6/6/03 - Modesty: How Do We Find A Balance?

I was browsing Two Sleepy Mommies blog and Pansy had an interesting commentary on Zoe Romanov's blog about Modesty in dress. The topic of swimwear was discussed and how some kids aren't allowed to swim at all because of lack of modest swimwear. I was thinking about this last week when I had to buy a bathing suit for Bella. I was disgusted. I went to the Kids r Us store and was offended by some of them that seemed more suitable for a Vegas showgirl. However I did find one that was decent looking that even came with a little bathing skirt to attach to it.

However, I think Pansy's little girl was older and didn't fit into her old modest suit. She was looking for non"Laura Ingalls" suits and posted a link for Wholesome Wear Suits and she said she like the convenience of them (kids jumping in and out of the pool/lake/ocean) as well as the modesty of them.

Personally, I don't think I would buy them but I found some decent suits (in my opinion) for girls at Land's End. They have a basic suit for girls (size 4-16) with a tiny built in skirt/ ruffle that is not too low cut or there's a two piece that looks more like a tank top and shorts or you can forgo the bathing suit all together and get a hip looking surfboard suit (although maybe that's more normal here in California)

All this talk reminded me of growing up at both ends of the spectrum. When I was younger my parents were not practicing Catholics so modesty was not much of an issue. After their conversion there was a period of "only skirts" type of thinking. (Something I hated because I despised dresses and loved shorts, band tee's & Converse 24/7). Finally we found a happy medium of modesty without being too "extreme".

I think a lot also has to do with attitude. I know a number of home schooling families and one in particular dressed their girls in prairie skirts/dresses but the girls were really flirtatious and boy crazy. They tried to act "hot" regardless of what they were wearing. On the other hand, I see my younger sister who was homeschooled and who's a sweet wholesome girl in college (public JC). She and her friends dress in today's fashions but they always look modest and wholesome without standing out like a sore thumb. Even beyond their clothes you can see their wholesomeness in their demeanor and attitude. They demand respect because they respect themselves.

It reminds me a lot of the interview I did with chastity speaker Crystalina Padilla a couple months ago. She talked about woman respecting themselves before expecting a man to. Hey, on a side note, did you know that she married Jason Evert of Catholic Answers on Saturday!! What an awesome couple! But I digress. Anyway, those are just some thoughts I had about the topic.