"If all our sisters would adopt a simple, unadorned dress of modest length, the uniformity thus established would be far more pleasing to God, and would exert a more salutary influence on the world, than the diversity presented four years ago. As our sisters would not generally accept the reform dress as it should be worn, another, less objectionable style is now presented. It is free from needless trimmings, free from the looped-up, tied back overskirts. It consists of a plain sack or loose-fitting basque, and skirt, the latter short enough to avoid the mud and filth of the streets. The material should be free from large plaids and figures, and plain in color. The same attention should be given to the clothing of the limbs as with the short dress. 4T 640.1"
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;"
The EGW passage directly addresses the principle of modest apparel for women, echoing the sentiment in 1 Timothy 2:9. It provides specific examples of what constitutes modest dress within her cultural context, amplifying the biblical principle.
"continually changing? No one can tell what freak fashion will take next. Worldlings whose only care is, “What shall we eat, and what shall we wear?” should not be our criterion. 4T 640.2"
"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"
The phrase "What shall we eat, and what shall we wear?" is a direct quote from Matthew 6:25, making this an explicit allusion. EGW uses it to contrast worldly concerns with spiritual priorities.