Fashion, not flashin’

Michele Marr

Early Saturday morning, 16-year-old Kristi Wilson sashayed down the

runaway of the Brass Plum Spring Fashion Party at Nordstrom South

Coast Plaza.

The high school junior from the Huntington Beach South Stake

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and two-dozen other

teenage girls, trained by professional models, strutted some of this

season’s hottest fashion trends in front of a 1,000-member audience

of girls, some with their mothers and fathers.

“I cannot describe the feeling ... being able to get up there in

front of all my friends modeling clothing I felt completely

comfortable in,” Wilson said. “It has always been so hard to find

tops that aren’t too short or pants that aren’t too low [and] finding

prom dresses [was] the biggest nightmare.”

As a Mormon teen, her standards for clothing are more conservative

than the standards reflected in much of the clothing offered today by

a Britney Spears-Christina Aguilera-J. Lo-influenced fashion

industry.

On Saturday, the fashion party at Nordstrom featured casual,

school and vacation wear in the current looks -- cargo-utilitarian,

Asian-inspired, 80s day-glo brights, sports-athleisure, surf,

romantic-feminine, punk-inspired and menswear-influenced. Prom and

evening gowns from Eternity and Sabrina Nicole offered looks from

playful to elegant, diva-sleek to princess-chic.

The styles were trendy, sassy, fun -- and modest. No thigh-baring

skirts. No navel-baring pants. Nothing sleeveless, backless or

skin-tight.

Some parents -- fed up with the choices of low and lower, short

and shorter when buying clothes for their teen daughters -- call it

Britney blowback.

“The purpose of clothing is to retain body heat. Not cause it in

boys,” said W. Bruce Cameron, humor-writer and maddened father of two

teenage daughters.

Cameron, who hit such a chord with other fathers about exactly

this kind of issue in his book “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage

Daughter,” said his stance on teen fashion is simple: “More cloth.

Less metal. No ink.”

It’s a stance he shares with other parents. Kristi’s mother, Terri

Wilson, believes there is “a silent majority [of parents] out there

who want their children to dress more modestly.”

Tickets for both shows were snatched up so fast hundreds of people

were left with their names on waiting lists. Which didn’t surprise

Karen Baker or Carol Starr, the women who first contacted Nordstrom

about hosting the modesty fashion shows.

Baker and Starr, like Terri Wilson, are Mormon moms with young

daughters. They became so frustrated with the lack of “cute,

fashionable and ‘thin on skin’” clothes for teenage girls they

decided to do something about it.

Amy Jones, spokesperson for Nordstrom, said the store is glad the

mothers called.

“This event is just one example of how Nordstrom tries hard to

listen to our customers,” Jones said. “We try to offer something for

everyone. It’s always fun to work with a great group of young women

who are enthusiastic about fashion.”

Teenagers from several faith traditions have attended and modeled

in the shows, which have become so popular that Nordstrom has hosted

additional shows in Montclair, Riverside, La Jolla and Topanga.

“I got a call from a woman in Puerto Rico who is trying to

organize a show,” Baker said.

She and Starr have also been asked to organize shows in Brea and

Las Vegas.

“I know there are many girls who don’t like wearing some of the

things they put themselves in, but they feel pressured into wearing

the latest styles,” Kristi said. “My friends respect the way I

dress...that I don’t feel like I have to reveal more skin in order

for them to like me. They can like me for who I am.”

Jones said she thinks the shows have been educational.

“[We’re] finding that after the fashion show, these customers are

shopping in our Brass Plum department for many items and labels we’ve

always carried,” she said. “These events show our guests how they can

put together items from Brass Plum, in ways they might not have

considered before, to come up with looks that are both current and

comfortable for them.”

For parents, their goal is modestly clad daughters.

Starr and Baker are encouraged by the support shown by Nordstrom,

fashion designers and vendors, and by the public interest.

Information on future shows and on how to put on a fashion show

that features trendy yet modest clothing is available on the Internet

at www.smallandsimple.net.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at michele@soulfoodfiles.com.