For prom season: modest dresses for nice Mormon girls

[spinbaby]

http://www.eternitystore.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=12

[JVS]

1. Wow, that girl on the left is STACKED!

Nice dress!

[NewJeffCT]

20. her date might have trouble making eye contact

the top certainly leaves little to the imagination regarding her breasts... I looked closer. I used to work with a woman that could be her sister!

[regnaD kciN]

52. Only if he's shorter than she is...

:evilgrin:

[Midlodemocrat]

2. I think they're pretty.

:shrug:

[JVS]

3. Yeah! Hubba hubba!

[GirlinContempt]

4. Ditto

There's one on that site that I'd wear :)

[Ava]

7. yeah, i like the green one

:shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. I do too...

Is it uncool to abstain from spilling out of the top of your dress these days?

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. Some of them aren't too bad...

and in a way a lot better than the leave nothing to the imagination dresses I see around here come prom time...however there are quite a few that have a decidedly "Little House on the Prairie" feel to them

[spinbaby]

10. They range from charming to really awful

But they all seem to have those little cap sleeves. There are some weddings I've been to recently where I would have appreciated if the bride had selected more modest dresses for the bridesmaids--saw WAY too many tattoos and rolls of flab.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

29. The cap sleeves might be there

because some of the girls might wear the LDS undergarments, which would show on a strapless or spaghetti strap.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. I played for one recently where the maid of honor

could have passed for a hooker. It was kind of gross, really.

[ThomCat]

31. Some of them are great.

Some of them are a bit dated and dowdy. But a few of them have style.

They might not be skimpy, but some of them are certainly revealing. I'm not sure what makes them more morally appropriate other than simply yardage of cloth.

[Ravenseye]

6. If my daughter were to get a dress like that I'd be so proud

it would show that she has a great sense of humor and doesn't take the prom too seriously. ;)

[XNASA]

8. Here's what I don't get.

It's fine if they don't want to wear revealing gowns. I understand completely.

But why bother to get your hair done in a contemporary fashion, or wear makeup, or wear a gown that is flattering to one's figure. I mean, if you say you're not gonna flaunt it, then don't flaunt it.

Know what I mean? :shrug:

[liontamer]

21. so the two choices are bikini or burqa?

Maybe these girls for some reason believe that they could be attractive even without exposing as much flesh as possible.

[XNASA]

28. So the idea is to attract for what purpose.

[liontamer]

33. a girl has the right to enjoy her beauty without feeling any pressure

to put out.

[ThomCat]

35. Well said.

Why is it that whenever a woman looks beautiful it's assumed that she's doing it for someone other than herself?

[Common Sense Party]

113. You nailed it. Well said. nt

[TallahasseeGrannie]

45. You believe in evolution, right?

The idea is to attract to get a mate. Men do it, too. Attraction and completion don't necessarily happen at the same occasion. (must to the dismay of the male of the species!)

[grace0418]

22. Huh? So either wear a dress that barely covers your ass and your boobs

or wear a nun's habit with no makeup? It seems to me that there is a middle ground there.

I guess I don't know what you mean.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

27. No, I don't see what you mean

Make up and hair style are (in the words of Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias) "to make you feel pretty, honey" and flattering to one's figure is not necessarily showing flesh. You actually kind of make their point. They look sexy, attractive, desireable.... without being half naked.

[XNASA]

32. So the idea is to look sexy. But not to actually have sex.

:shrug:

[liontamer]

36. why not?

you're argument is treading dangerously close to "she asked for it, look at how she was dressed"

[XNASA]

47. Thanks for putting words in my mouth.

I thought we were talking about the clothes on the 'eternitystore' site.

[liontamer]

59. we are

and you see some sort of contradiction between looking sexy and not having sex. I'm just pointing out that you equate looking sexy with wanting to have sex

[XNASA]

65. Let's put this in context, shall we?

This thread is about the clothing available on a site called 'The Eternity Store' which specializes in modest clothes for women with firm religious convictions. However, it would appear that some of the clothes, and the people modeling the clothes are not really all that modest. That some of the outfits might actually appear to be a bit flattering, I guess one might say.

It all seems a bit disingenuous.

