Beauty Tips for Ministers
Because you're in the public eye, and God knows you need to look good.
Good Lord, Whatever Happened To A Nice, Ladylike Frock!??
March 14, 2008 on 8:20 pm | In Cultural Commentary | *sputter, sputter*
Are these dresses meant explicitly for the sex workers of America, or am I missing something????
For those of you with young daughters, PeaceBang extends her condolences. It must be a HELLA challenge keeping your mouth shut while they go about dressed in these outlandishly revealing items.
Just about knocked my bonnet right off my head when I saw those. Sakes alive.
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Holey shamoley. And that wasn’t even a Fredericks of Hollywood catalog.
The Princess (8) came downstairs to go sell girl scout cookies with teeny short-shorts on. (She owns them because it’s a school rule that they have to wear shorts under their dresses.) We had a talk about appropriate attire.
At 8, easy. At 16, probably not.
Comment by Lizard Eater — March 14, 2008 #
Some of the pictures of the models almost border on kiddie porn. I am very blessed to have a 16 year-old with taste AND modesty.
Comment by Kim — March 14, 2008 #
My daughter is four, almost five, and I’m already having trouble finding her appropriate clothes. She is a couple of sizes bigger than average, but still. I have to shop thrift stores and consignment sales to find high end clothes because they are the only ones that make appropriate little girl clothes anymore but my budget can’t accommodate new.
Comment by indie — March 14, 2008 #
American Hoochie. I hate American Apparel’s clothing; even in the dead of winter they sell that stuff here in Portland. But maybe it’s not a surprise, given what Ms. Theologian had to say about the founder of the company here. He sounds like a real lecher.
Comment by hafidha sofia — March 15, 2008 #
Ok, so I have to make a case for American Apparel because they are not all evil and neither are all of their clothes inappropriate. When it comes to finding a simple t-shirt or other basic in a fantastic colour, they are my go-to shop because I know that not only am I going to find any colour my little heart desires but it will also be an ethically made shirt. They even have organic cotton clothing available, and as more cotton growers move to organic, they are slowly moving all of their clothing to organic.
Yes, the founder has been in the news a myriad of times for questionable ethics, and by trolling around the ‘net one can dig up plenty of people rooting for and against the company, as with many companies.
Now, for the final case in favour, I am a professional young woman and a pastor and I own two dresses that are depicted on the page in question. One is a tasteful wrap dress in a lovely rich purple that I never wear without a shell underneath (many wrap dresses require this though); it is made from a very heavy brushed cotton, not at all underwear or t-shirt material, and is quite flattering on curvy girls. The second dress I own is an a-line dress that can be worn in about 20 different ways. It is the most fantastic beachwear I’ve ever found, and is perfect for travelling because it can be bundled up in baggage, shook out, and thrown on in a cute halter style for a sizzling evening out or slipped over a swim suit for a quick trek to the beach. In the winter, I wear it with a turtleneck underneath and tights on the bottom and find it’s bright red colour to be a welcome addition to dark winter days.
So there is my case for American Apparel, not perfectly ethical but more ethical than most clothing companies. Their colour selection alone makes me happy to walk into their stores and buy little pieces that can charge up my wardrobe. [*bangs gavel* Your Honor, she rests her case!! - PB]
Comment by shannon — March 15, 2008 #
Yes, the founder has been in the news a myriad of times for questionable ethics, and by trolling around the ‘net one can dig up plenty of people rooting for and against the company, as with many companies.
I am afraid that this is far too kind to the incredible pig that is Dov Charney:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/magazine/23apparel.html
and the unrepentant objectification that is AA’s ad campaign:
http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2008/03/update-american-apparel-model-models.html
I know this is a fashion blog, not a political blog, but calling AA’s clothing “ethical” is completely untenable from a feminist point of view.
Comment by Satchel — March 15, 2008 #
Quite a few of those dresses are longer than the skirts my daughter prefers.
Comment by beachpsalms — March 15, 2008 #
My 12 year old lives by the motto, “Find a button, button it.” I went to buy her a dress for an orchestra concert, and when I told the teenie bopper clerkess I was looking for a dress for my MODEST 12 year old daughter, she game out with a strapless number that she thought would be just the ticket. Even if she had the bosom to hold the thing up, she wouldn’t have left her room in the thing. We settled for a pair of slacks and a pretty blouse that seemed a little AARP to me, but she liked it.
Comment by danijo — March 15, 2008 #
Hm. Being a non-american, I haven’t followed the debate on American Apparel, but what really bugs me about the clothes on the site, or rather the pictures, is how young the models look, and that they more often than not have nothing on except the item they’re selling (are they showing pants, they have no top, is it a hoodie, they have nothing on underneath). Call me a moralist, but I prefer clothed models. Especially when shopping stuff in bright colors, I want to see how it looks with other clothes.
As to the ethical part, I don’t think that ethics are relative. That is, a company doesn’t become good just because there are other companies that are worse. If the company doesn’t allow unions, harasses people who work there and have questionable campaigns that disturbs you, well, don’t shop there even if there are other companies that does it as well. Maybe it’s worth a little discomfort or not getting that exact item you really liked to at least know that you don’t accept everything just in the name of fashion.
If it doesn’t disturb you - hey, shop on. But honestly, if you want to be a role model (and clergy always is, no matter how much we like or dislike it), thinking about these things should be natural.
Comment by maria — March 16, 2008 #
I thought American Apparel was… not like that. I’ve never looked into their philosophy, but for some reason they came off differently with their whole ‘we use real people in our ads’ and make basic clothing staples thing and such and such.
Comment by Justine — March 19, 2008 #