Ladies, we’re in luck this fall/winter! Frum is fabulous this year, continuing the modest fashion trends that dominated the stores this spring/summer. Nordstrom and Lane Bryant have advertised their modest skirts as fashion trends already, and Nordstrom has also advertised many modest or easily-made-modest tops. (Remember to check out Nordstrom Rack for the outlet experience!) […]
Orthodox Inside Jokes: Mixed Dancing Makes Babies
If you really want to pass as orthodox, you have to be able to appropriately use “mixed dancing” in a conversation to evoke the most humor possible. You may think you can be orthodox without this skill, but that simply is not true. But in all seriousness, people have thought I was frum-from-birth based solely […]
Phrase of the Day: Bentching Gomel
Bentching gomel is a special prayer that allows you to thank Hashem for delivering you from danger. (Imagine being at a football game…”Go, Mel!” It doesn’t rhyme with camel.) You must have actually been in danger. Close to danger isn’t enough. You have defied death, so now you should thank Hashem in public during the Torah […]
UPDATED: Your Community Standards v. Travel
What happens when your community standards (which are either halacha or custom) are not the standards of a place you travel to? Let’s discuss some examples (this is not exhaustive): You live in the diaspora, so you celebrate an “extra” day of yom tov for 8 days of Pesach. You travel to Israel, where Pesach […]
Frum and Fabulous in the Office
People have asked for office-appropriate frum fashion choices. Really, frum clothing lends itself easily to the office environment. (Women’s suits may be a very different story, based on the standards of your community.) After more than a year at my prior job, my co-workers (who were also my classmates and friends) hadn’t realized that I […]
How to Make Button Shirts Tznius
One thing that annoys me endlessly is when women wear button-down shirts and there are obvious gaps between the buttons, exposing the woman’s bra or undershirt. In the Jewish context, this is untznius. In the everyday world, it’s sloppy. I, too, was once a victim of this scourge on fashion. (I didn’t know better. But […]
Phrase of the Day: Beged Ish
I don’t know how it happens, but the phrase “beged ish” pops up in the most random of contexts. Perhaps that says something about the people saying it, but I’ll leave that to you. Beged ish is Hebrew for “a man’s garment.” In short, men and women aren’t supposed to wear the clothing of the […]
Revisiting the Double Standard
Sometimes conversion candidates can get so frustrated by Jews who are “bad Jews” in their mind. You have to go through hell and back and basically get a seminary/yeshiva education, but people who just happened to be born Jewish can and will drive to synagogue on Shabbat. Women can and will dress tznius in synagogue […]
Dressing Awesomely and Modestly: The “Fresh off the Boat from Seminary” Look
Here is Tuesday’s awesome and modest look! Calhoun decided to photobomb me, looking for lovin’. The skirt is a black, floor-length (because I’m short) polyester/rayon blend and comes from from Nordstrom’s kids’ section. The t-shirt is from my Birthright trip to Israel, so it has the easily-spotted Birthright logo on the pocket area and a […]
Dressing Awesomely and Modestly
Yes, I have copyrighted the phrase “dressing awesomely and modestly,” and I will pursue any violation of my legal rights ferociously. Rawr. Here is today’s outfit, a simple black shell with flowy, hippie empire-waist floor-length dress. Less clear are the amazingly 60s sunglasses. Verdict: Surprisingly well-suited to the heat of the sun and subways. On […]