A Modest Comeback?

Cheridan Sanders

May 3, 2015

Cheridan Sanders speaks with Shannon Joseph, President of Trends about fashion and faith.

Is it possible to be both fashionable and modest?

For a few years there, I felt as if the only way I could dress modestly was to look as if I'd been locked up in an underground bunker for the last twenty years. There was literally nothing decent to buy!

Ok, I might be exaggerating slightly. But I’ve been constantly annnoyed by the limited choices available. Everything seemed to be too short, too tight, too see-through, too low-cut, and so on. It's enough to make a grown woman weep. Uncontrollably. In the change-room. *sniffle

But the times they are a changin’. Because Modesty is making a comeback.

Take this article published in Vogue recently entitled, “How Orthodox Judaism’s Laws of Modesty Gave Me a Sense of Style”. And bloggers like Fabologie and others are showing the world that it is indeed possible to be fashionable and modest.

I don't think that this is just a passing trend. More and more women (religious and non-religious) are saying enough! The hemline - it stops here! And you don't just have to buy designer labels to get the look.

After some surfing around the web, I realized that there are lots of smaller retailers out there that are catering to those who want to buy clothes that are both stylish and modest, without compromise. Like this store that literally says that in their tagline.

So all of this got me thinking and, I decided to poll my co-workers at S+L to hear what they thought about fashion, faith and self-expression.

I also interviewed Shannon Joseph, President of Trends for an upcoming episode of Catholic Focus about her organization which works with teens girls to promote healthy self-esteem and positive body image.

“It’s time for us girls to dare to be different, to break out of the cookie-cutter mold and create a unique sense of style that best expresses who we are as people. It’s time to change the face of fashion.“ Shannon Hale, Co-founder of Trends

What’s remarkable about Trends is that Shannon Hale founded Trends when she was just a teen. She was fed-up with what was being sold by most retailers and she set out to challenge the hyper-sexualization of young women in the media and fashion industry. Today Trends is a national organization and their workshops cover a range of topics from how to shop for your body type to a National fashion forum with inspirational speakers.

All this is to say that not only is it possible to be fashionable and modest, but as many women are showing us, faith is a wonderful way to inspire originality and a distinctive identity which is essential to developing an authentic sense of style.