A modest proposal

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
COSTA MESA, Calif. -- It seemed like any other fashion show. The music was pumping, the clothes were stylish, and the models strutted down the runway with attitude.
But the early-morning fashion show Saturday at Nordstrom South Coast Plaza was all about modesty. It was a chance for Mormon girls to model and find cute, fashionable clothes that didn't show too much skin.
Trendy denim skirts fell to the knee. Low-rise pants were paired with shirts that covered tummies. Flowing gowns had capped sleeves instead of spaghetti straps. Slits in skirts did not rise to the thigh.
"Sometimes Mormon girls feel like they have an 'M' on their forehead because they want sleeves," said Glenna Thacker, who attended with her 16-year-old daughter, Alyson. "This is wonderful because the clothes are fashionable, but they can still feel comfortable wearing them."
Popularity
The fashion show struck a chord. Nine hundred young women and mothers and a couple brothers attended, and an additional 200 people were on a waiting list. When the doors opened at 8 a.m., a line stretched around the block.
The response overwhelmed Karen Baker and Carol Starr, the two Mormon mothers who first approached Nordstrom with the idea after hearing about a similar fashion show in Montclair. Baker, who has a 17-year-old daughter, said it had been a struggle to find an appropriate formal dress -- one not too low-cut, backless or strapless.
Baker and other mothers said they usually must alter dance dresses by adding sleeves, filling in necklines to cover busts or making blouses to wear over revealing tops that showed too much stomach.
"The Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears look is not the only way to be," Baker said.
Finding the clothes
Nordstrom, which receives requests for many community events, agreed to the fashion show after seeing the passion of Baker and Starr, store manager Kim Cimino said. Although Nordstrom had plenty of appropriate casual styles for the show, it was harder to find conservative special-occasion dresses, Cimino said.
"A buyer looks at what's happening in the market," she said. "If the trends are spaghetti straps, that's what the market is showing."
At the recommendation of Baker, some other vendors were contacted to provide dresses for the show, including a Utah company, Millennial Sun.
Jane Walker, the owner of Millennial Sun, said her bridal, bridesmaid and formal dresses under the Eternity label sell in 200 shops around the country and have become popular with other faiths such as Southern Baptists and Catholics.
Styles for prom dresses range from Cinderella-style formals with beaded bodices and full skirts to velvet sheaths. The one similar characteristic: Girls can wear a regular bra underneath.
"We call them bra-friendly," said Walker, also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Which means they are higher in the front and back and at a minimum have cap sleeves."
Girls' approval
After the fashion show, teens and moms headed to the Nordstrom junior section to try on clothes.
Jessica Goings, 16, and Jessica Smith, 17, loved that the clothes were funky and tasteful.
"You don't have to be scandalous to be cute," Goings said.
Many said they were happy to finally have a wide selection to choose from.
"Oh my gosh, it's so refreshing to find so much in one spot," said Kathy Parker, holding up a paisley skirt and flutter-sleeved top for her daughter, Jessica, 14. "If they carry clothing like this, I think we'll do a lot of shopping here."
Baker and Starr hope that message gets across to retailers. Their goal is to have more fashion shows at other Nordstrom stores and to open up the event to other faiths.
"This could be another swing in the style pendulum, because I don't think there's much more that designers can bare," Baker said.