Ella Gunderson became frustrated trying to find something fashionable — yet modest — in a world where she seems to be surrounded by low-riding jeans and tight, revealing tops. So she penned a letter.
“Dear Nordstrom,” she wrote. “I am an eleven-year-old girl who has tried shopping at your store for clothes (in particular jeans), but all of them ride way under my hips, and the next size up is too big and falls down….”
….Two Nordstrom executives wrote back, promising the Redmond girl the company would try to educate both its purchasing managers and salespeople on the range of fashion choices that should be available to young people. (link)
Go Ella! I have a theory that retailers are not always very smart, and they need us to spell things out for them. It’s not enough to roll your eyes and walk out of the store; they’re just going to just the clothes even skimpier unless we clue them in.
Because they haven’t gotten the clue yet:
“If modesty is what she is looking for, it’s going to come full force in the fall,” said Gigi Solis Schanen, the New York-based fashion editor for Seventeen magazine.
“The ’50s sexy-librarian look is in.”
…Annie Sparrow, owner of Seattle women’s boutique Tulip and a trend watcher, said women in their 20s and 30s are also tiring of the skimpy look.
“People are saying ‘I am a woman, I’ve had babies and I have hips. I can’t go around showing my booty to everyone on the streets,’ ” Sparrow said.”
Hello, fashion industry, your clue phone is ringing…. The point is not that girls like Ella want to look like a “sexy librarian” instead of a sexy pop singer. The point is that they don’t want to look overtly sexy. Ms Sparrow, the point of modesty is not to conceal a “less that perfect” body — there are girls and women with fashion-perfect figures who want to cover up too.
Interesting — can you post the link/source of the story?
I have trouble even finding plus-size maternity tops that don’t have necklines I cannot imagine wearing alone yet do not seem to be designed to be worn over another shirt. I don’t know if the idea is that if you’re fat and pregnant, excess cleavage must be the way to distract people from your overall lack of “sexiness,” or what.
ooops! Link added.
Part of the problem you’ve been having is the plus-sizing. Plus sizes are infamous for poor fit because the manufacturers often just grade up the patterns (kind of like blowing them up on a photocopier.) This works if you are a plus size because you are eight feet tall, but for everyone else — especially petites — it results in terrible fit, especially at the neck, bustline, and armholes, usually because the garment is too large in that area.
Now, I’m not so sure on that, Mrs. Moss. My younger sister (a baptist who accepts Humanae Vitae and loves the BMV, so pray for her conversion, please!) is stout as a bull, as we say in Alabama, and shops at WalMart and Target. Her clothes are always modest, well-fitting, and flattering to boot. Ok, she has to hem her breeches to get them to fit her little legs, but otherwise it’s all off the rack for her.
Of course, she is usually attired in jeans and t-shirts, but she also wears quite a few nice blouses and slacks, plus dresses for church (or at least when they visit she wears dresses to our parish, along with a borrowed mantilla.) Maybe this problem just comes with less casual styles?
I don’t wear jeans, I’d rather wear skirts and dresses, but those are really hard to find in appropriate styles/materials (hold the spandex please)/cuts. And I start with Target/Wal-mart/similary priced places. I guess I would normally wear everyday type skirts and dresses if I had it all together.
Well of course you would, Davey’s Mommy, that I understand completely. After a long time in kilts, going back to stuffing myself into breeches has been the all-time worst!
We don’t ride horses, so why on earth do we still wear bifurcated garments? It makes absolutely no sense to me, as nothing compares to the comfort and hygeine of kilts and skirts and the like.
Time To Topple Trouser Tyranny!!!
My dear Mr Jennings, I am quite sure of that. Not all makers of plus-size clothing are so inept, of course, and in the last few years I have seen a big improvement in plus-size clothing. But I still come across plenty of ill-fitting sloppy-looking clothing, particularly in casual and/or inexpensive clothing, and certainly in the mall maternity shops that Davey’s mommy alluded to. And I speak as someone who’s been stout as a bull, or even two bulls, for quite a while, who’s put plenty of stuff back on the rack in frustration, and who’s learned a bit about how clothing patterns work both through research and through my experience sewing for myself.
Wal-Mart and Target both carry lines of clothing by companies that size their plus-size clothing well. You see the well-fitting clothing that your sister has chosen; I’m sure she’s learned where to shop and what labels to look for. But how many stores has she learned to skip, and how many garments does she put back on the rack? I know I’ve found some pretty ill-fitting things at Target.
Of course, there are some plus-size clothiers that are cutting their clothing to size — the clothes are just intended to have immodest necklines, so now even the Rubenesque have the opportunity to dress like skanks.
I went shopping for new underwear for my seven year old daughter the other day. After eliminating the Barbie and Powerpuff girl ones I chose a package of pink and purple print ones. Luckily the line was long because I had a chance to look more closely and discovered that the word FLIRT was written across the fanny! Are there really mothers who thik that is appropriate???? My husband and I talk about modesty to our daughter a lot.