Quotes of the week

"Everything old is new again"

Domestic Felicity quotes her husband:

"I hope you never, ever have to work outside the home. I love the way you care for our home. I love the way you wait for me with a smile when I come back from work. Sure, you have been doing things all day, but you feel a sense of satisfaction because you do it all for us. You aren't exhausted from running around and trying to have it all together. You aren't a slave to another man's schedule. In the evenings, we have plenty of time to sit together and talk, without arguing about whose day was more difficult. I just love it."

Sigh. Domestic Felicity was a good choice of name for this young lady.

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"Mod, not mode, is choice for real girls", by Shanna Flowers, the Roanoke Times:

Parents and their daughters deserve a standing ovation for fighting back over the supersexualized, skin-revealing fashions that gained traction with the young set in recent years.

Just like the women who inspired the look, including Paris and Britney, sexy is so last season. Mod -- as in modesty -- is increasingly in vogue for young girls.

Modest doesn't mean frumpy. Girls can be fashionable without looking like hoochie mamas in training.

"I think it's kind of gross," said DeAnna, who attends Ruffner Middle School. "Why would you want to go around wearing clothes that show all your underwear?"

Shrinking profits recently forced Victoria's Secret executive Sharen Turney to concede that her company has gotten too sexy. She reviewed her company's Pink line, marketed to younger women and girls, and called for a return to a more sophisticated brand.

Fifteen-year-old Miley Cyrus, better known as Hannah Montana, received kudos for her stylish yet age-appropriate gown at the Academy Awards. And a faith-based group called Pure Fashion is cropping up in cities across America promoting modest fashions.

If that bit about Victoria's Secret doesn't make you smile, at least sigh a bit that the seed has been planted. Maybe it will grow even there. We aren't alone, Gentle Ladies.

Apparently, the backlash against sexy is working.

And maybe stores are responding by stocking racks and shelves with more fashions that don't bare all.

The move toward modesty should bring a smile to parents concerned about the sexualization of youngsters. It should satisfy critics who have justifiably complained about the fashion images peddled to young girls. It will remove bare skin from schools that don't need yet another distraction in the classroom.

And the final quote, which I really like:

If girls, indeed, are sugar and spice, the recipe for fashion success should be for a dash of spice -- not the whole container.