Modesty

[brdgt]

Something I still find jarring about Utah, but must seem completely normal to folks here, is the modesty dress.

I'm not talking the cute stylish outfits of Mormon mommy bloggers - I'd wear those (actually, some of my style is pretty close to that...) or the FLDS prairie dress - but the women I see who take something that is immodest (a spaghetti strap tank top, a skirt above the knees) and just put something on under it (a plain white t-shirt, jeans). I just wonder - why buy that immodest thing to begin with? I was at the store you bought that top from the other day and it had some super cute cap sleeve shirts that would look better on you!

On the other hand, I suppose I feel like they do when they see someone dressing "immodestly."

In related news, I have loreofcure to thank for the tip on Joe Fresh jeans for a cheap option for the brightly colored jeans fad. See, this outfit is modest! And cute! And apparently I'm a size 4 :)

Comments

[sarahmarvelous.livejournal.com]

The technician who did my ultrasound yesterday was Conservative/ maybe Orthodox Jewish, and had her long sleeve shirt on under her scrubs, and long skirt over her scrub pants. It made me wonder if there's a market for modest scrubs with long sleeves and a faux skirt? Maybe in Mormon communities too? I had a few Conservative friends in college who I didn't even realize were "modest" because they always looked cute & long skirts were in back then.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Oh man, if that exists, it's here. The City Creek Mall (owned by the LDS church) has a pretty impressive dress clothes shop with your stereotypical missionary suit and modest prom dresses - I didn't go inside, but who knows what else!

There is definitely a way to do modest, even religiously dictated modest, fashionably. It makes me wonder if some women here just don't "see" the underlayer? Like, "oh, this is a cute top!" and don't think it looks any different with the t-shirt underneath?

[emily-hahn.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the underlayer is something they don't give thought to because they're already wearing the special garments underneath.

Ha, the modesty dress code reminded me of my former LDS library boss in Nevada who made several odd passive aggressive comments about other similar denominations in terms of dressing that way. Like he had a long running feud with the head copy cataloger, which I'm sure was in part because she was a 7th Day Adventist. But he used to call her a priss who dressed like Holly Hobby (and this is the same man who always bragged about his wife's scrapbooking hobby). Or the time I told him about getting stared at during an entire cross country flight to New York by a pair of Mennonite teenagers and he made this really nasty comment about how their whole dress code was going overboard to prove that they were more virtuous than anybody else (I preferred Mr Waxfruit's comment once I landed in New York that the teens were probably coveting the buttons on my clothes).

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Unless you have direct knowledge otherwise, I am under the impression that the special garments are only worn once you are admitted to the temple and I doubt that 16 year old girls have achieved that status yet? Plus, that is something only incredibly devout Mormons do, not your average ones.

[kickarse.livejournal.com]

They are only worn after you are admitted to the temple, which is usually when you are married or when you are preparing to leave on a mission.

From my experience, your average Mormon would totally wear garments. All the average Mormon kids I grew up with went to seminary before school every morning, and many of them went on to either serve missions or were married in the temple. And not all of those kids dressed modestly Any Mormon who is bothering to follow modesty dress is certainly wearing garments if they are old enough to have received their endowments in the temple.

It's not Salt Lake City, but just about every inland area of California is pretty much teeming with Mormons.

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

If I see a woman wearing a long denim skirt and a 3/4-to-long-sleeved shirt I automatically thing, "Jewish!" because it's practically a uniform among younger, more religious women in our area. I have a coworker who is Conservative and I always wonder what she'd do without AC in MD in the summer. I guess you get used to it.

[moon-lemming.livejournal.com]

girls used to do that at my Baptist high school to get around dress code -- it felt like we were getting away with something and i guess some people were allowed to wear the "racy" stuff at home. the first time i wore a tank top under a spaghetti strap top in front of Mike he laughed at me; i hadn't even thought about it, i was so used to spaghetti straps being verboten.

[moon-lemming.livejournal.com]

also i wonder how many pairs of culottes you'll see in the summer -- or are those not allowed? i'm not too sure of Mormon standards, maybe they're too close to pants.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Oh, long shorts are very popular here. It's an unspoken rule for LDS women to wear a dress to church (which some LDS feminists have been challenging lately), but otherwise there really isn't a problem with pants (although you see dresses more often on unmarried girls - probably just more practical to wear pants running around after kids).

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Interesting - I'm not sure if it's to get around dress code or just adjusting to what is available? Mormons do seem to be pretty keen on demonstrating that they are "cool" and "hip" and just like the rest of us, so I can see wearing "fashionable" clothes being part of that.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was a total internet black hole! I actually really liked a lot of the outfits on that "modest style" blog, which surprised me. I was thinking a lot of it just looked practical for cold weather, even though that's obviously not the intention.

Your point about skirts with jeans, or spaghetti straps with tank tops made my think about high school, and how we'd wear things like that to avoid parental scrutiny or violating the dress code. Also, the 90's.

Those jeans look super cute on you!

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

It does sort of remind me of the grunge look a la "Singles."

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

When looking for bloomers* online I remember running into a bunch of modest clothing sites. Some of the jumpers and dresses are these baggy, bibbed monstrosities that look like they are from the mid-80s. To me it's like the emphasis on "NOT SEXY!" just comes full circle into highlighting exactly what is supposed to be de-emphasized.

I know there are some religious communities, such as plain dressing Quakers, who dress in an anachronistic style on purpose. For regular modest dress, when I see the super 80s-tastic dresses with miles of fabric I think, "Why not just a long sleeved skirt and long full skirt and call it a day?"

And while trying to find an example I found a website, read these words, and I think my head exploded: "When I’m wearing a dress, I do not feel like trying to be the head of the home, either. I didn’t realize that I had that tendency before we changed our clothing style, but I really did behave that way – and Bob felt it."

* Love bloomers and pantaloons! Love!

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

I think that's more of the FLDS you are describing - poufy dresses - this is women wearing head to toe Old Navy, but with a t-shirt underneath a tank top or jeans under a mini skirt.

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

wait I want some bloomers! please share links.

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

The modesty sites have them, and they are on Etsy too. I've never bought mine, just made or modified them.

[delqc.livejournal.com]

very used to that look of the plain long sleeve shirt under a more modern (and less modest) blouse amongst the Hasidic women of Outremont / Montreal. But not spahgetti straps on the outside!!!

Joe Fresh is a Canadian brand! I use it for weekend clothes (i.e. nice but not nice enough for work clothes). THe vanity sizing is kind of impressive but similar to other mass market brands (like Reitmans, old navy, etc).

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

loreofcure told me about them, but I didn't want to pay shipping so I googled and found out they have a line at JCP now!

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

I've been reading mormon mommy bloggers for a while now and once in a while they'll showcase modesty garments. like this: http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2011/04/weekend-plansashmarlin-giveaway.html

I need a good jc penny's trip! your pants look awesome! (YOU, really.)

[discountchiapet.livejournal.com]

why buy that immodest thing to begin with?

Where I live, it's more common to see Muslim girls sporting kind of look with a tank top over a tee shirt with a hijab! I always thought it was because they just wanted to wear what everyone else was wearing.