From Catwalk to Church Aisle

By Brianne Ogden
For as long as I can remember, Church has been a fashion show of sorts. Whether it was trying to dazzle the Priests or outshine the other Laurels, when Sunday morning rolled around, clothes went flying.

Also, for as long as I can remember, Sunday mornings have been a frantic, frenzied, chaotic couple of hours. It was thirty minutes in the shower, shaving my legs to perfection. An hour in my closet, inevitably resulting in half of the contents on the floor in a colorful mound. Forty-five minutes spent on my hair, straightening it or pinning it until my forearms ached. Matching eye shadows, the perfect belt, a few rings, a brooch, and on those particularly rushed mornings, closed toed shoes to cover up chipped toenails. And that was just High School.

When I entered college, I found myself in a completely different playing field. Living in Huntington Beach, California for my first year, I found myself encompassed in a virtual Vogue fashion spread. My first week at church, girls were walking into the stake center like models off the catwalk.

Pencil pinstriped skirts with silk designer blouses. Authentic vintage dresses from the 50’s. Four inch heels, patent leather, bright red. Gucci, Fendi, Prada. Perfect nails to match the headband, perfect headband to match the shoes, perfect shoes to match the skirt. Every young college girl with stunningly coifed, beach bunny blond curls.

And there I was, in my pleated forty-dollar skirt from Nordstrom, the one that always got me a compliment or two back at home. Only here—it was my Schwinn ten-speed compared to their luxury private jet.

From then on, it was an hour in the shower. An hour and a half on my hair, plus the two hundred dollar dye job. It was two hours every Saturday night painting my nails, carefully inserting fake eyelashes, and ironing that Armani blouse, that had me in debt for a month, to perfection. It was fret and time spent on color coordinating every last detail.

This process was enormously draining. By the time I settled in my seat at church, I was so uncomfortable. Nothing felt natural. It was a constant battle. I had to sit in a way that my dress wouldn’t wrinkle, but in a way that showed my most flattering angle. I couldn’t move my head too much, it wasn’t worth it to risk messing up my painstakingly pinned up hair. Taking all that into consideration, bending over to pick up the hymnbook or my scriptures off of the ground was out of the question.

What was I getting out of church? Sadly, this was a question that never made it past all of the superficial, shallow worries in my mind.

I am older now. Sometimes I won’t shave my legs for a week. If my nails are chipped, I’ll deal. But there will be a Sunday here and there that if I can’t find a flawless article to wear, I feel like crawling back into bed and sleeping until my wardrobe transforms into something more satisfactory.

A couple of weeks ago while in England with some friends, I was getting ready for church when I realized that I packed absolutely nothing suitable for church. When really I had a few options, only none of them were appealing to me at the moment. It wasn’t until my friend said something to me, that my whole entire perspective on the situation did a one-eighty. She said, “Heavenly Father does not care how stylish you are.” Such a simple notion. Why had it taken twenty-four years for me to realize it?

As young single adults, living in a fashion-soaked generation, it often feels like looking cutting edge is the only thing that matters. Sometimes we give up what we want most, for what seems important to us at the time. I gave up years of my life to that superficial little devil on my shoulder.

I went to church that beautiful day in England. My dress was a little less than stylish, a little less than cute. But for the first time in my life, I cared about how my Heavenly Father saw me, and not how all of my peers saw me. I felt utterly content.

Brianne Ogden attends Southern Virginia University, where she is currently studying philosophy and serving as the Editor in Chief of the school's newsmagazine.

Dressing Modestly Isn’t Easy! Or Is It?

By Jenna Kim Jones

Dressing immodestly has a lot more cons than you might think...

At times, dressing modestly can feel quite boring. And quite inhibiting. And irritating. Not to mention dumpy. And ugly. And... understand what I’m saying? How many sweaters can a girl own? How many extra long t-shirts and capris can a young woman stand to wear?

