Let's take it from the top

Note: This is from my experience only. There are many people in this world living with many different sets of modesty guidelines, and no two groups are necessarily the same. My experience is not meant to be representative of every purity culture/modesty/high control group situation.

Homeschool co-op rules

• No pants, not even khakis
• No shorts
• Shirt must be no lower than three fingers from collarbone
• No cap sleeves, tank tops, spaghetti straps, or any other kind of sleeveless shirt style
• Shirt must not ride up and show any skin if you bend over
• Shirt must not ride up and show and skin if you lift hands
• Shirt must not show any cleavage if you bend over
• Skirts must be at mid-kneecap or below OR Skirt must be below the knee (the rule changed once or twice while I was there, going back and forth between these two)
• No prints, not even floral
• Clothes cannot be clingy or form-fitting
• Shoes can’t have logos
• No patterned socks or socks with words or pictures on them
• No leggings under skirts
• No yoga pants under skirts
• You MAY wear jeans under your skirts if it’s super cold, but absolutely no fitted or skinny jeans
• No slits in skirts or dresses, even small ones
• No skirt or dress should show the curve of your rear
• No bras that emphasize the breast area or show nipple, even on accident
• Nothing in general that will distract the boys in class, because it’s both disruptive to education and unfair to boys to cause them to stumble in their hearts/minds/etc.

Yes, we did have a giant baggy mens t-shirt of shame if one of the moms decided we broke the modesty guidelines.

Daily life rules

• Shirt cannot show cleavage if you bend over
• Shirt cannot show skin if you raise your arms
• Shirt cannot show skin if you bend over
• Pants have to be loose leg, INCLUDING through the thigh–so nothing like flare jeans, fitted bootcuts, or bell bottoms either.
• No leggings
• Shorts are allowed but must be at LEAST the length of your longest fingertip when your hands are at your sides, resting against your leg
• Clothes can’t be tight or too form-fitting (exceptions apply to dresses that have a tastefully fitted bodice part as part of the style, like dresses from the 40s/50s)
• Nothing that draws attention to the breasts
• Nothing that draws attention to the rear
• Nothing that becomes too tight and form-fitting if you bend over
• Bottoms cannot show skin if you squat
• Bottoms cannot show skin if you bend over
• No sheer fabrics
• No see through pieces
• No bra or under-cami allowed, even on accident
• No bra outlines allowed
• No thin fabrics that show too much
• No spaghetti straps or thinner tank top straps
• Avoid most tank tops in the first place
• No keyholes or other cut-out features
• Back of dress or shirt should not be lower than upper-mid-back, and definitely no plunging v’s
• No v-necks allowed
• No bras that emphasize the chest area or show nipple, even on accident
• Nothing in general that could distract or tempt the boys and men that I’m around in public/church/family parties/co-op/etc. because it’s unfair to men to cause them to stumble in their hearts/minds/etc.

I had to perform modesty checks each time I put on clothes (which involves using a full length mirror to check for cleavage and skin showing when you move and bend), to make sure it all went together without breaking rules. Whenever necessary, I’d have to do them for my mom as well, and if I was being particularly stubborn, she would sometimes call in the big guns (my dad) to come in, look me up and down, and back her up that it was inappropriate, because he’s a guy and knows how all guys think when they see xyz (insert modesty crime I’m currently doing/wearing here).