Welcome to Gaia! ::

I know for some people that they were raised a religion that taught it. I just want to hear everyone's reasons for posting in this guild.

I became interested in dressing modestly when I entered seventh grade. I noticed how all the boys seemed to do in class was look at the girl with the low cut top. Everyone else didn't seem to notice, but I did. It was probably because I look a solid three to four years younger than I actually am. Boys stares would automatically look over me, so I noticed how they looked at other girls.

I remember I was in 8th grade english class when the teacher said, "Girls, you realize what you are wearing is barely within the school dress code. Do you realize how boys look at you?" Everyone looked shocked except for me.

I am in high school now and it only got worse. I've learned that despite your looks, people will still like you for who you are (believe me, I have still no looks to these boys. I mean, I look 12 when in reality, I'm 15).

Also, I dress modestly for practical reasons. I live in Florida and it isn't the best place to be with my skin. If I put a tank top on during the summer and go outside for 15 minutes, I'll burn. Okay, less than 15 minutes. This also made me modify my swimsuit to a rashguard and swim shorts. If I wear a regular one piece, I'll burn so bad that my skin will be the color of this text.It is painful.

I had two main reasons.

(1) I have a mild sun allergy. I don't burn much, but it feels like I'm being stabbed by needles whenever I'm uncovered in the sun.

(2) I REALLY don't like it when people I don't know touch me. I started covering up to make sure that they couldn't make contact with my skin.

So you have that feeling too when you go out into the sun? I thought it was sensitive skin (my skin breaks out in a rash to various products too). Unlike you, I do burn badly and I end up in bed for at least a day or so.

I started backwards. I was never into dressing very revealingly, by most standards, but I was fine with capri pants, tank tops or short-sleeved shirts, shorts on a hot day, and so on.

Then I got this Tragic Haircut and felt so bad about myself and the way I looked that I went out and bought some bandanas and hats and scarves. Then I realized that those looked stupid with my then-current attire, so I gradually replaced my less modest clothing with more modest clothing.

Becoming religious wasn't an outgrowth of modesty, nor was modesty an outgrowth of becoming religious, though they did happen at more-or-less the same time. They dovetailed nicely together, and it was like, "Oh, cool, now that I'm getting religious, this attire makes even more sense," or "Oh, cool, now that I'm dressing this way, I'm actually in keeping with the things I've been believing for a while." It wasn't an intentional thing, in any way, but it did work well together.

mostly i am influenced by people i respect.

my folks encouraged me to experiment with all different religions, and i went to many youth groups, but eventually felt most comfortable with the mennonites.

they never pushed me into anything, including style of dress, but i noticed many of them wore different coverings (and modest skirts) so i asked them about it and they had different reasons, such as it was a personal prayer discipline, or in honor of a grandmother who had covered (two of them said that), or because they believed that their beautiful hair should be saved for and shared with their beloved.

i always dressed slightly more modest then everyone else even when i wore jeans and short sleeves but that was more out of respect for my great- grandmother of blessed memory. she also would get rid of anything that she thought was too tight, low cut, short, or scanty in her opion.

right before i started 6th grade tough i went to a nice relgious over night camp that had an amazing impact on me to start dressing more tzniusly(modestly)
it was hard but now i dress strictly tzniusly. which means my knees are always covered by a skirt my elbows never show and you cant see my collar bone. perfect if you want to walk around in Mea Shearim