Why I Veil Part 2 of 2: Covering My Body and my Disgust with the Fashion Industry

Oh boy....

The Subject of Modesty. A bit of a hot topic in today's society.

I've been thinking very carefully on how to approach this subject because the last thing I want to do is come across as if I was "Slut Shamming".

I want to make this abundantly clear:

Women have the right to adorn themselves in anyway they see best. Whether that be a burqa or a bikini.

No one has the right to dictate ANYONE on how they should dress. Male or Female.

This blog is not my views on how other women dress or why some choose to dress modest and others don't. This is just my own reasoning to why I dress modestly.

For the most part, I've always been modest. I experimented in my late teens and early 20's in showing off a bit more skin then I normally would.

Low cut tops, short skirts, fish nets, etc.

Why did I do that?

Well, because I was lonely and wanted a boyfriend and I liked the way guys would look at me...at that time.

Looking back on it now, I'm disgusted with those haunted images of their faces. Looking at me with only one intention for me. They didn't want me as a girlfriend, they wanted me as a hook up. They looked at me as if I was a piece of meat.

I began seeing their intentions, and just went back to my normal look of jeans and a T-shirt.

A few years past and I met the love of my life. I dressed how I usually did, and all was well.

Then the headcovering epiphany happened.

On Palm Sunday, I wore a hijab, long sleeve blouse, and a long skirt.

I figured, when if I was going to wear the hijab, I might as well cover the rest of myself as well.

We went to the mall after church I think that was the day that everything really changed for me that day, based on what I observed.

Here in Georgia, even in the spring it gets HOT. So naturally, the higher the temperature, the smaller the outfits get.

I was surrounded by teenage girls with shorts so short their butt cheeks hung out and shirts so low cut you could see all the way to Florida.

It was like this everywhere in the mall. I felt a bit out of place. When you are the only one covered head to toe in a shopping mall, you almost feel like the one who decided to wear a ball gown to a pool party.

Only two other women who did not expose the same amount of skin, were two Muslim women in niqabs.

I pondered. I knew it was hot, but was it really THAT hot? I wasn't dying of over heat in my headscarf and layers. When did shorts and skirts get this small?

And that's when I started looking in the store windows. There were signs in every window about "great New Spring looks" in every display with Mannequins showing off said fashion.
The clothes on the mannequins were just as small, if not smaller. For the female ones anyway.

The male Mannequins were dressed differently. If they wore shorts, they were down to the knees.
They weren't cut or ripped like some of the girl shorts, but most of them cargo or Khaki.
Usually paired with a nice button up shirt with fancy logos emblazed on the chest. The shirts had long sleeves, but would be rolled up to the elbow.

The same thing with evening looks. One display I saw showed the female wearing a short, lace dress that was practically see through with high heels that would make my feet fall off. The male ones were dressed in fine trousers, smart button up shirts, and a blazer with logos on the chest. I kept looking at the mannequins and just didn't get it. The men were covered in logos from head to toe and the women where wearing hardly anything.

When my husband and I got back home, I told him what I observed and wondered allowed why the mannequins were dressed like that.

He simply said:

"Because they Fashion industry knows how to appeal the eye of both genders. For men, it's the beauty and body of a woman, for Women it's the man's wealth. Hence all the logos."


I pondered this for quiet sometime. After looking at numerous fashion magazines, I had determine that what my husband said was true. and it made me sick to my stomach.

In today's society, we look back at cultures of old and like to think how different we are from them. But in reality, we're really not.

In the Victorian era, for example, when a man and woman started courting, the woman would pull her corset so tight so her waist size would not be more than her age. She would curl and pin her hair, and wear fine clothing and jewelry to make herself beautiful and worthy of being on a man's arm.

The man would wear smart and dapper clothing, talk about his estates and family's wealth, to show he would be an acceptable provider.

And the fashion industry is still pushing those "values" to this day. A woman is valued by her pretty face, bust and waist line. While a man is valued by his wealth.

If you're a woman and you look at the magazine rack, you see how this industry pushes you "value" when you see covers that say:

"How to get a man and keep him." or  "100 sex positions that will never make him leave!" or "How

to lose 4 dress sizes by summer!" or "How to make your bust look fuller" and the list goes on.

When ever I would see these it would make me feel cheap.

I believe this part of the reason why we have so many people with low self esteem, Body issues, Eating Disorders, and various cosmetic surgeries. Because we are constantly told we are not enough.

But when I found my husband, he saw my beauty inside and out. He thinks I'm the hottest thing on the planet whether I wear sweat pants or a little Teddy.

But more importantly, he sees the beauty in my soul.

I told him before we even started dating that I was a virgin and wished to remained so until my wedding night. He respected me for it and honored it. He got to know who I am inside and out. It was the person I was that made him want to vow before God to love and honor me and treat me as a precious jewel till death do we part.

Just as it was his good soul and caring soul that made me want to pledge myself to him.

So when I finally saw the real face of the fashion industry, I decided I was not going to let them dictate what I do with my body anymore.

I was no longer going to feel bad if my waistline was more than they prefer. Or if my bust size wasn't big enough.

I was done letting someone else tell me I was not enough.

I am a child of the one true king and made in his image. He knows every hair on my head and knew me before I was in the womb.

I am his work of art. And I was no longer going to dishonor the artist any longer.

So I cover. In respect to my creator and respect to my husband.

No man on this earth besides my husband who has vowed is entire being to me deserves to see my body.

My body belongs to no one except for myself and my husband.

And before anyone says "Your body doesn't belong to him!" read 1 Corinthians 7:4

"The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does."

His belongs to me and Mine belongs to him. And to honor my God, my husband, and myself, I cover it.

My body does not define me. My beauty does not define me. My soul does. Because I am not a body with a soul, I am a soul with a body.

What's on the inside is the most important thing about me. So my waist size, my skin, my bust line, should matter to nobody.


And that's why I cover. My modesty is a bit more..erm...extreme, I guess you could say, than most.

I prefer to wear at least 3 Quarter sleeves, I prefer to wear long, flowy skirts that go down to my ankles (Not only are they modest, but they are SUPER comfy), If a shirt as a low neckline, I wear an under shirt with it. If a blouse is short sleeve, I like to wear a shrug with it.

On occasion, I'll wear jeans and a t-shirt, but I like to dress how I feel is most honoring to my body.

Is this the way everyone is supposed to dress?

No, of course not.

But it's the way I am supposed to.

May the Lord be with you.