Modesty Makes a Comeback

By Mary Beth Bonacci
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 9/2/04)

This year, there’s big back-to-school fashion news: modesty is making a comeback. I know it’s tough to believe. Britney still performs half (or more) naked. Walk around the average mall and you’ll still find larger-than-life photos of scantily clad girls surrounded by admiring men. But the tide is turning.

I first discovered the trend a few months ago in a fashion magazine. (I don’t know which one – it was the magazine that was sitting by the finger fan at the nail place in my neighborhood.) At any rate, in describing fashion trends for fall, they used words like "demure" "romantic" and "covered up."

Then I saw another article in which a spokeswoman for a major teen clothing store said that young women are interested in dressing more modestly because they "want to be taken more seriously."

The best evidence yet? In Seattle, 11-year-old Ella Gunderson wrote a letter to Nordstrom’s complaining that when she shops for jeans, "all of them ride way under my hips, and the next size up is too big and falls down." Her letter made it all the way to executive vice-president Pete Nordstrom, whose letter back to Ella said in part, "This look is not particularly a modest one and there should be choices for everyone." He assured Ella that the company would work to educate its buyers and salespeople on making a "full range" of fashion choices available to young people.

In a Seattle Times article about Ella’s letter (5/21/04) Gigi Solis Schanen, fashion editor for Seventeen magazine, said, "If modesty is what she is looking for, it's going to come full force in the fall." Fuller skirts, higher waist lines and more layered tops will be in, while Britney Spears’ exposed belly look is on its way out.

Glory, hallelujah!

In some ways, it had to happen. I mean, how much further could we go before everyone just wound up totally naked and the clothing manufacturers all went out of business? Fashion trends cycle in and out. Hemlines went ridiculously short in the ‘60s, and then, when they could essentially go no further, skirt lengths fell back down to the knee, where they stayed for quite some time. We’re in a similar situation today – there is very little left to uncover, so the only remaining way to shock people is by covering it all back up.

But I think that this particular development is about more than the ebb and flow of fashion. It’s a response to the market. Women – young and old, are tired of wrestling with barely-there clothes, tired of having to watch every move for fear that every bend or lean will result in an overexposing "wardrobe malfunction." "Modesty fashion shows" are being held around the country, demonstrating to young women that they can dress in clothes that are fun and trendy without having to display their bodies to the world.

Thanks to these fashion shows and to the message of the chastity movement, young women are figuring out that dressing sexy isn’t getting them where they want to go. It’s not surprising that these girls would be intrigued by immodesty. After all, they want attention from boys. And when they dress to expose or accentuate their body parts, they get that attention – lots of it. But they’re finally starting to realize that the kind of attention they get isn’t necessarily the kind they want. I did an interview on this modesty trend for The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis. In that article (8/19/04), a teen girl was quoted as saying, "One of my [male] friends says that if you are wearing small clothes, guys will only notice your body. But if you cover up, they may notice the color of your shirt, or the way your eyes look, or how nice your hair is." That is one smart kid.

The news is good. But it means very little if your local stores haven’t caught on yet. I think the best thing that could happen to the fashion world would be if more young men and women took Ella Gunderson’s example and shared their concerns with the stores that sell the clothes. It isn’t enough for parents to write letters. Stores expect parents to object to their clothes – it’s all part of their "cash in on teen rebellion" marketing strategies. But if the teens themselves expressed their desire for classier, more modest clothes, I suspect these stores would take notice.

So teens – write some letters. Just tell them what you’re looking for and why. Be respectful, be polite – just tell them that if they carried it, you and your friends would buy it. And, when you start to see stores carrying these modest fall fashions, write and thank them. These corporations live and die by sales. Let them know that more modest will equal more sales, and you will definitely have their attention.

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