Good Morning America on Girls Gone Mild

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.

Comments

[Christine the Soccer Mom]

If you locate a video of this, could you point us at it? This spot sounds great! As a mother of two young girls (8 1/2 and 6), I am very, very concerned with the tendancy of fashion designers to want to make my little girls look like prostitutes. They, too, are concerned with modesty.

Funny thing is, when I shop for them, the modest stuff (i.e. longer shorts and skirts, non-hip-hugger pants, etc.) gets bought out MUCH faster than the "look-at-my-five-year-old-dressed-like-a-ho" stuff. When Hubby and I went to Old Navy for the Burmuda shorts, we couldn't find any in Big Girl's size, so we wound up buying her shorts from the boys' department (a usual strategy for us). Yet the clearance racks there were FILLED with short-shorts that were super-low-riders, mini-skirts, and low-cut tank tops with spaghetti straps.

Even shoes are hard to find as high heels and wedge-heeled shoes are more common than Mary Janes in the girls' department. What's a mother to do when her six year old is wearing size 13 1/2 shoes and all the dress shoes have heels that are more than 1" high?? Not everyone can afford to shop for shoes for children when the shoes start out at $20 a pair!

Kudos to Wal Mart this summer, though, because they carried a plethora of prairie skirts and knee-length (or even slightly longer) skirts. In fact, they even have a bunch on clearance now, which allowed me to stock up on the next size up for the girls. Like I said, usually that stuff is sold out long before mid-season and all that is left on clearance and sale racks is the immodest stuff that I wouldn't ever let my girls wear.

I do hope that the fashion industry gets a clue. Normal parents just don't want to buy stuff like that for their girls.

[Sandy]

Do you all remember the hub-bub last year about the cover of "Sexy Girls: How Hot Is Too Hot?" by Hayley DiMarco? The Christian Publishers Association just awarded it Children/Youth category Book of the Year for 2007!

DiMarco's other book "Technical Virgin" was also a finalist. If you haven't seen "Sexy Girls", it has full page photos inside of women throughout history trying to look sexy to illustrate the progression of exposed skin over time.

Just wanted to let everyone know that this fight is being fought on multiple fronts!

Sandy

[Dusty Brahlek]

Funny story about your Good Morning America spot. I have a good friend who did not know that it was your book A Return to Modesty that got me on my modesty kick... He had to call and inform me of a book that he was SURE I would like! It was funny when I finished the name of the book and told him it was coming soon on my reading list! It is nice to know that you are putting stuff out there to make us think!

[Laura Hines]

Hi,
Just wanted to say, thankyou for your post! I have been thinking that I was the only one who thought that modesty was the only way to go, and that the spaghetti strap dresses, and short skirts, were unacceptable. I really appreciate your work here, and keep it up! Maybe we should have a modesty club, where we can gather together and show the world, that being modest doesn't mean being frumpy, eh?
God bless!

Laura H

[Anna S]

I love the 'modesty makeover' idea, and as a matter of fact this is what I did for my wardrobe a couple of years ago. I had no clue how to dress modestly and with style, and we have to admit choice is rather limited. So at first I was Miss Frumpy, but I didn't care, being covered up allowed me to feel so much better! Then bit by bit I acquired a more feminine, stylish and modest wardrobe, which I'm pretty happy with, today.

[Mimi]

wOw!This gives me lots of hope as a 19 year-old college sophmore. I decided to "clean-out" my closet this summer so that I can go back to school with a modest but stylish wardrobe. In the beginning it was a tough, but now my eyes are a little more train, and my modesty radar is working full blast!. I was actually complemented the other day by a male friend on an outfit I wore. I'm so happy with how my wardrobe is transforming. I still have a few more clothes to replace. Wish me luck!

[spudmom]

Fortunately, we live in a time when layering is popular. Even adding the illusion of layering by adding a triangle of fabric to a low neckline, or a contrasting ruffle at the bottom of a skirt, or recycling a stained shirt by sewing the top half of it under a sleeveless one, can make a trendy look without showing too much skin. Since I have a skinny daughter who only seems to grow in length, I have become adept at adding inches to shirts, pant legs, and dresses. She loves being able to wear her favorites an extra season or two.

[Christa Taylor]

Fabulous article. I posted it on my own blog- (compliments of Alexandra Foley of course).
I am thrilled to see and be a part of this "modesty movement"- it keeps gaining momentum!

-Christa Taylor

[Randi Peart]

Yippee! I was very excited to see the comments. My partner and I own a store that only stocks dresses that are modest in Roseville, CA. We're going into homecoming, prom, and special occasion dresses for women who are not only mothers of brides, but perhaps need a dress for a cruise or event and also want to dress modestly. There was an article on Wendy Shalit's book in our local newspaper which led me to your website. Thanks!

[Alexandra Foley]

These are all such excellent comments and I want to comment back on all of them.
To Christine the Soccer Mom: I have TOTALLY noticed how all the modest options sell out so much faster than the trashy looking stuff. While this is a good sign for our culture, it is a bummer for us bargain shoppers! I have 2 daughters, the older one is eight and it is already getting hard to shop for her. I wish I could find a youtube of the GMA fashions show and Wendy's comments because it was excellent. The before and after was rather striking. Modest really is beautiful.

Spudmom: I love that you tailor your daughters' clothes to make them a scosh longer. Great idea.

Sandy, I'd love to see the photos of skin exposure through the ages. Let us know if you find that on the web!

Anna and Mimi: I too am continuing my wardrobe modest makeover. Recently, I noticed that there were a slew of clothes that, mysteriously, I hadn't been wearing. When I tried them on, I solved the mystery. They were too immodest -- not by a ton, but just enough to make me subconsciously avoid them. Sometimes it is easy to buy things that seem modest in the context of the store, but when you go back to the reality of your life and home, you realize there is no way you'd feel comfortable in them!

Christa Taylor: Love (I mean LOVE) the clothes you are selling on your site! So cute and hip and modest. And I love that you are having a sale right now! Thank you for your work -- and for the shout-out.

Randi -- Do you have a website? What led you to open a modest store? What is the age range you target?? If I've noticed anything over the years it is that modest wear is hard to find for any age! Keep it up!

[Emily]

Wow, i just went and checked out the website for that Eliza magazine- I'm a total magazine freak- I was thinking it would be frump-a-doo... um, I want pretty much everything I saw on the site! I thought it would be a lot less sophisticated. Like it was very directional which I didn't expect. But they seem to be picking out the modest items from different designers and making their photoshoots out of that. I think I expected southern-fried 80's style frizz and puffed sleeves or something!!

When I was living in a suburb that had a lot of Muslim residents, I was impressed by the outfits the teen girls would put together- cos they'd have the trendy, skimpy items on, but they would have layered them so everything they wanted to have covered was covered, and then they'd have the hijab on! And I know people bag the skirt-over-pants look but some of them managed to make it work really well. I'm sorta jacking the Muslim girls' style lately with some pretty camisole-style tops I thrifted- I'm wearing them layered over turtlenecks or other shirts.