[liontamer]

66. we're back to the bikini/burqa issue

The dresses are modest in comparison to a lot of other prom dresses, but just because one doesn't want to show a lot of skin doesn't mean that one should be forced to wear something ugly. Modest does not equal unattractive anymore than attractive = slutty

[TallahasseeGrannie]

84. Here is where we are

differing. You appear to see "flattering" as immodest. I don't. The old Victorian shirtwaists were high in the collar and long in the skirt and sleeve, but they show bustline, waist, hips and (gasp!) ankles very clearly. They were flattering and modest.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

39. Exactly

You're a guy, aren't you? LOL


Women display via pretty clothes, hair, etc., in order to attract a mate. They emphasize their womanly attributes but they don't bare them. That's for later, after the mate is attracted.

Sure, sexist. Old fashioned. But it's what makes the world go 'round. Ever seen any videos by Desmond Morris? Fascinating stuff about the sexes and mating behaviors.

[XNASA]

48. That's superficial.

And, as you say, sexist and old-fashioned.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

81. And the basis for male/female interaction

If you do some research I think you will find it is true.

[JVS]

63. Ashes and sackcloth for them!

[grace0418]

9. Some of them are really cute. Some are hideous. And I'm no prude by any

stretch of the imagination but at least they don't look like strippers or hookers. Some of the prom dresses I've seen are so tacky, slutty and unflattering.

I do have to ask, WHAT THE FUCK is up with those ribbon-wrapping-up-the-leg shoes some of the models are wearing? GACK!

[Ava]

15. agree with you 100%

and those shoes get on my nerves too. they look too much like ballet slippers!

[grace0418]

23. Or roman sandals!

Either way, they're hideous.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

71. I like shoes like that

I frequently see women wearing them around the city.

[MissB]

79. I agree about some of the dresses.

If you don't want a plunging neckline, at least that site offers a cute alternative.

[ceile]

11. They're not bad....

but are they considered modest because of the length? Most of them are skin tight!

[liontamer]

12. these dresses are really nice

what's the problem?

[regnaD kciN]

54. They look pretty much like standard prom fare for the early '70s...

...which, if you'll recall, wasn't exactly the Victorian Era (either in terms of clothing or level of sexual activity among teenage couples).

[momophile]

13. I like the Asian one, but the rest make me ill.

[ThomCat]

40. That design is nice.

I think the others would be better with more subdued colors.

What's wrong with some basic black, or darker colors?

[Mad_Dem_X]

14. Some are pretty nice, but

the rest are hideous!

[kwassa]

16. A slightly different take on the prom dress

http://futurewire.blogspot.com/2005/01/revealing-prom-dresses-spark.html

Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Revealing Prom Dresses Spark Controversy

If you're a high school student or a parent of one, you know that prom season is right around the corner. And with it comes the usual litany of culture-war flashpoints... dirty dancing, gay couples and the like. This year's controversy appears to be a new line of prom dresses from a designer named Xcite that (no doubt inspired by celebrity gowns) show plenty of skin. Too much for the likes of some parents.

[fleabert]

17. that is one really bad boob job...

bad incisions under the breasts...poor thing.

[JVS]

18. I like that one too!

I guess I'm easy to please

[ThomCat]

42. I don't care what your body looks like,

that dress is just not going to look good. That thing is not going to flatter anybody.

[NewJeffCT]

43. is the cleavage-baring look...

something of a reaction to the faux-outrage over Janet Jackson's nipple being exposed? Or, is it just a trend of the days? I don't really ever recall seeing much "public" cleavage until recent years.

I mean, I went to high school in the early to mid 80s and not even the so-called "bad" girls would show cleavage... back then, it was skin tight jeans & tight sweaters if a girl or young woman wanted to show off her figure, but no cleavage. Madonna showed off her stomach in "Like a Virgin", but not much else. Heck, even in the 90s, cleavage was rare outside of Hollywood and heavy metal or rap videos.

[Deep13]

56. Holy Christ, I wouldn't let my daughter out of the house like that!

Where do you put the $1 bills?

[regnaD kciN]

58. If you'll recall, when that story first came out...

...it turned out that the model had put the dress on backwards, so that she was wearing the backstraps of the dress over her breasts. (Worn correctly, the dress was still somewhat revealing, but not in that just-about-to-pop-out way.) Once the photo came out, though, lots of media sources carried it as part of "ain't it shocking?" stories...whereupon the dress, which had never done too well in that mail-order catalog, suddenly became its top seller. :eyes:

[Bucky]

64. Are you sure she doesn't just have that dress on backwards?

Those look like backstraps to me

[lildreamer316]

107. These are supposed to be for my profession. n/t

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. Eternity Store?

