195 Dresses

By Charity Fuller

Choice and Accountability value project bullet four invites you to “learn basic clothing alteration and repair techniques as you adapt your wardrobe to standards of modest dress” (Young Women Personal Progress, 50). The value project bullet one also encourages you to use the standards in For the Strength of Youth to “help you and other youth choose to live the Lord’s standards” (50). The following story shares how one young woman created a project that addresses both ideas.

I was tired of not being able to find a modest prom dress, so with an idea from my cousins, I decided to do something. A Young Women leader, Sue Brown, helped me collect used prom dresses from graduated seniors and rent them out to high school girls for no charge if the dresses were returned clean. Fellow young women and other sisters helped organize things and alter immodest dresses.

Within three months, we had filled not only a closet but a room with 195 dresses. A year later the project continues, now run by my younger sister, Jessica, who has collected an additional 105 dresses.

Modesty is about showing Heavenly Father we love and trust Him. When we obey, we invite the Spirit into our lives. The Spirit protects us, purifies our affections, and inspires us to be virtuous. We develop true beauty. Satan’s goal is to get us to disobey because he understands that for each standard we choose not to keep, we lose some of our power, protection, and blessings. I know that the dress standards in For the Strength of Youth keep us safe and beautiful.