Three Tips Regarding Modesty
by Sarah Natividad
 

One thing that helped me to dress modestly when I was a young woman was learning the principles of clothing design. I learned how to make and design my own clothes to flatter my figure. Without this knowledge, girls feel battered about by every wind of fashion. I think we can encourage this kind of knowledge in our young women by praising them when they dress in modest clothing that flatters their figure.

If I had the opportunity, I would teach a few clothing design principles to our young women. In particular there are three principles our young women today need. The first is that the eye is drawn across lines and toward intersections of lines. Cleavage that pokes out of a neckline produces an intersection of lines that draws attention away from our face to our breasts. Low-riding pants, especially with an eye-catching belt, draw a line across the hips that on the average-or-larger figure says "Look what a big bottom I have!" The only figure for which this style is flattering is the poor hipless skinny girl who looks as if she is undernourished; it makes her look like she has more womanly hips.

The second design principle is that the eye is drawn to, is to read writing. These T-shirts with slogans on the breast, and the pants with slogans on the rear, are invitations to people to look at these parts of your body for an extended period of time while they read the slogans.

The third is that the eye is drawn to sparkly things. Nowadays there are a lot of sparkly things in the stores, and our eyes are drawn to them in the store. But if we buy them and put them on our bodies, eyes will be drawn to the sparkles, and by extension to whatever part of the body we put them on. If we draw extra attention to our sparkly clothing, no one will see our sparkly personalities. In addition, if our everyday wear is sequined and reflective enough to provoke a magpie attack, how will we create a more attention-getting look for special occasions?