Comments on: Cambodia Changes My Wardrobe

By: Lori

Lori — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:29:34 +0000

Hello, I know this is late in posting but I as I read this I found it interesting. My husband and I are missionaries. We teach and practice that ladies wear skirts and dresses that cover the knee only. How long ago was it when only that was acceptable in society? We do not wear shirts that the sleeves are above our elbows – not posting this in a proud boasting manner at all. Please do not take it as such. We teach that out men wear only long pants and shirts past the elbow. Men think women are lovely in skirts and look beautiful when dressed modestly. There is a book, The Public Undressing of America, I forgot who the author is that totally changed my perspective on modesty. It is a short read but it convicted me to the heart. I have no connections to the author and as far as I know we do not share the same “religion” so to say – but his research and writing I think were inspired by the Spirit of God. BTW I’m not an “old fogie” lol I’m 24 and love the way we live. It’s liberating Biblical and Modest. I do not have to worry if I’m enticing some other man other than my husband because of the way I dress – I personally will not wear anything and inch lower than my neck line. Simply because the way I choose to dress is a worship unto God. If God could come down to earth and “the Word became flesh” as found in John chapter 1, to die for me, is it really too hard for me to worship Him in all that I do including my dress? Just my thoughts on this subject. Gracefully, Lori

By: Theresa

Theresa — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:31:49 +0000

I didn’t know this about Cambodia. My cousins serve in Thailand and I should ask them about this there. I have 5.5 yo identical twin daughters and we have let them wear shorts in the past, but this summer we realized exactly how cute they look in them like mini teens. We are now going to use pedal pushers/cropped pants as well. We live where it does reach 100-110* in the summer so coolness is a necessity. I had been wondering about knees with dresses and where a hemline should stop (without getting legalistic about it, but just for my own girls’ safety sake). I have been making a lot of clothes for them from Japanese books and vintage sewing patterns because there are more interesting and more modest choices, but many vintage ones are quite short (remember Shirley Temple’s dresses – I have shirts longer than that!). I had recently decided that just below the knee would be okay but not above, when I read your post. I want them to be pretty and fashionable within reason without giving cause to question or endanger their purity, which is a precious gift from God. Thanks for the perspective.

By: Bridget G.

Bridget G. — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:14:17 +0000

Wow, that is a very humbling and surprising story. I did not know the extent of cultural differences there are according to modesty. Thank you for this eye opening post.
God Bless!

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:38:15 +0000

Well, I believe as sisters in Christ we should feel at liberty to graciously approach each other if we are concerned about the other’s attire. I think it can be done in a God-glorifying manner, as I have practiced in the past. I definitely consider exposure of cleavage to be inappropriate as it often will lead our brother’s thoughts, knowing by my discussions with my husband, to what might be below.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:34:40 +0000

I heartily agree with you Katie. I appreciate you sharing this point. I definitely think it is a challenge to keep things hidden with this type of shirt as well, unless they are very tight and then you have other issues to deal with (enlarged view and shaping of the chest area, etc). When I used to wear them I was always struggling with keeping my bra straps from slipping off of the shoulders.
I assume you are bringing up sleeveless tops due to the picture of my sister and I. To clarify, I was actually in my bathing suit at the time and this was just a simple sleeveless shirt I wear over it when swimming. I should have included that sleeveless tops were also included in the list that they requested us not to wear for our trip as well.

By: Katie

Katie — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:14:23 +0000

Hi Lindsay,

First of all, thank you for this post! I found if *very* insightful and up-building. However, I did want to encourage you in one aspect if I could. As you mentioned one of our goals in modest dressing is to draw attention to our face and not our body. While many sleeveless shirts can be “modest” as in decently covering you up, I have noticed that whenever I see a woman in a sleeveless top my eyes are drawn to the shoulder area. It’s like I have to see just “how much” I can see. Is the arm-hole large enough to expose that which should not be seen?

I’m sorry to be so blunt, and I hope this is not offensive to you. But I am a woman, so I have to wonder what it does to a man.

God bless you dear sister!

By: Misty

Misty — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:53:48 +0000

I would love to hear more about your Cambodia trip on your blog. The Lord put a love for missions in my heart when I was a little girl and I even wanted to adopt an oriental baby. As the Lord would have it I met my husband on a mission trip to the Philippines and he allowed me to have my own girls — Marina Kaye and Mylene Karis. What a mighty God we serve!!!

By: Samara Root

Samara Root — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:11:36 +0000

And I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since you went to Cambodia, back at the time when everyone but you realized that Aaron was very interested in you .

By: Samara Root

Samara Root — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:10:10 +0000

Hey Lindsay,
Thanks for sharing that story! I have really been bothered lately by how many ladies show cleavage even in my own (conservative) church. Do you have any thoughts about that specific issue?

By: Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet

Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:34:31 +0000

Beautiful and gracious post, Lindsay. Thanks for sharing about your personal story. A few years ago, Joel and I decided to start having me wear “long shorts” and such more. They don’t usually cover my knees, but they cover so much more than even “modest” shorter shorts. We don’t think it’s wrong to wear the shorter ones, we just think it’s better (for me) to wear the longer ones.