or a special type of hair-style considered respectable.

It may be that, in the past, hats or bonnets were sufficiently all-covering that they obscured the woman’s beauty from the gaze of other men. That however has long ceased to be the position. A glance at the hats of many sisters indicates a careful choice of attractively designed hats. They do not cover and therefore conceal feminine beauty but are selected to make the sister look attractive. Fashion pages in magazines and newspapers demonstrate this clearly. For example a feature on hats in The Daily Mail, May 29th, 1989, was headed: “Brimming with style” and “The hat is back with a new elegance that is designed to turn heads for summer”. The kinds of hats shown in the photographs are the same as can be seen at many ecclesial meetings and fraternal gatherings.

The change from the concealment of feminine beauty to its display and enhancement has been noted as follows:

Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the mid-14th century there is hardly anything that could be called ‘fashion’ at all. And then in a single generation, in the luxurious courts of France and Burgundy, and in England too, the scene was transformed. Instead of being clothed in shapeless garments which made it impossible to divine the body underneath, and with the head concealed by a veil, women began to exploit their natural charms. The three weapons of fashion were invented in a single generation and these were: tight-lacing, décolletage and elaborate head-dresses.                                                                     (James Laver, Man, Myth & Magic, page 1242)

Modern hats represent the opposite of veils, and the wearing of hats cannot be considered a fulfilment of 1 Corinthians 11.

Four different responses are made to this conclusion:

(1) Although hats may not be ideal, it is important that a sister does wear something on her head because there is a deep symbolism involved.

We find this response is unconvincing because of what is known about the meaning of veils in the ancient world. In view of the complete change in the meaning of hats in the modern world, the similarity between wearing a decorative hat and the first-century veils is no closer than infant sprinkling is to believer’s baptism.

(2) Hats should not be worn. Instead sisters should wear a plain, simple scarf. This has become common practice in some ecclesias, perhaps in recognition that hats are not what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 11.

This avoids the appearance, as is sometimes commented, that some of our meetings look like fashion shows. But it gives an odd impression. Paul was asking that sisters wear normal clothing, not that they should do something odd and different. When sisters have worn simple berets or a plain scarf, it is reported that they have been told to wear a “proper hat” or “a hat with a brim”!

(3) “I just like seeing sisters wearing hats to the meeting and therefore they should do so.”

This is a feeling from social custom rather than from a biblical analysis.

(4) The principle behind 1 Corinthians 11 is that brothers and sisters should not act in a manner which brings marriage into disrepute, or gives the impression that Christians are immoral. The wearing of hats in our society is not relevant to this principle, and whether hats are worn or not is a matter for individual preference.

Clothing should be modest, and the obvious application for today is that normal, everyday clothing should be worn, not something elaborate or expensive. The idea that both sexes can wear attractive clothing is now acceptable and normal; we should not, however, confuse this with the practice described in 1 Corinthians 11 which is in a completely different social context.

	The change from ancient customs to modern – from covering with a veil to obscure feminine beauty to the wearing of a hat to display it!           1st Century                           1900s                          1990s