Modesty Modeled

Bod Squad Tour models modesty, fashion for girls (link)
quoted segments here by Cheryl Sherry; Post-Crescent, WI, staff writer

Created by best-selling Christian author Dannah Gresh for girls in grades three through six, the mother-daughter event features two fashion shows modeled by girls in the audience, new Gotee Christian recording artist Stephanie Smith, a Truth or Bare fashion quiz and Biblical teaching about the media and true beauty. The goal of the event is to show girls modesty and fashion can peacefully co-exist.

Not sure how necessary it is for modesty to coexist with fashion? Women wake up in the morning with a desire to figure out what to wear: to pick out a blouse, a skirt, and then what to do with her hair. Oops. Excuse the song from "Yentl". The idea is there - don't we, as women and even when we were girls, desire to at least look nice, presentable, not clashing, not frumpy? Maybe we get over it when we're older, and decide we don't have to look nice anymore because our inner beauty is all that matters, but most women still know that our inner beauty is reflected in what we put on. Think about it: why does almost every discussion of modesty turn to fashion? We really are what we wear. I think I applaud the idea of modeling modesty to the young girls. Optionally, it should be done by the family and spiritual family first, but if there is not a strong guide there, then someone who has some ideas to help is much appreciated.

Kimberly School District Superintendent Mel Lightner said dress codes are a big issue in public schools.

"Unfortunately, too many kids dress inappropriately when it comes to school," Lightner said. "I see one of the problems is that the culture and media promotes inappropriate dress many times in inappropriate venues. The message that children receive … is that it really doesn't matter how you dress, but it certainly does."

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"(Modesty) kind of has a bad rap," Gresh added. "Girls are sort of afraid of it and think, Are they going to make me dress like a schoolmarm with lace to my chin? We tell them modesty is not about not expressing your beauty, but expressing it with caution because it is so valuable."

Check the link above for the full article/review, and the Bare truth fashion challenge in the side box.

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In other news websites, see another review of "the burgeoning modesty movement," by Penna Dexter in the Baptist Press. And she quotes:

Allyson Waterman, from the shopping magazine Lucky and a regular guest on ABC's "Good Morning America," says we've hit a limit in style and behavior. She says the modesty backlash is not about being dumpy or "hiding under a lot of fabric" but "about embracing a woman's body with elegance and decorum," a la the style icons of the past like Jackie Onassis, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. No, they're not the role models for Christian girls, but we never saw their navels or their bra straps.

I really do think that modesty is all about being female, and is natural. Else why would it be so prominent a subject among women of many different faiths, and many without any faith, and not just Christian women?