What, they expect to be buried in 'em too? :shrug:

[Taverner]

46. Probably a tie in to the Mormon buzzword for Heaven

Remember Mormons have three heavens, terrestrial kingdom (for all of the virtuous pagans), telestrial kingdom (for the lapsed mormons) and celestrial kingdom (for good mormons.)

Funny thing: Mormons don't have a Hell. Not sure where bad people go.

Anyway, they usually call it "eternity."

[TallahasseeGrannie]

24. Gosh, I must be getting old

I like them. Better than the crack ho hoochie mama stuff the girls around here wear to proms! Talk about advertising the goods!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

37. crack ho hoochie mama stuff

:rofl:

[kwassa]

44. also known as "teenage slutwear"

[NewJeffCT]

51. is it that different...

than what Madonna wore 20+ years ago that inspired girls in the early to mid 80s?

[kwassa]

57. yes, actually ....

and Madonna wore it as a young adult, not a high school student

[bleedingheart]

75. I was in high school when Madonna fashion was "in"

and the hoochie coochie mama thing wasn't "in" at the prom back then...

We wore a number of different types of gowns but they were all beautiful and tasteful and none were body hugging. Our mothers had more sense then to let our tits hang out during the prom...the mothers of my era were born in the 30's-50's...and they had an entirely different sense of fashion and they also controlled the purse strings more tightly than mothers do today.

I offered to by my neice's prom gown but she wanted something really trampy...I took her to high end stores and she tried on gowns that made her look like Grace Kelly and she looked stunning...but she wanted to wear body hugging spandex gowns with sequins that made her look like a Vegas show girl instead of a 16 year old going to the prom...it was disappointing and I ended up treating her to lunch and taking her home because I was too prudish to buy that junk....

Her mother however capitulated and she went in body hugging stuff...

[Left Is Write]

82. This is the dress my daughter wore last year...

I have seen those sequined spandex tubes of which you speak, though.

[bleedingheart]

100. that is a pretty dress...

and very prom like..

[Zookeeper]

110. That dress is glamorous....

and tasteful. Your daughter looks lovely!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

92. You mean like this?

:rofl: Lordy!

[Mutley]

25. The ones you pictured are ugly. But some of those are cute.

[u4ic]

34. Some are a bit too 'Glinda' for me

but there's quite a few nice ones on there.

[LynneSin]

38. I think all of these dresses are great

Anymore girls are showing up with hoochie-mama dresses cut down to there leaving nothing to the imagination. These are underage girls who should be wearing appropriate dresses for who they are. Not like these girls are being forced to wear Burqas or something

[Taverner]

41. Where do I find me some lapsed mormon girls????

Giggitygiggitygiggity!

[JVS]

70. I believe we have finally found the answer to Sheriff Bart's question

[bleedingheart]

49. Actually most of them are really nice..I have seen really awful prom gowns

and those really aren't that bad...hell at least you get enough fabric to justify the cost.

I have seen very skimpy prom dresses that cost upwards of $300+ and have less than 3 yards of fabric...and they look awful.

[spinbaby]

50. You know...

It didn't register with me until I looked at some of the "regular" prom dress sites, that if you want a gown with a bit of coverage on top, you NEED to go to a place that specializes in "modest" dresses for religious types. When did that happen?

[bleedingheart]

60. You should see the numbers my neice and her friends have worn

hell I begged my neice who is tall (6 ft) and lean and beautiful to wear a empire cut dress that looked like something Audrey Hepburn would have worn...it was beautiful and so tasteful....but no...the skin tight number with the low neckline and beading won out...which she looked good in but it made her look way too old for her age...

I on the other hand wore a dress that looked like it came from that modesty site and it was quite nice...but was 20 years ago...

[HEyHEY]

53. I know two Mormon girls that are gonna get hit on tonight!

[JVS]

61. Maybe they'll even get pregnant!

[HEyHEY]

67. They would be if they were out with me

[Patiod]

55. A lot of these dresses are pretty

Some are even fairly sophisticated (not the ones shown in the OP, but some of the ones on the website).

[Rabrrrrrr]

62. Lots of dead sexy dresses there! WOW!

And not just sexy, but lots of beautiful ones, too.

