coloring is done with time, but the washings and the astringents with the chemical juices of the dye, wasting away the wool of the garments, make the weaving weak, and it is not even suitable for econ2.10bis.111.2omy. But the greatest tastelessness is to be so excited about robes and fine garments and cloaks and tunics, which cover the private parts, Homer says. For I am truly ashamed seeing so much wealth poured out for the 2.10bis.111.3 covering of the private parts. For primitive man in paradise measured out the covering for his shame with branches and leaves, but now that sheep have been created for us, let us not be foolish in the same way as the sheep, but being instructed by the Word let us refute the costliness of dress, saying, you are the hairs of sheep, even if Miletus boasts, even if Italy is glorified, and even if the hairs are preserved under skins, about which the many are mad, yet to us they are not to be taken seriously. 2.10bis.112.1 But the blessed John, despising even the hairs of sheep that smack of luxury, chose the hairs of camels and put these on, representing the plain and simple way of life. For he ate honey and locusts, sweet and spiritual food, preparing the ways of the Lord to be free from pride 2.10bis.112.2 and sober. For how could he have put on a purple robe, he who had turned away from civic arrogance, and in the desert *** the calm of the wilderness lived as a citizen for God apart from all vainglory, inexperience of good, and meanness. 2.10bis.112.3 And Elijah used a sheepskin as a garment and he girded the sheepskin with a belt made of hair. And Isaiah, this other prophet, was naked and barefoot, and often he also put on sackcloth, 2.10bis.113.1 the garment of humility. And if you call on Jeremiah, he had only a linen loincloth. And just as well-fed bodies, when stripped, show their vigor more clearly, so also the beauty of character, not wrapped in tasteless trifles, displays its magnificence. 2.10bis.113.2 And dragging one's garments, letting them fall over the tips of the feet, is utterly arrogant, hindering the activity of walking, as the garment sweeps up the surface dust of the ground like a broom, while not even those effeminate dancers who pursue silent lewdness on stage let their clothing descend into such insolence; for whom the careful adornments and the dangling tassels and the artificial rhythms of their poses display the trailing of petty folly. 2.10bis.113.3 And if someone should bring forward the Lord's ankle-length robe, that tunic of many-colored flowers shows the flowers of wisdom, the varied and unfading scriptures, the oracles of the Lord flashing with the 2.10bis.113.4 rays of truth. With such another garment the Spirit clothed the Lord through David, singing in this way: You have put on praise and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment. 2.10bis.114.1 Just as, therefore, in the making of garments one must be pure from all absurdity, so also in their use one must guard against excess. For it is not good to be dressed above the knee as they say the Laconian virgins are; for it is not proper for any part of a woman whatsoever to be bared. 2.10bis.114.2 And yet it is possible to utter that witty saying very modestly to the one who says: A beautiful forearm, But not for the public; and: Beautiful shins, But only, she might say, for my husband; and: A comely face, But only for the one who 2.10bis.114.3 married me. But I do not wish modest women even to provide the cause for such praises to those who through praise hunt for what is blameworthy, and not only is baring the ankle forbidden, but it is also commanded that the head be covered and the face be veiled. For it is not holy to be