Modest Fashion

The term modest fashion or modest dressing refers to a fashion trend in women of wearing less skin-revealing clothes, especially in a way that satisfies their spiritual and stylistic requirements for reasons of faith, religion or personal preference. The exact interpretation of ‘modest’ varies across cultures and countries. There is no unambiguous interpretation as it is influenced by socio-cultural characteristics of each country. Beyond the various interpretations, all agree on the idea that modest fashion means loose clothing, comfortable dressing and covering of the body according to person’s own comfort.

The term “modest” may have varied interpretations across religious boundaries and even within them. Commonalities can also exist; for example, many Christian, Jewish, and Muslim women practice the veiling of their head, with Christian women wearing a headcovering, Jewish women wearing a tichel, and Muslim women wearing a hijab.

On 28 July 2015, a world panel discussion was held in Turin with the aim of defining guidelines for modest fashion.

This growing phenomenon has been studied by scholars such as British professor Reina Lewis from London College of Fashion. Among her works on the topic we can mention ‘Modest Fashion: Styling Bodies, Mediating Faith’ (2013) and ‘Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures’ (2015).

In late 2018, modest fashion was considered a 250 billion dollar industry.

Photo : Modest Fashion – Backstage Modest Fashion Day 2021  (Russian Fashion Council)/ With Courtesy of Antony Maloy | DNMAG