Much more erotic and sexy than the slutweear.

[Left Is Write]

68. I'm six pages in, and so far most of them are a damn sight better...

than the dress I wore to my own proms.

[JVS]

69. Heavy metal!

[ThomCat]

72. That have some really nice bridal

and bride's maid's gowns. Not a bad site.

You have to weed through some horrible neon shlock to find the good stuff, but it's there.

[bleedingheart]

74. you have to weed through the shlock at most bridal stores too

I remember looking for bridal gowns years ago...what a nightmare...

[ThomCat]

86. Reason 341 why I'm glad I'm a guy.

[nemo137]

73. Barbieish, but inoffensive.

meh?

[Book Lover]

76. Other than the fact that I hate the ruffles, they don't look so bad

The bodice part still outlines the torso shape, so they aren't all *that* "modest" anyway. But those ruffles have *got* to go!

[SeattleGirl]

77. I think many of them are really nice dresses.

And far better than some of the things some girls were these days, that make the girls look like high-priced call-girls.

[MissMillie]

78. Some of those dresses are absolutely lovely

being sexy isn't always about showing skin.

[SeattleGirl]

80. You got that right, MissMille!

Why some girls think they need to let it all hang out is beyond me. I mean, I don't think they should be wearing burka's or anything, but gad, sometimes wearing too little is just too much!

[LeftyMom]

83. I like some of those

Not really me, but very nice:
http://www.eternitystore.com/detail.aspx?ID=212

I like the cut on a lot of the dresses, but the colors and the organza are definitely not to my taste.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

85. I've read the whole thread so far

and am kind of surprised to find most folks think these dresses are fine. I agree some are a bit tacky, but I personally really don't like a 16-year old to look like she's 25. It's kind of sad, to me.

[freethought]

87. What's the big deal?

These dresses are actually quite elegant and tasteful. Inoffensive. Would like to see some other colors though.
Ask yourself this question, would you rather see your teenage daughter wearing one of these dresses or going to her prom dressed like Paris Hilton?

[Kerrytravelers]

88. I understand not wanting to flash the Senior class, but this is straight

from Hee-Haw.

[Left Is Write]

94. Hee Haw?

Not quite. :)

It's not a dress I would choose myself, but it's not quite Hee Haw either.

[xmas74]

98. I agree.

I'm not into swishy,swinging dresses but it's not the worst dress I've seen by any means.

[Quantess]

104. I actually like it.

reminds me a little of a Spanish senorita pin-up girl of 1800s.

I would wear a lot of the dresses on that site! They are classy and pretty.

[Kerrytravelers]

109. Well, not the worse of Hee-haw... but it reminded me of the show a bit...

... for some reason my dad absolutely love Hee-haw! :)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

117. My grandson who is two and a half

absolutely loves Lawrence Welk. Now THOSE are some funky styles.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

116. Very retro

I showed it to some of my girls in my classes and they loved it!

[Nikia]

89. I think that the dresses are fine

The dresses are tasteful and nice. If they are comfortable in them and think that they look good, there isn't anything wrong with them wearing them.

[astonamous]

90. I like some of the dresses fine...

When I went to the prom I had a dress custom made...a lady in town totally fitted the dress to me and it was so beautiful, the color and how it hung down and was "swishy" but not wide.

Now that I'm older and know that going to the prom is a joke, I would just go on EBAY and find something funky and have fun with it.

Speaking of EBAY, look what I just put up for auction...


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7622824127&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

I wouldn't wear that to the prom, but I do wear mine to walk the dogs.

Trudy

[leftofthedial]

91. and some nice middle-aged Mormon man will be marryin' all of 'em

[Left Is Write]

95. You do realize that mainstream LDS does not sanction polygamy...

don't you?

[leftofthedial]

101. umm, yes.

you do realize I was joking, don't you?

some of my best friends are LDS, but I never would have put "mainstream" and "Mormon" in the same phrase.

The FBI just raided a house not far from here looking for the crazed polygamist Mormon extremist dude who's on the 10 Most Wanted (Osama's not, BTW).

[Left Is Write]

103. I realized you weren't serious...

but there are PLENTY of people who think Mormon = polygamy.

I said "mainstream" Mormonism as opposed to the extreme sects that no longer mesh with today's LDS. (I do live in an area heavily populated by Mormons, though, and I'm not sure why "mainstream" would be an inapt word to use - there are a lot of religious denominations I would consider much less "mainstream.")

