I’m teaching a fireside tonight about modesty. Well, actually a little more than modesty. It’s called “The Beauty Paradox.”
So, while I keep scrambling around today trying to get last-minute preparations done (get off the computer already, Stephanie!), I keep having this nagging question in the back of mind mind . . .
What exactly does someone WEAR to teach a class about beauty??! I mean, you want to have some credibility, but you don’t want to overdo it and negate your whole message. I’ve never met any of the people I’ll be teaching and they’ve never met me. I’ve kidded myself in my mind about how they’ll probably expect me to pull up in a Mary Kay pink Cadillac or something and will be sorely disappointed when I roll in in a 10-year-old van with 158K miles on it and last week’s lunch leftovers in the back seat.
Maybe I should just wear sweats and a pony tail so they’ll all feel better about themselves.
Update: Please don’t look at any ads beyond this point. I have no say in the ads that wordpress generates for my post, and I’ve been told some are inappropriate.
Diapers and Divinity 
So, what did you wear?
I don’t know!! It’s tonight.
Is it something you have to wear a dress to? Or is it casual? Is the message about how true beauty shines in those who are trying to follow the Savior? I say keep it simple–the beauty of your countenance will shine so brightly, no one will care what you are wearing:)
One time a woman came and spoke to the YW. She had on a pink wig, fake lashes, high heels and a mechanic outfit (the blue, dirty one that zips up over your clothes). That certainly got the attention. And then she talked about true beauty and took off the wig, lashes, heels and mechanic outfit (although you don’t want to look like you are taking off your clothes :)). I think that message came across to her audience.
I love that! What a great object lesson.
I say wear your Sunday best. It’s what we wear to Church. It’s what we wear to enter the temple. YW rise to the level of expectation. 🙂
I vote sweats and a ponytail 😉
Have you heard of the twin phd students at the U and their campaign Redeifining Beauty? It’s excellent and If you look at pictures of the girls they dress tastefully (but modestly) and don’t overdo it on makeup, etc, and they are both average build (I.e., not scrawny – if I had to estimate I would say they are about 5’7″ or so and probably 160-170).
You can be in sweats and a ponytail and still be beautiful 🙂
Although if it is a fireside… You probably want to wear a skirt, right? 😉
Ps you are going to be great!!
Just be yourself..that is true beauty. Here’s an interesting article that I read that may add a little something to your presentation;
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-death-of-pretty
You’ll be awesome…wish I could come!
I would wear what you would normally wear to church. I second the article Poppy recommended. Very good! Good luck tonight!
Poppy’s article is brilliant! Are there any specific clothes that you suggest in your presentation? Maybe use your own advice?
Be comfortable, but “regular”–just do what you’d regularly do when you want to feel happy about your externals, and harmonized with your internals. It’s your countenance that will do the most talking, and it’s already gorgeous. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how it goes!!
Good luck to you. Chances are most of the girls you are talking to ride in their parents van that is like yours, or their young womans leader’s van. My daughter talks about the old cheese burger they pulled out of the 2nd counselors van.
I want to say real beauty comes from within, but I also thinking working to make yourself look pretty is important. Because girls just feel better when they do. This could include good posture (as I slouch at the computer), not too much make-up but a little looks nice, combed hair, etc, I remember one talk mentioning not wearing flip flops to church. We teach our kids that modesty is style as well as how well things are covered. Wild or sloppy styles are not modest in my book.
Good luck. I am sure you will do great and have a lot of adoring girls wanting to grow up to be like you.
ha ha I totally sat up straighter when I read this comment 😉
You wear something that makes you feel amazing! (And modest), and you smile. I think it is so important to teach and talk about this. I wish that I lived close enough to go and hear you. (and most of all take my girls). It sounds like an amazing message.
It looks like you’ve received plenty of good advice about what to wear tonight, and I’m sure your presentation will go great!
I just have a comment regarding the advertisement video at the bottom of this post. I naively clicked on it and watched it, thinking it was part of your post, and was shocked to hear the swear words used by the people in the ad. Don’t know if you realized that your sponsors are not always in-line with the uplifting messages you post on your blog…
Ellen, I’m so sorry. I did not even know I had advertisements on my blog until I looked at it online once while not logged in to my own account. I use wordpress as a host and I went and read through the fine print of their policies, and apparently, they can occasionally put ads on my blog without my permission as it’s a free service and that’s how they make their money. I do not have any sponsors at all, and I have no say in ads unless I upgrade to the premium account. My only guess is that as my readership has grown, they’ve been using my blog more and more for ads because I’d never even heard of it until recently. I may have to look into a different hosting option.
You know what I’d wear, three inches on my feet, pencil skirt, something sparkly on top and fake hair.
But that’s just me.
I think I should probably video cam in and listen to your lesson…
I guess this is why I like Firefox, bc I used adblock plus, so I never see any of your ads. But that is a shame that some are gross!
You don’t have to wear anything ugly to make yourself credible. There is a way to dress that shows you are a lady without showing too much and making people think you are a (insert word for an immodest woman here….I didn’t want to write what I was thinking bc it sounds negative). Things don’t need to be skin tight for people to know you are a lady, but they don’t need to be so baggy that they can’t tell you are a woman.
A cardigan is always a good way to do that. A-line skirts are a fave of mine (they hide my large behind). Just some suggestions.
I’ve never seen any ads either – thank you ad block, apparently 🙂
Never seen any ads. Interesting.
Be natural, be yourself, and be dressed as if the Savior stood beside you.
Well, I’m sure by now you are done with your wonderful, spiritual, please-share-with-us presentation. =) Let us know how it went!
Thanks goodness for Firefox and Adware!
I wish I would have got to my blog reading earlier today. I would say exactly what NOTMOLLY said, be yourself, you’ll feel like yourself inside and out and THAT is true beauty. I hope your talk/presentation went well. 🙂
I’m sure it was a great talk, and I’d love to hear what you had to say. I was just talking with some friends last night at a high school basketball game about modesty. I don’t remember it being such a huge thing 20 years ago, and I wore clothes that definitely weren’t modest, though they were nothing like I see the girls wearing to school now…