Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Lately I am feeling real pissed off! Yes, I am! Why you wonder? Because of the same problem that has plagued modest women for ages - what to wear!! 

It is Summer now. Maybe not fully where you live yet.. but here in Orange County it is HOT. And I want to wear dresses! Dresses were always my summer go-to when I was not as concerned about covering myself up as I am now. I'm just so frustrated that every cute dress with sleeves ends up being too short and the ones that are knee length are sleeveless. I am not a fan of adapting an outfit to become modest by adding more clothing, such as a sweater (especially in Summer) and I would never (though I don't completely judge if you do..only mostly) wear a shirt underneath a tank dress or top. 

I have 0 pairs of true shorts. I own approximately 5 pairs of cutoffs or cut and rolled jean shorts. They are all too small. 

I did recently buy a cute casual knee length skirt at Anthro... very on sale too. But other than that.. all my skirts are more business/church appropriate, mostly pencil skirts from my mission. 

A few weeks ago I bought 7 $10 t-shirts from Urban which will make for a good summer staple. I can't stand the idea of sweating in and ruining expensive clothes. 

The problem is not that the items I'm looking for don't exist. It is just hard to find them. If you google "modest dresses," J.Crew, Anthropologie, Madewell, etc. are not what come up! Instead you get a plethora of Mormon Prom websites. Not exactly the breezy summer dream dress I'm looking for. 

It can be worth browsing the Modest Mormon online shops - but I usually don't like the styles or worry about the fit. I literally looked at EVERY dress/skirt on Shabby Apple the other day. I found a few I'd be interested in at least trying on.. but what with the ordering and returning hassle.. I'm not one to risk it. Emma bought a dress there once and we were a little disappointed with the quality as well. 

Sometimes the more "mature" (my nice word for old) lady stores like Ann Taylor,  have something cute - but even their dresses are mostly too short or sleeveless. Buh. 

You may be thinking ... helllooooooo.. maxi skirt/dress. I could never really get into those. Maybe I will try again. Sigh. 

I guess this is the end of my rant. I am going to survive Summer just fine... even with the clothes I already have. I guess I'm still coming off my mission clothes and realizing theyre not real life clothes anymore and wanting to restock that wardrobe with modest AND attractive everyday clothes. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. 


7 comments:

Camille said...

Girl, I feeeeel ya. It's impossible, and I'm dying. It was 90 today. And that was just inside my house. IT'S THE WORST. Sometimes I just want to walk around my house in just my bathing suit.

[AnnieR] said...

Preach.

Emma Marie Erickson said...

atleast the summer only lasts a few months for you.......................not that im complaining i live in hawaii................get a pair of loose linen pants. casual. breezy. modest.

Emma Marie Erickson said...

also...clearly california's getting to you because you've forgotten that thrifting is a goldmine of cute modest dresses.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/130620537/ethnic-vintage-60s-hand-embroidered?ref=sr_gallery_37&ga_search_query=dress&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_min=0&ga_max=30&ga_search_type=vintage

http://www.etsy.com/listing/101766175/vintage-day-dress-in-floral-pink-and?ref=sr_gallery_36&ga_search_query=summer+dress&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_min=0&ga_max=30&ga_page=9&ga_search_type=vintage

http://www.etsy.com/listing/129085988/vintage-yellow-summer-dress-day-dress?ref=sr_gallery_11&ga_search_query=summer+dress&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_min=0&ga_max=30&ga_page=16&ga_search_type=vintage

The Brown Family said...

First off, it's fun to catch up on your blog every now and then and secondly, I have to agree on the whole modest dress thing, I actually can't stand the the look of wearing a shirt under a dress look and it seems to be everywhere since I've moved back to Utah. Also, I agree the quality of shabbyapple is a bummer, I love JCrew, Anne Taylor, banana republic, Nordstroms, so If I find a dress I like enough that maybe too short, I get the size up and have someone take it in so it becomes that perfect dress again, best of luck on your dress hunt!

Lindsay said...

Emma! You are so right. Man, who have I turned into? It's all the newport beach moms at the pool, theyve got me thinking backwards.

I'm glad everyone understands. But we will survive!

Momma Morgan said...

http://daintyjewells.com/

Lots of modest cute dresses!