Sep 30 2008
What is an ET?
Extra Terrestrial? …think again.
If you like what you see at Christa-Taylor you are probably an Empowered Traditionalist.
What is an empowered Traditionalist you might ask?
An ET is one who confidently stands on traditional values of modesty, and femininity in the face of opposition.
An ET strives to break the lie that states that to be modest you must compromise beauty and attractiveness.
An ET embraces beauty and femininity and kills frumpiness.
An ET is smart, because she purchases timeless styles and rejects the trends to purchase cheap new fashions every season, saving bundles of money
An ET is a trend-setter, in the best sense of the word.
An ET stands out. Since she does not let the winds of fashion effect her decisions, she actually wears cuter apparel- she stands out compared to what every one else is wearing. (those Captivated Modernists).
An ET is one who loves to dress well
An ET is wise. She understands that character vs. immodesty attracts the best men.
An ET is attractive in all the right ways.
An ET has clothes that fit her personality and her body type
An ET loves to surprise people with her style
An ET sets the trend in modest style yet without succumbing to the pressures to buy apparel that compromises your convictions.
An ET will show you what beautiful is.
“Is she Pretty?”
“She behaves as if she was beautiful. Most American women do. It is the secret of their charm.”-Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray
Christa,
I have been reading some of the posts on your blog recently and am quite concerned with the attitude that seems to be displayed. I’m sure you do not mean to come off this way, but much of what I have read gives me the impression that you are not being truly modest at heart. You stress modesty all over your website, but you seem to have missed the point. “Modesty” means humility/not drawing attention to oneself. I do believe just as strongly as you do that part of this humility means a woman should not flaunt her “feminine charms” (if you know what I mean). But modesty does not simply mean covering up. It is an attitude of humility and not thinking too highly of oneself. I understand that you have a passion for fashion (nothing wrong with that) and that one of the main topics your website addresses is how to glorify God by being modest and feminine at the same time. I agree that women should dress like women and wearing pretty clothes can glorify our Creator who gave us feminine bodies. But do the following phrases sound modest to you?:
‘The blouse can make all the difference, t-shirt says “I’m comfy and I don’t want to expend any effort”, pretty blouses or cardigans “This is my day to shine, watch out boys, here I come!”’
‘An ET is smart, because she purchases timeless styles and rejects the trends to purchase cheap new fashions every season, saving bundles of money’
‘An ET stands out. Since she does not let the winds of fashion effect her decisions, she actually wears cuter apparel- she stands out compared to what every one else is wearing. (those Captivated Modernists).’
When I read phrases like these I see pride. “Watch out boys, here I come!” is the last thing I would ever expect to hear from a meek and quiet spirited woman. A modest woman would not say “this is my day to shine”, but rather “Heavenly Father, shine through me. Shine so bright that others won’t see me at all.” A modest woman would not tell the world that she is “smart” because she has better fashion sense or “wears cuter apparel” than others. When you speak of standing out, I get the impression your motivation is to draw male attention to yourself and away from other girls; but I’m hoping your motivation is to not be conformed to the world.
Your post “How to be a Lady” also raised some concerns in my heart. A lot of what you said was great, but much of it was… well… frivolous. Gum chewing not lady-like? Seriously? You are concerned with attracting godly men, but I should hope that godly men would look at a girl’s heart, pattern of life, etc. rather than being turned off by gum chewing (even if he does think it’s a little gross). It seems most of these kinds of things are merely preference issues, and aren’t worth the attention given to them. When I started dating my boyfriend, I realized that he never even notices such minutiae.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m sure you have the best intentions behind everything you have posted on your website. But I have had many struggles with dressing certain ways, wearing my hair certain ways, carrying myself a certain way, etc. in order to stand out from the crowd. I realized that I was doing this for my own glory. There’s nothing wrong with dressing pretty or carrying yourself like a princess, as long as you’re not doing it because you want everyone to think you are a princess. The bible instructs us to humble ourselves and we will be exalted. Don’t just make a show of being humble in order to exalt yourself. Be truly humble inside AND OUT and you will be precious in the sight of the Lord.
When we talk about modesty, and start looking into the meaning of words, and what Paul was getting at in 2 Tim 2, it provides a helpful light on the topic of modesty. I can never stress this enough, modesty originates first in the heart. Modesty in the Greek, means “shamefascedness” in the sense of “sorrow for ever causing a brother to stumble”. So yes, we are to guard our hearts FIRST, before we move on to our wardrobe.
But please don’t misunderstand- Paul was not a conservative!
Ultimately- what it comes down to is the supreme worth of the Gospel.
What he cared about was the Gospel- Point to it! Show the beauty of it! Live your lives as testimony to the world that IT, the good news of Jesus Christ, is your Supreme treasure! It is the ultimate.
Our clothing choices, our lifestyle choices- they should all reflect the Gospel.
Does that mean dressing modestly is drudgery?
Dressing modestly is not drudgery- It is a delight. That is why I get excited and come out with phrases like: ““This is my day to shine, watch out boys, here I come!”. I’m enjoying myself. To some extent these are facetious, my heart is not to get all the attention, it’s like saying: “I’m dressed nicely, and I’m happy about it”.
I want to communicate to my readers the delight of modest dress. Always be on guard against pride in dress, yes, but in all that heart searching don’t forget to enjoy being femininely attired to His glory.
To some extent I agree with you, yea- gum-chewing- no big deal right? But on the other hand, I disagree. It is the small things that make up ones character. And while gum-chewing and sitting with your ankles together, and avoiding swearing may not be big issues in and of themselves- when a woman makes a conscious effort to be faithful in the small things, there WILL be a noticeable difference between her and the casual women of our society.
These practical tips aren’t things I picked out of a hat, these are practical tips passed down from generations before- things that communicate (at least in our culture) that we are different. We are women. Not men.
When women rejected Femininity for Feminism, guess what institutions went out of business? The Finishing schools, the establishments that taught girls how to be graceful women. I don’t think that was a coincidence. When we see these “Lady-like” practices as trivial, we’re communicating that we don’t care to put the effort and energy into demonstrating practical femininity. We’d just rather be comfortable.
I care about Feminine decorum, because ultimately, I cherish the Gospel- and I want to display femininity through my behavior because it shows an aspect of womanhood that is encouraged in the Scriptures.
There is a reason why.
This is right on. I am in complete agreement and affirm everything you wrote. Heart first. Wardrobe second.
All my best,
Christa
I think it’s great that you are trying to teach that modesty is the best policy…and to do it with style.
She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple. ~Proverbs 31:22
Back in the day, purple was the trendy color. This verse mentions that this virtuous woman not only wore nice clothing, but it was in style! Your blog does an awesome job conveying this message.
I LOVE that you’re teaching modesty in a way that doesn’t sound like a punishment!
I agree! Modesty is NOT a punishment-it is a gift!
I love what you’re doing, and I don’t have to agree with every minute detail to support it. You are inspired to showcase a part of God that has not fully been showcased yet (His unfathomable creativity!) and that is just beautiful. And, there’s nothing wrong with shining… it’s proof that the glory of God resides within you!