Modest Fashion News

Just before Christmas, Shade Clothing introduced their line of basic black dresses aptly named Basic Black. Along with that announcement, the company reported over $4 million dollars in sales last year. It has become obvious that there is a real market for more modest women's clothing.

A new company, Shabby Apple, has just popped up hoping to tap into this new fashion market and thank goodness they are not starting off with undershirts like everyone else! This dress company has a great line of really adorable dresses that you could very well see in the window of any store this spring season. The difference between the dresses in the stores and the ones from Shabby Apple might be hard to notice at first, but the attention to modest detail will make a huge difference to the wearer. A few more inches added to the length of the skirt means that when you sit down, you won't have to do the "pull and tug" routine throughout your Sunday meetings. A sleeve on every dress means there is never need for an undershirt or a cardigan. Losing these layers for spring and summer in favor of some fun accessories is just what the fashion police ordered (not to mention the comfort patrol). I also think their pricing is surprisingly good for a new, small, fashion company. I wish I could give you a personal account of the quality of their clothing, but I can't. Looking though their website was in fact torturous because I have vowed to refrain from purchasing any new clothing through my pledge at Wardrobe Refashion. I am able to accept gifts though. Hint, hint.

Lastly, another new business to hit the modest fashion scene is a quarterly magazine called Eliza. It was "created for women who want to be stylish, sexy and engaged in the world while retaining high standards in dress, entertainment and lifestyle." If you check out the website, it looks like this magazine will be far from cheesy or average. The pictures read very high-fashion and are quite beautiful to look at. It appears they will be covering all the top fashion lines and pulling modest inspiration from them? I can't quite tell. I have yet to see an issue, so I am intrigued at what I might find.

While I have canceled all of my fashion magazine subscriptions (another step in my battle to downsize the effects of materialism on my life), I admit that I will be subscribing to this one. I miss seeing beautiful clothes from top designers. It affects me like good art or music affects many others. I also like to support new businesses started by passionate women. And mostly I am just way too curious to see how they will pull it all off. Even within the church the words "modesty" and "high standards" mean different things to different people. And to me, it seems a hard line to walk--talking about modesty and very expensive clothing in the same sentence. I can't wait to get my first issue.

P.S. I just want to state that I am not affiliated with any of these businesses.