Fashion forward and faith-tastic! Online modest fashion and the development of women as religious interpreters and intermediaries

Modest dressing, both secular and religious, is a growing trend across the world, yet so far it has been given little serious attention and is rarely seen as fashion. "Modest Fashion" uniquely studies and addresses both the consumers and the producers of modest clothing. It examines the growing number of women who, for reasons of religion, faith or personal preference, decide to cover their bodies and dress in a way that satisfies their spiritual and stylistic requirements. These are women who are making fashionable the art of dressing modestly. Scholars and journalists, fashion designers and bloggers explore the emergence of a niche market for modest fashion and examine how this operates across and between faiths, and in relation to 'secular' dressers.

The book is based on the symposium ‘Mediating Modesty: Fashioning Faithful Bodies', which brought together speakers from cultural studies, anthropology, fashion studies and religious studies to think about women’s modest self presentation in the context of new forms of commerce, commentary, and community.

Addressing the relationships between an online and offline presence, the symposium explored how and to what extent women of different backgrounds are engaging in shared discourses about modest dressing and body management within and across faiths. Contributions tracked emergent styles and taste communities and evaluate the role of innovative forms of fashion mediation and religious interpretation.

The last two decades has seen the development of a rapidly expanding and diversifying market for modest fashion, arising initially from and serving the needs of women from the three Abrahamic faiths who are motivated to dress modestly for religious reasons. This market is also sustained by women whose ‘look’ may share many elements of modest styling but who do not regard their processes of self-fashioning in terms of religion or modesty as such. For both groups the internet has been central to the rapid growth of the modest fashion sector, fostering the development of a niche market through e-commerce, and providing virtual platforms for debates on modesty and fashion on websites, blogs, and discussion fora.

Convened by Reina Lewis (London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London) and Annelies Moores (University of Amsterdam), the symposium was held at the London College of Fashion, UK, on June 15th 2011.

Speakers: Elizabeth Wilson, Marie Griffith, Barbara Carrell, Emma Tarlo, Daniel Miller, Jane Cameron, Annelies Moors, Reina Lewis.