[Common Sense Party]

114. I'm mainstream Mormon. You used the term correctly. nt

[TallahasseeGrannie]

119. Do you think that guy is the person

the character, Roman, is modeled after on Big Love?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

118. The Morman girls around here

all marry VERY young Morman guys. Right out of college.

[fightingdem]

93. They could hide a whole dwarf under some of those.

Or a keg.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

96. I liked a lot of the dresses

but what do they have against shoulders? None of them show any shoulder. So they all start to look alike.

[LeftyMom]

102. The temple undergarments have little cap sleeves

and are worn all the time, so it's a bit unusual to see mormons old enough to have a temple reccommend wearing sleveless anything.

[xmas74]

97. Some are not my style

but they're not that bad. Some have a flirty look w/o showing everything.

Compared to some of the crap I've seen out there lately they really aren't that bad.

[yellowdogintexas]

99. I enjoyed my trip through the non slut prom selection and the

more modest bridal catalog as well.

If I were shopping for a formal dress NOW with the skin I had in high school, this site would be Nirvana for me. I had terminal Backne and had to wear dresses which were NOT cut low in back, at all; like not more than an inch below the back of my neck. Sleeveless was OK, but I had to also have wide shoulder straps because strapless bras just do not fit me well at all, so had to wear regular bra.

All this strapless, spaghetti strap stuff would have been useless for me.

I totally agree with the comment that you see far too much skin in the wedding party these days too. I have never been a fan of strapless wedding gowns.

The dresses I liked best in these catalogs were the ones with some sort of inventiveness in the detailing: intricate fabric accents, embroidery, contrasting bands, open/cutwork, beading, assymetrical layering on the skirts, etc. A very simple basic dress can be made spectacular by good fabric and good detailing.

Some of those colors are hideous though.

[kath]

105. Check out the "modest swimwear" at this site:

http://www.wholesomewear.com/page-3.html

EEEEEEKKKKK!!

<on edit -- note the freeperish spelling on that page - "non-existant"?!?!

[Kerrytravelers]

112. My. How comfortable in the water. How very nineteenth century of them...

To each his own, I suppose. When I was in Europe, a friend in France (male) had a full body swimsuit. I had to admint, it was hard to keep a straight face because I just wasn't use to it.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

121. I have one questions about this site

what do the men wear? Do they bare their nips and pects and all?

[bedazzled]

106. the dresses above look like lampshades

the colors are pretty, though.

the green dress is very pretty, i'd love to see it in blue. but the black/white dress with the holes makes the wearer look like a large patent leather shoe.

[Initech]

108. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, Mormon girls are HOT!

:wow:

[Common Sense Party]

115. BYU truly has the prettiest campus in the West, if you know what

I mean.

[Zookeeper]

111. Some of the dresses on that site....

are actually attractive and would show the girl's shape even if they didn't show a lot of skin.

Personally, I've always thought "shape" is more attractive than "flesh."

[TallahasseeGrannie]

122. What you think might be there

is way more erotic than seeing (along with the rest of the world) under fluorescent lights, what actually IS there. IMO

[noonwitch]

120. They are so much nicer than the slutty prom dresses I saw at Fields

When I was in school, in the 80s, we wore the Jessica McClinton Gunne Sax dresses. They were very pretty, very lacy, very feminine and very modest.

Some of these dresses are very pretty. Some are silly, but none are slutty.

It drives me crazy the way stores market slutty clothes to teenagers.

[dysfunctional press]

123. but- are they wearing their garments...?

[Zookeeper]

124. Wow. His bottom "garment" doesn't leave...

much to the imagination. Although I'll bet it's exaggerating his assets a bit.

[spindrifter]

126. That's what I wondered, but

I think they don't get them till they are married.:shrug:
What do the garments look like?

[LibertyLover]

125. I thought that some of the styles were

rather sophisticated, like a couple of the mermaid styles and the ones based on the ah dao or cheong sam dress. A couple of other styles reminded me of evening dresses from the '30s and '40s movies. There were some there I wouldn't mind wearing. It's actually more the colors that the dresses come in that I didn't find particularly appealing. I'm not one for tangerine or electric blue or lime green. Sexy doesn't have to mean lots of exposed skin. In fact, one the dresses my husband likes the most on me is a very conservative cut, but drapes really well.