Interview: Modest Apparel USA

As part of our desire at Is This Modest to bring you helpful information not only about what is or is not modest, but also give you great places to find modest clothing, we’ve asked several modest retailers the same questions to find out what they believe is modest, why they have a modest store, and what their most popular items are.

1. What are you personal beliefs about modesty?

My definition of modesty is simple:

Avoid bringing undo attention to the body in a sensual way, as not to cause a man to stumble into lust. Modesty is not as much about clothing as it is about the heart. I believe a woman should be attractive in a way that is not obnoxious or gaudy. The way a woman dresses and speaks is a reflection of how she views herself and her God as well as she views others. I also believe a woman should look like a woman and should be distinctly different from a man.

Our standards for modesty are also simple:

1. Covers the knee when sitting down.
2. Should not accentuate a woman’s form.
3. Should be able to tell it is distinctly a woman.

2. What caused/causes you to be modest?

First and foremost decision to be “modest” is my belief about my Lord Jesus Christ, in which I want to obey him and bring honor to him. I want to reflect the change He worked out in my life.

I want to reflect who I want to be and how I want to be treated as a woman. Since I chose to be “modest” I have NEVER had a man treat me disrespectful or speak rude to me. I have had men speak rude or dirty in front of me only to apologize (and he didn’t even know me at all in many cases) .

I want to be different from the rest of the world around me. (Disrespecting one another, Using one another, etc)

I want to honor my husband, I don’t want him to have any cause for mistrust. I want others to think highly of him because of how I conduct myself.

3. What is your store’s primary clothing article (formal, swimsuit, skirts, …)?

School uniforms and culottes.  School uniforms because the school uniforms available are not “modest” and culottes (long shorts that look like a skirt (covering the knee)

4. What made you decide that you wanted to get into making/selling modest clothing?

I was looking for “modest clothing” in the stores about 8 yrs ago and I could not find anything that covered the knees or that wasn’t too tight. So I turned to the INTERNET and could not find what I was looking for so my husband made the website and we got started selling a few items and it grew from there.

5. Do you find that there is a lot of interest in modest clothing?

I would say there is definitely an interest in “modest clothing” but not on a large scale or in mainstream culture or even the church.

6. How would you compare the craftsmanship of your clothing to the big retailers?

Our craftsmanship far exceeds that garments made on a giant scale in a big factory oversees. All our garments are made in the USA by individual professional seamstresses who take great pride in their work. We design most of our styles so they are original and you cannot find in the big retailers.

We are always looking to come up with new designs that meet our “modesty requirements.”

7. What would you like to tell young ladies about their choice of clothing?

I like to tell young ladies that it is fun to be “modest”, and it is “cool (is that a word today?)” to be different than everyone else. You don’t have to be frumpy and dumpy to be modest. Young people pride themselves in doing their own thing but what I find is that all they do is look like each other.

8. Do you believe that there’s a trend towards or away from modesty? Why?

I believe that the trend of modesty seems to come and go. I don’t see it ever going mainstream unless there is a culture shift.

9. Do you believe that modesty is situational (that there are different standards for different events, i.e. formals, beach, etc.)?

I do NOT believe that “modesty” is situational in that I believe that the same “standards” apply to Sunday morning church as to a picnic.

Obviously your not going to wear the same style clothing on Sunday morning or a wedding as you would a picnic. But I believe the same standards should apply wherever we go.

10. What’s the most interesting/profitable thing you sell?

Culottes and modest skorts and modest school uniforms.

I'm a 35 year old guy married to the most beautiful woman in the world (VirtuousBlonde) for 10 years, and has 5 mostly adorable children-- depending on whether they've had a nap, of course. I'm a software developer by trade, though I like to write on various topics. I got my start in blogging at MInTheGap in 2004 writing about culture, politics and got started talking about modesty on this site just 3 years ago.