(This article was found on Modestly Yours, a blog dedicated to the discussion and support of modesty. It is written by Alexandra Foley, one of the 20 ladies who write for the blog. It is a fabulous article and continues to demonstrate the growing “modesty movement”

How tickled I was to inadvertently tune into Good Morning America’s piece on Girls Gone Mild last Friday. The story began with clips of young girls complaining about how hard it is to be modest: “Sometimes it’s so short you can see their underwear,” and “We can’t help it. That’s all they sell these days.” But despite the challenges of being a modest girl in an immodest world, the ABC piece showed that there is a movement afoot and Wendy’s book is a big part of it. What I really appreciated about the story was that it showed modesty as a viable option for girls and women who are sick to death of the expose-it-all look — without any lame sneering that usually accompanies such stories. Cheers.

Then, after the initial piece, they did a live fashion show of Girls Gone Wild vs. Girls Gone Mild looks with Allyson Waterman, Special Project Director of Lucky Magazine.

Here is what Allyson had to say about the modesty movement in fashion:

Allyson Waterman: Well, I think it really is a movement towards conservatism. I think it is a backlash against what we’ve been seeing in Hollywood. Let’s face it, whether we like it or not celebrities have become our role models. There is media covering their every move. And I do think that America is reacting to this over-the-top behavior, in style and behavior. We don’t need to see young celebrities’ business all the time. I think people realize we’ve hit a limit and fashion is mimicking this reaction.

Robin Roberts: Enough is enough and the two of us love this movement.

Allyson Waterman: This is not about being frumpy or dumpy. This is not about covering up or not being sexy or hiding under a lot of fabric. This is about embracing a woman’s body in an elegant way with decorum. We never saw Jackie O’s underwear, we never saw Grace Kelly… we never saw Audrey Hepburn behave this way. And these are the women who have maintained themselves as style icons throughout history.

Then the Wild vs. Mild looks. First a girl in super low-ride jeans with an extremely tight tank top that. Then, a girl in higher-rise, wider leg jeans and a tie-front yellow blouse.

Next the mini-skirt: “It’s just not appropriate for work. It’s not good. But if you want to wear a skirt and show off your legs and celebrate your look, there is the pencil-slim skirt. You can see what she’s got, but she’s not giving it away,” said Waterman. I really liked this look.

Then dresses: First they showed a spaghetti-strapped slip of a dress. “We don’t want to see a bra strap anymore,” said Waterman. Instead they showed a beautiful silky Burberry dress with short sleeves and a poofy bottom.

I thought this approach was brilliant. Instead of just talking about modesty and complaining about what an inappropriate culture we live in, they gave concrete advice and a modest makeover. Maybe the “after” looks aren’t for everyone, but they sure beat what one usually sees on T.V.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2007 at 9:49 am and is filed under modesty, modesty movement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.