Curtain reveal tops are part of a wider trend in fashion for clothes that reveal breasts in ways beyond typical Wonderbra-style cleavage. If the Kardashians’ wearing bikini tops upside down was spotted on Instagram earlier this year, Love Island has brought this experimentation into living rooms nationwide. Contestants Millie Court and Faye Winter regularly wear open blazers and shirts without anything underneath and – presumably – strategically placed tape keeping their modesty intact, while so-called “underboob” swimwear is worn by all female contestants.
The article quotes Hannah Banks-Walker, the fashion and beauty director at Grazia, on the revealing underboob swimwear:
She suggests this is part of a bigger shift. “Fashion went through that period of shying away from anything that could be deemed remotely sexy and dresses became oversized,” she says. “I think now we’re definitely seeing a return to that sex appeal, unapologetically.”
So, here we have it: these fashion experts state that there is a trend that encourages women to reveal most of their body in order to look sexy or for sex appeal. Further, that the news and entertainment media cultivate this trend.
Let me say immediately that women should be positive about their body, but my question is, why must women try to be sexy, to exude sex appeal in a public setting? A second question is, what do women think is the effect in men?
On this, I quote a Chinese writer of the 1920s who mocked his fellow males for their reaction to women as emancipation brought about changes in hairstyle and clothing:
The sight of women's short sleeves at once make them think of bare arms, of the naked body, the genitals, copulation, promiscuity, and bastards.
Men do have powerful sexual instincts that women should recognise as part of reality. Men have to learn to restrain themselves, but, without encroaching on victim shaming, women should not be provocative, rather show restraint themselves. As it often plays out in real life - from the gospels:
Everyone looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Mt 5:28)
Restraint is a central element when it comes to modesty. One definition of modesty is: restrained by a sense of seemliness. In turn, seemliness is defined as what is fitting or suitable for the situation.
It would pay us all to refresh our thoughts on what the classical concept of modesty is all about, and why it is valuable to society as a virtue alongside generosity, patience, loyalty and so on.
First, look at these aphorisms:
🔆Modesty isn't about covering your body; it's about revealing your dignity.
🔆 What attracts a man's attention doesn't always attract his respect.
For good order in society we should focus on the body as integral to the dignity of the human person. If a person, by their behaviour or appearance allows the body, even unintentionally, to detract from their dignity, that is a personal failure but also a fault borne by the society that condones such a failure.
We are in this together, not as a collection of individuals who will only to satisfy their own desires, but as a community that protects the welfare of all.
For the Christian, a sense of the dignity of the person is usually well-embedded. "Each person is obliged to regard their body as good and to hold it in honour since God has created it", and "we are made in the image of God", says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#364).
The Catholic Church declares that modesty "protects the mystery of persons" and that it is directed to building committed relationships. Modesty..."encourages patience and moderation..."
This is a worthwhile insight:
The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to the human person. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person. (#2524)
And this:
Modesty isn’t the end goal - the person is. ... Our bodies and our souls are entirely intertwined. ... Fashion tells someone something about you before you even speak! (Source)
The wish to be a subject and not an object is what we hear from women, but they allow themselves to be enticed into being little more than sex objects. Women complain about the voyeurism of pornography, of advertising, but do little to resist the pressures from the fashion world to keep up with influencers and trend-setters in presenting themselves in public in just the way they elsewhere think offensive.
See how the fashion magazines use, even abuse, women for their own financial gain. Cochrane tells how Vogue's use of photos of celebrities has propelled the pin-top innovation that seems to surprise her, telling how explicit photos from the Kardashian clan in that same magazine has launched another type of bare body fashion.
The main problem seems to be that a misunderstanding of "freedom" has taken hold since the sexual revolution of the 1960s. That it was a true revolution, that is a concrete departure from a previous order of thought and behaviour, has been confirmed by the ripple effects still playing out in society heaping damage on marriage and the family especially, with subsequent damage to the mental health of the young generations.
The idea of freedon in the context of how we should dress and behave needs some revision. It's a matter of "freedom to" rather than "freedom from". So-called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom - only when we have built up self-control and knowledge of our impulses can we say we are free. Otherwise, we are driven this way or that by whoever wields influence in our lives at any particular time.
In Britain at present there are public concerns about rape culture at certain universities and about the need for young girls to wear shorts under their school uniform skirts. Many parents are horrified at the way young males are treating their daughters. They should be asking why males have learnt to regard girls and women with such contempt that they fail to show the necessary respect.
Obviously, we need an alternative approach to women feeling they have to bare their body in order to make a noise for their photo to appear on social media and celebrity websites. See the British tabloids like the Daily Mail for its daily line-up of near naked women and, lately, the use of Billie Eilish to sell copies of British Vogue.
Lillian Fallon is a freelance writer in Philadelphia. Previously working as the style editor at Verily Magazine, she is "passionate about exploring the connection between the physical and interior of the human person as seen through personal style".
She says that showing who you are is what fashion is for. There is a lot fun involved in getting an outfit together so that you look elegant or spunky or whatever. But the point is to not let others determine how you should look:
The fast fashion industry warps the visual connection between the external and internal of the human person as expressed through our clothing by telling us that 1). You must buy into trends to be relevant, and 2). Your individuality doesn’t matter and you need to fit in. But there will never be anyone else like you — you are unrepeatable. Why not choose clothing that represents this?
About three and a half years ago, I made the switch to building an ethical wardrobe and to completely stop shopping fast fashion. I had started seeing the growing connection between the fast fashion industry and the cultural diminishment of personal style and [...] of the human person in general.
It’s important to remember that clothing should express our self-worth, not define it. To stay in check, I try not to give into the pressure to look “perfect” all the time. When I get dressed, I make sure that creativity is my goal — not perfection. Being creative means being okay with outfits that end up being weirder than you anticipated (I once accidentally dressed like Peter Pan.) Also, if I have days where I just don’t feel like putting together a super amazing outfit, that’s totally okay. Regardless of what I’m wearing, my worth as a woman made in the image of God can never change.
Disorder in society arises when principles and passions are led astray. As human beings, men and women are always battling the innate impulses that cause us to rebel against our better selves. When they dress to impress, both men and women have to consider the condition of the other sex to allow people to mix in such a way that they truly encounter each other, generating harmony rather than a distracting internal struggle. That's what modesty is all about.
Read for yourself the Christian perspective on modesty. Go here.
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