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Trust me, at the Grotto they count. Honestly, I won’t send my girls to mass without sleeves and my parish is known as Grotto North.

But we are not quite as, serious, to put it nicely. Our woman wear pants sometimes.

You know, Episcopalians used to be (before the current unpleasantness) far more strict in matters of dress even than Catholics. When I was a little girl, there were boxes of lace doilies in the narthex for those who forgot to bring their veils. We always wanted to wear one too -- but they weren't for little kids, who went out of church to Sunday school in those days after the homily and before the Communion service began. You only wore a cap in church after First Communion, which was after Confirmation in those days.

But as far as dress goes, I would never, ever send my girl at any age to church without sleeves. If she wore a pinafore, she had a little blouse or turtleneck under it. No braids, and a bow in the hair. Even my Rebellious Teenage Son has always had to wear a collared shirt and no blue jeans for Mass.

But I don't think it's a modesty issue when they're little -- more of a 'respect for God's house' issue. Don't go to church looking like you're going to hang out and shoot pool . . . .

. . . the little flower girls don't look immodestly dressed, even though their arms aren't covered. Maybe the long skirts make up for the lack of sleeve? (and from the back it doesn't look like the gowns are low-cut, even assuming there was something to hide).