Modesty

There is a new bandwagon in Mommy Blogdom, Moms for Modesty. Normally, I don't participate in these things because, quite honestly, this blog is just a way for me to record our days, and I prefer it that way. This bandwagon, however, I'll hop on ever so briefly to add my voice. Why? Because I absolutely, totally, wholeheartedly agree with the idea that I should encourage modesty in my children. Perhaps some clothing designer will run across our collective voices and realize that there is more to clothing children than what's trendy and hip.

Spyder isn't really an issue. He wears the usual Boy Uniform, jeans or shorts and some sort of t-shirt. He's a play-in-the-dirt boy, so for everyday he wears things that I wouldn't have a fit about turning into rags. For church, he is allowed to wear khaki or navy slacks with a non-t-shirt style of shirt. No writing allowed. Patterned shirts are perfect. He's an easy one to dress. Boy Clothes aren't very imaginative, and the most offensive parts are usually t-shirts that are a bit too risque for me. He doesn't really care one way or another, so I just stock his closet with things that I do like, but are "cool" enough for him.

The problem has come in dressing Sass.

Since she was born I've insisted on some sort of diaper or panty covering when wearing a dress. It's a Big Deal to me. Most of her dresses came with a diaper cover, but we did have three generic white covers for when they didn't. Uncovered diapers get saggy and dirty and disgusting pretty fast, and it was just always nicer to see her bum covered properly.

Once she was out of diapers, it was still a Big Deal, but for a different reason. Sass is a dressy-dress girl. She almost always wears dresses simply because she prefers them, but she's not really concerned about keeping her dress down while she's playing. So, if she's wearing a dress, she wears bikers or capris or leggings underneath (depending on the season). Most of what we buy has coordinating bikers or leggings. In fact, that's one of the things I look for -- if there are matching bottoms available.

Here are some of the brands that I prefer:

• Hanna Andersson
• Gymboree
• Land's End
• Gap
• Baby Lulu

These brands have styles that tend to be more classic than trendy; all of them offer matching bottoms to the dresses; all of them are well made, so I know that whatever I've bought is going to last the whole season.

I haven't had the problem with pants or shorts with writing across the bum, but I'm sure that just because of her age. However, I absolutely would not let her wear some of the things I've seen. Even the innocuous ones like "Cheer" or "Dance" call attention to a part of her body that certainly doesn't need it.

I probably do spend more on Sass just to be able to cover her in things that I find appropriate, but for us, it's worth it.

It's rather interesting that Celia Rivenbark's new book is Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank . . . . Her title essay is, as always, wonderfully crude and spot on. I also had a conversation on this very subject with a friend yesterday who commented that she wanted all of Sass's clothing because she liked how "she's always covered!"

I wonder if this is the beginning of a new trend.