Modesty & Modernity (Part 1)

Many of you know me personally, but I'm really glad to see that I'm getting new readers, particularly from the Lauren Conrad Blog Forum. So for all those new bloggers who are now following-Hey!!!! That forum has really opened my eyes to new blogs with various topics and voices. It's so much fun to feel a community of bloggers.
ANYWAY, so new readers may not know but I consider myself a modern Orthodox Jew, what that means is hard to define. I am Jewish, there's that. With that, there are certain laws, halachot, that I keep and others that I am more..."laid back" shall we say? One of the most difficult, and public, is the choice in dress we wear. These laws are called tzniut, modesty. Many Orthodox to ultra-Orthodox communities believe that, for a woman, she should cover everything from her collarbones, to her wrists, to her ankles. Others find leniency in this and only cover to their elbows, cover the knees and just the tips of her collarbones. And the list goes on and on, and the skin starts to show more and more, depending on where you stand.
     Personally, I was never that sect of Orthodoxy and my hemlines have fluctuated just as much as my weight has over the last 10 years. From capri pants hiding underneath my school uniform in grade 8, to only skirts, to my lulu lemons, to long sleeves all summer, all the way back to...well, wherever I am now. For some time I wore only skirts and 3 quarter length sleeves and then I lost 35lbs two years ago and realized that I was using skirts, dresses, and the general idea of tzniut as a way of covering up something I was embarrassed about. And that is so not what it's about. Modesty is a beautiful thing but I've grown to believe that modesty doesn't just mean you don't show your boobs and thighs. It is also the way in which you carry yourself, the way you act. It's about the less-is-more (I mean showing less is more lol not less clothes is more.)
     My love for fashion has always been there but yes, I have to admit, now that I've lost such a significant amount of weight, fashion is actually fun. (I have to take that back, losing the weight just me personally. I believe, truly, that no matter what size you are, this confidence and love of fashion, can be enjoyed as long as YOU are comfortable in your own skin. I obviously was not.) So, where do I stand today you might be wondering? Well, I am full of contradictions but I think that makes me complex and unique. (Even if it does make me a little crazy.) Maybe I shouldn't, but I pick and choose what I am comfortable with. Now I wear pants, leggings, skirts, and of course dresses. Sleeves are more of a mood thing, I never thought I'd wear sleeveless but low and behold I did on New Years! So who knows? I just go with what I'm comfortable and in the mood for on a day-to-day basis, but I think we all do that, no? Jewish or not.