Fashion Forward and Faithtastic! Online Modest Fashion and the Development of Women as Religious Interpreters and Intermediaries

Abstract

This chapter arises from research carried out as part of the project ‘Modest Fashion’ 
 
 Modest dressing, both secular and religious, is a growing trend across the world, yet so far it has been given little serious attention and is rarely seen as fashion. "Modest Fashion" uniquely studies and addresses both the consumers and the producers of modest clothing. It examines the growing number of women who, for reasons of religion, faith or personal preference, decide to cover their bodies and dress in a way that satisfies their spiritual and stylistic requirements. These are women who are making fashionable the art of dressing modestly. Scholars and journalists, fashion designers and bloggers explore the emergence of a niche market for modest fashion and examine how this operates across and between faiths, and in relation to 'secular' dressers.