Mormon Dictionary

Young women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are asked to keep their dress modest. Some of the guidelines given are:

• Avoid skirts or dress that are too short (although there is not an exact length given, most LDS family set the standard the dresses should be at the knee).
• Avoid tops that do not cover the stomach.
• Make sure the shoulder is covered.
• The front or back should not be too revealing or low cut.
• Avoid clothing that is very tight.

All of these guidelines are given to help youth prepare for when they will receive their temple endowment, but it certainly can make finding a prom dress difficult. Many of the trendy styles include at least one of the things young women are encouraged to avoid. The biggest problem seems to be in covering the shoulder. Many young women opt for getting a dress that does not have sleeves then also wearing a matching jacket, shawl, or adding sleeves by sewing them on.

Another common problem with prom dresses is that they are often too low cut in the front or back. This again is often fixed after buying the dress by adding lining to cover the areas that the young woman would feel uncomfortable showing. However the hassle of having to find material or another article of clothing to match the dress and make it modest is often something no one wants to deal with, and the demand for modest prom dresses has risen considerably. In 2001 a group of LDS young women in Kansas City decided to do something about not being able to find modest dresses. They first talked with a representative at Nordstrom’s telling them of their needs. The department store decided to hear more and the group of young women spent four months preparing a presentation for the store. One young woman of the group explained, “We’re not trying to judge those who wear dresses like that. We’re just saying that’s not our style, and we’d like a choice.” The department store was impressed with the presentation and is now providing a selection of modest prom dresses in all of its stores.

Many companies have also started that cater specifically to LDS young women. One company, Modest by Design, said, “Our company idea came about when we discovered how truly difficult it is to find modest clothing in most stores today. We found in talking to other people that we were not the only ones having this problem, that many people do value modesty today, and that their needs are not being met. Our hope is that by forming this company we will be able to make shopping for modest clothing easier and a lot more fun.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 17th, 2006 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Mormonism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.