Blogger Feature: à la Modest

I have been reading Rachel's blog for a few months now and have built a good friendship with her through our blogs and connection through Christ. Her blog is called  à la Modest where she is constantly showing her fashionable side with a mix of her love for Jesus, modesty, films & music. Make sure you stop by and follow her blog entries as she makes them.

I asked her a couple questions so you can get to know her!

1. Can you just tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi! My name is Rachel Dahl, and I am the person behind a la Modest (alamodest.com). I am a 23-year-old web and graphic designer and housewife married to a handsome and talented man named Rob. Although my husband and I both share a love of music, movies, good food, and puns, our love for God comes first. A big part of our testimony involves issues with past sexual purity involving his fight with pornography and mine with insecurity. I believe God made us quite a match by having two different people with such strongly related battles come together, using us to stand up against what used to ensnare us and leading us to want to help other people do the same. With the help of daily scriptural meditation and sound advice and accountability from helpful people, Rob was able to be free from pornography by completely (within his power) removing things that tempted him sexually, which included removing the internet altogether at first, then movies with nudity and a lot of sexual content. A lot of this was guided by a wonderful website called Setting Captives Free. In my past history of insecurity battles involving anorexia and low self-esteem, I was able to find solace and worth in the eyes of God, who provided me with a husband sold out to Him and strongly against anything that might ruin our relationship together. I was and am really thankful to the Lord for His gift of companionship!

Modesty seeped its way into my clothing, because it made a lot of sense to keep my body from being more of a temptation by covering up areas of my body that show me off sexually. Not one man is immune from a woman's enticing body, whether they admit it or not, so it's helpful to have certain areas of a woman's body covered up to help keep men from working too hard to avoid rubber necking and lusting after something they should never have or God never intended for them to have. Even single men shouldn't be indulging in visual sexuality, because exercising self-control is a learned practice, and self-control with God's help keeps both men and women from being trapped by their own weaknesses. Most men really don't like having to fight too hard to look away from other women they shouldn't be looking at, so single women and girls (not just married women) shouldn't add to their problem by dressing provocatively. I don't think anyone is really strong enough to avoid temptation on their own. God provided help dealing with our lustful nature through scripture, including displaying sexuality only within the bounds of marriage, and through accountability from other people's encouraging us to flee from sexuality outside of that marital covenant. Modesty is one of the ways we help keep each other from lusting or desiring the body of a person we are not committed to, and that applies to both men and women.

2. What do you like best about creating a modest outfit to wear? 

The first time I chose to dress modestly, I did not have a lot of fun doing it, to be honest! It used to seem like more of a strict prohibition than a personal, meaningful decision. Now that I have grown to be stronger in my journey and fight against sexuality in clothing, dressing up has never been so much fun! The feeling was like when you first become a Christian and you start to feel boxed in, then you realize the truth that you actually have more real and lasting freedom in Christ by being free from the bondage of sin. Now, I just think I've expanded my creativity with clothes to a much higher level by not adopting trendy clothing in general, especially clothing with skin- and shape-showy tailoring. This idea, to me, is like opening up a whole new center in my brain where loopholes get created around the current fashion, and this center reinvents style through tasteful, modest clothing. I have always been creative (but not always neat) with arts and crafts and have always seen myself with a good eye for design. I thank God for my this bent. He is a creative God from whom all creation came, so I feel that it is not lavish in any way to express your creativity through clothing, just as long as you do it in a way that pleases God. You know something pleases God if what you do is in line with scripture, and dressing provocatively is aiding to cause somebody out there to stumble sexually in their minds, which the Bible speaks out clearly against.

As far as the process of what I do each day when I pick out what to wear, I like to look back on what inspires me. My interest in vintage clothing came from my affinity for previous decades' cultures, from their music to their traditionalist ways of living. Mentioning indie as part of my style is just my way of categorizing what else in my look doesn't fit the norm, usually involving colorful palettes, layers, and asymmetry. Then, I simply just throw something on!