I have a red halter dress hanging in my closet with a low-cut, lacy affair next to it. They were perfect for my friends' summer weddings the last few years, but a far cry from anything I grew up wearing. I remember twirling in the shop when I bought that first dress, while my brain struggled to rewire deeply rooted associations in order to connect pretty, sexy dress with wedding.
I've got a family affair coming up soon and I'm going to need a dress. In my previous life, I would have made the trek to Boro Park to scour the gamachs (free loan societies). I spent hours browsing through rack upon rack of high-necked, long-sleeved dresses, mostly in sizes that don't take into account more... womanly proportions. And above a size 6, the dresses tended to be heavy and black.
In my dance with religion, my family and I have been approaching tentative compromises. I won't go back to those Brooklyn basements, but I know that a red halter dress won't work either. I've been looking for a middle ground, but most of the bridesmaid dresses out there are strapless, low-cut, and too racy for my family.
My search for moderately modest dresses took me to totallymodest.com and the Mormons. LDS standards are looser than the yeshivish ones I grew up with. Sleeves can be short or even capped and necklines are high enough to hide cleavage, but the collarbone can see the light of day. I'm considering ordering a dress all the way from Utah. Now I just need to reassure my parents that I'm not joining the Church of Latter Day Saints. :)
2 comments:
What is it about the modesty-focused groups and a love for iridescent taffeta?! It's all over that site. Every wedding picture I've seen out of frum weddings is filled with women under 40 or so in nothing but this material. Over 40 and they swap in velvet(often closer to mumu-style). They remind me of childhood 'party dresses' that faded away once I hit the double digits or so. The material is heavy, expensive, and difficult to work with. WHY? For the love of fashion, why?!
Dvora! I can't believe you posted about this!! (First of all, this is Rachel Rendsburg/Abrams - did you even know I read this from time to time?) The reason I can't believe you discovered the Mormon dress sites is that I discovered them when I was a senior in high school and needed a dress for prom. I indeed ordered a dress all the way from Utah, it was really pretty, and I wore it! (Funny too because now with my elbow-covering I wouldn't wear the short sleeves, haha.) There are actually a bunch of LDS websites - there's a beautifullymodest.com among others. It actually worked out really well, so I think you should go for it. :-)
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