Dressing modestly can feel stifling but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to dress immodestly. Stop. Before you ever slip into that kind of thought, I am here to prove mini skirt designers wrong. It may be hard to feel cute and hip in modest clothing, but dressing immodestly has a lot more cons than you might think.

Modest clothing can help girls avoid embarrassing situations.

I have several guy friends who have expressed their distaste for girls who wear low-ride pants. They have been forced to sit behind such girls in a classroom or at church or at a restaurant. A young woman guilty of this may wear pants that show her underwear and worse her lack of underwear and her, I can’t believe I’m typing this, plumber’s crack. Girls, we should NEVER have a plumber’s crack. That is reserved for overweight middle-aged men with large guts.

Low ride pants are just too low. But there is something much higher that I might argue is worse: the mini-mini skirt. I say mini-mini because I think mini skirts are actually shorter than they were a few years ago. I don’t have the body for mini-mini skirts like the ones from Abercrombie and Fitch so they have NEVER been a temptation but I’ve seen way too many mini skirts on girls who should not be wearing them. Heck, no one should wear them. Ever ride up an escalator behind a girl in a mini skirt? I feel sorry for you. The view isn’t very appetizing. Girls, don’t give free shows at the shopping mall. Put on a skirt longer than the length of my hand. Please? It’s just embarrassing.

This last embarrassing experience with immodest clothing didn’t happen to me but it was so mortifying, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl. She was at a pool party with her friends. They were having a cannon ball competition and whoever could make the biggest splash was proclaimed the winner. This poor girl was the last to jump in. She did more than make a big splash. After landing in the water, her swimsuit top was the first to reach the surface. She covered herself as much as she could, grabbed her suit, and ran inside but only after everyone had seen more than they ever should. Had she been wearing a more modest swimsuit, she could have avoided this situation. Moral of the story? Don’t do a cannon ball in a bikini? NO! Don’t wear bikinis. They don’t stay put and most of them look trashy. Consider yourself warned.

Many immodest tops and dresses require girls to go braless.

Do you know how important bras are? Now I know that there are bras with crazy straps or no straps and cups that you tape or glue on but those bras usually don’t give you the support you need. And without that much needed support, can you spell S-A-G-G-Y? Bras can be incredibly uncomfortable. That is why is it important to invest in quality, well-fitted bras. Get measured and spend a few extra dollars. It is worth it.

It is simple girls; wear clothes that require a bra.

The more skin you show, the bigger you look.

Clothes are flattering. Clothes hide parts of the body that shouldn’t be exposed. Too few clothes, unless you are a size nothing, can make you look…fat. I said it and I’m sticking to it. Come on girls, we don’t want to look fat. We want to look like we fit into our clothes. Immodest clothing often makes a girl look like she might be exploding out of them. Clothes can and should make a statement. But large and in charge is probably not the impression a young woman would like to make.

Unfortunately, the role models for young women are celebrities who spend the majority of their lives working on their bodies. They have time and money, plastic surgeons and eating disorders. Because they are negative sizes, they look a little better in shorts and a halter than say, the average size 8 American girl.

Remember, the more you wear, the skinnier you look. Unless of course you are wearing giant sweatpants and sweatshirts. In that case you just need a little fashion 911.

Ever heard the phrase, “you are what you eat?”

Unfortunately, the same goes with clothing. You are what you wear. Or at least, people might assume you are what you wear because we are all guilty of, and I’m about to use another cliché, judging a book by its cover. The clothing a young woman wears leaves a lasting impression on the people who have to look at her. This is especially true in terms of guys. It is hard for a nice young man to respect a sweet young girl who is wearing a tube top and mini-mini skirt. She could be the nicest thing but her clothes tell a different story.

And really girls, should we be putting those kinds of thoughts into a young man’s brain? I don’t think so!

Don’t be a victim of immodest clothing.

Do you see my point? Dressing modestly seems a little easier now, don’t you think? Immodest fashion is bad news. It isn’t easier to wear unless you like to show your stuff, starvation diets, and mean judgments thrust upon you. If you want to live life like that, you need more than a makeover. You need therapy!