I've almost completely shifted to wearing long skirts. There are so many styles popular now, from denim to dressy to East Indian, that are pretty, comfortable, and I can wear all day long, every day, even when cleaning the house! And I don't think I've ever had to worry about modesty when wearing them.
Long skirts are more practical than shorter skirts too (when they're fuller of course) in winter when you can wear leggings underneath for warmth. I even have one skirt that's made of a sweat suit type material that I've worn my old jeans underneath to play in the snow! The jeans were the uncomfortable part.
Did you ever notice how jeans can crinkle up behind your bent knees when you sit, especially if you have to get on the floor? A lot of bending pulls the denim across your knees in the front, and I'm not even going to go into the discomfort around the crotch at certain times. And how hot they are in the summer time.
Modesty, femininity, ease, comfort, practicality. I think there must have been a time when I'd have said, "who me? wear a skirt all day?" I'm glad I got over it. Photo of fleece skirt above from The Mouse Works.com
If you are interested in the various old fashioned qualities of various cultures, you must read this article. It is an enchanting visit of the author and family with some new friends in the country of Turkey. At home with the Usak Family, BY ROBERT WALTON, 11/7/07
I think I only missed this website/journal in the past because it is "livejournal.com" and not a "blogger.com". However it happened, I am happily surprised to find the lively cross-cultural and helpful discussions concerning modest style, including head covering at this journal. If you can spare a moment, you might want to check it out.
In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
"And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
"And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."
our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ
Click on the above title to read the article at MSNBC. It's not old-fashioned. It's not a 100% lady, though she's got potential. They're not actually Godly either. Just two happily married people with children, living in the city, who don't live together.
They're real people. And apparently they're not the only ones living this way.
Maybe I'm just "rubber necking", as they call it - turning to look at something and possibly wasting time at it because it's just so unbelievable and yet real.
I cannot actually think of anything to say after reading it, because, thoughtful lady that she was, she pretty much thought of anything that we might be thinking and addressed it in the article: why, how, what were you thinking, what about the kids, your friends, is this selfishness ... ?
And in the words of my beloved little brother, "Hey, I think this milk is going bad. You try it."
I got this as an email, and edited it a little to share with you. So many things are old fashioned these days ...
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill ...
BOTH ways .. yadda, yadda, yadda.
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way that I was going to lay a bunch of junk like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that I'm getting close to 40, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy.
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog.
There was no email. We had to actually write somebody a letter ... with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there.
There were no MP3's or Napsters. If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or, if that was too bold, you just had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up.
We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it.
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss ... you just didn't know! You had to pick it up and take your chances.
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics. We had the Atari 2600. With games like " Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics were so basic - your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever. And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died. (Just like LIFE!)
When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating. All the seats were the same height. If a tall guy or some old lady with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, that was tough.
Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control. You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on. There was no channel surfing. You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either - you could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.
And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use JiffyPop and shake it over the stove forever.
That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
To go along with my last post of dressing warmly, and all my posts about dressing modestly and femininely, I offer you a link to a beautiful collection called Fall into Beauty.
How can I thank ladies of example enough for all that they are doing for me, and for others - to truly help us be the ladies we should be?
