Frumper Fashion: It's not that feminine

[Mama Mia]

well, nothing is really inherently *wrong* with t-shirt length sleeves. i just personally find that from what i've seen of them, the overall feel clashes with the design of the gown and creates a dissonance. in other words, you have a nice, elegant (if not fancy) gown...and then you have these straight, t-shirt length sleeves that screams casual. of course (despite my outward appearance) i'm actually deeply into fashion and designing and visuals, so little things like that irk me probably a lot more than the average person. i just notice things others don't. it's not a bad or good thing, necessarily, it's just me.

See, I get that kind of disconnect with thse strapless wedding dresses. Although many of them are stunning and the brides are lovely ( especially my daughter -- not that I'm biased :lol: )

But they just seem weird to me. Heavy fabric, beading, satin, lace etc... And so....structured ? sculptural ? Not sure of the right term. And then it just stops abruptly at the boobs. Kind of like an elaborate piece of architecture with no roof.

[browncoatslytherin]

See, I get that kind of disconnect with thse strapless wedding dresses. Although many of them are stunning and the brides are lovely ( especially my daughter -- not that I'm biased :lol: )

But they just seem weird to me. Heavy fabric, beading, satin, lace etc... And so....structured ? sculptural ? Not sure of the right term. And then it just stops abruptly at the boobs. Kind of like an elaborate piece of architecture with no roof.

agreed, there are very few strapless styles i like as well. the ones i do have a corset-like boning in them, and since i love corsets then it connects in my brain. otherwise, nah.

[Paperplate]

I think the idea behind frumpers is also femininity without sexuality. So the bagginess and fabric choices are "feminine", i.e. old-fashioned girl-esque without being form fitting, womanly, or sensual.

I was astonished how invisible I felt the one time I dressed up in fundie attire for a couple's costume party (yes. we went as Jim Bob and Michelle as I was enormously pregnant at the time). It was like magic: no one looked at me like a woman, if that makes sense.

I wonder how many fundie women hide behind the frumper.

Agreed. But the point is that they wear the frumpers (which in their view are super-feminine) with not-very-feminine-at-all hoodies and tennis shoes. Why does the femininity requirement stop at the frumpers?

[skulduggery]

I live in an area that has lots of Amish, Mennonite, and Muslim people so seeing plain and/or modest dress isn't anything out of the ordinary for me. Also, ditto on not shaming women for their fashion choices.

What depresses me about seeing the frumper and crunchy curls is how it reminds me of the big '80s. When I think about the '80s, I should be thinking about bold fashion choices (big hair, colorful eye shadow, glam rock style both men and women could wear interchangeable) and the emergency of punk/goth/vampyre subcultures; and a time when talking about nonconformity wouldn't get you accused of being whiny or selfish. Donahue and Sally Jesse Raphael FTW.

Now it's like, I think of the frumper and everything wrong with the televangelism/evangelical culture of that time (and now). And crunchy curls.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I live in an area that has lots of Amish, Mennonite, and Muslim people so seeing plain and/or modest dress isn't anything out of the ordinary for me. Also, ditto on not shaming women for their fashion choices.

What depresses me about seeing the frumper and crunchy curls is how it reminds me of the big '80s. When I think about the '80s, I should be thinking about bold fashion choices (big hair, colorful eye shadow, glam rock style both men and women could wear interchangeable) and the emergency of punk/goth/vampyre subcultures; and a time when talking about nonconformity wouldn't get you accused of being whiny or selfish. Donahue and Sally Jesse Raphael FTW.

Now it's like, I think of the frumper and everything wrong with the televangelism/evangelical culture of that time (and now). And crunchy curls.

I should post my grade 8 class graduation photo from 30 years ago. Hair was still fairly short, but lots of bad perms (including mine) and dresses were decidedly frumper-ish. Full mid-calf skirts worn with stockings, tops had sleeves, necklines were around the collarbone. This was a public school, which even had some "alternative" kids. The androgynous clothes were not the least bit sexy - it just meant that the unisex t-shirts were huge and women's jackets had shoulder pads.