Putting Beauty On the Radar

Sometimes it seems we are being offered wardrobe choices that fall into one of two camps:  sexy or frumpy.  Sexy choices are readily and cheaply available and we know we don't want to look dowdy, frumpy or silly.  Where does modesty fit on this continuum?

It doesn't.

By definition, modesty means "just right" and "not drawing undue attention," as well as "covered."  That means that frumpy is almost as off as sexy.

My daughter perceived this, years ago, when she was looking for peer role models.  She knew a few girls who said they valued modesty and others who seemed obsessed with the sexy fashions of the day, but nobody seemed to embody the "happy medium" we were trying to teach.  The truth is that the best ground is not between the two extremes.   As with other diverse fields, the best answer is on a different chart entirely.  It wasn't until later that she recognized that she could model that different choice for those who might be watching her.  Whether or not anyone else seems to be doing it, each of us can be virtuous, modest and beautiful.

While reading the Old Testament, I noticed that God cares about beauty.  He instructed those who were preparing the Tabernacle and the clothing to be worn by the High Priest to use specific materials, colors and shapes "for beauty and for glory."  As I considered the embroidery of pomegranates, alternated with bells, around the hem of a garment, I recognized that His expressions in clothing a temple and in clothing the earth are full of variety, depth and beauty -- and it's Godly to create variety and beauty in clothing ourselves to reflect our relationship with Him.

What motivates us to choose from the menu of sexiness or frumpiness?  Either choice grows out of self-consciousness and fear:  we focus on ourselves and fear rejection or we fear to fall into the other camp, so we retreat to what we have been taught is its opposite.  The problem is that neither is the Godly choice.

True modesty is motivated by love rather than fear.  This modesty is creative, focusing on our true identity and allowing for the results which follow that truth.  When we dress with the goal to express our relationship to God, loveliness and modesty follow naturally.  Neither frumpy nor sexy, we become beautiful.


Photos from sxc.hu.  Credit to teslacoils.