Josiah and Lauren 16: Just Another Young Fundie Couple

[singsingsing]

Well, the Bates girls' Instagram aesthetic is, and please excuse the term, just the basic bitch evangelical white girl aesthetic. So while I'm sure Lauren takes inspiration from them, they're really all drawing from the same source (which is probably Pinterest and white girl evangelical Instagram in general). Even with the baby-under-the-tree photo, it's entirely possible that Josie and Lauren both just saw the same Pinterest post.

I agree that Lauren isn't pulling it off, which imo is not a bad thing. First, she's super young, and most people are still kind of awkward and trying to define their style at that age. Second, I'm not sure how the Bateses came about their relatively recent influencer aesthetic prowess, but they were a hot mess before, and general consensus was they were weirder and way less stylish than the Duggars circa 2008, which is really saying something. They are now highly polished turds. I detest the Duggars, but the Bateses even more so, in large part due to their phony influencer vibe which I find both incredibly annoying and sinister.

Edited December 29, 2019 by singsingsing

[fluffernutter]

On their? her? Latest Instagram post it’s a kudos and accolades to the boob and j’chelle. At the end she did a blurb as to why “lolli and pop” have coats on and it’s because they just came in from outside with a hashtag of #speaklife.  Wonder why she felt the need to add that? ?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

3 minutes ago, fluffernutter said:

On their? her? Latest Instagram post it’s a kudos and accolades to the boob and j’chelle. At the end she did a blurb as to why “lolli and pop” have coats on and it’s because they just came in from outside with a hashtag of #speaklife.  Wonder why she felt the need to add that? ?

Who the hell are "lolli and pop?!"

[TheRadleyPorch]

@singsingsing in saying Lauren is trying to emulate the Bates girls, I am not saying the Bates girls are admirable or something to be emulated, simply that she seems to think they are. And yeah, it’s not like they show remarkable creativity with their aesthetic, but since Lauren frequents their instagrams and they pull off the evangelical basic white girl aesthetic supremely well (regardless of their prior lack of style), I’m guessing she draws much of her “inspiration” from them. 

[Peaches-n-Beans]

1 hour ago, fluffernutter said:

On their? her? Latest Instagram post it’s a kudos and accolades to the boob and j’chelle. At the end she did a blurb as to why “lolli and pop” have coats on and it’s because they just came in from outside with a hashtag of #speaklife.  Wonder why she felt the need to add that? ?

Because people NEED to know that she's #prolife. 

As for the way she was dressed I mean, it was out of place but hey if you like it you like it. I was at my maternal grandmothers for Christmas and not only did we all stay in pajamas all day we told my aunt and cousin that we were doing so and they were welcome to come over in pajamas and they did, and my aunts ex husband (Whom she's on really good terms with and they do all holidays with their son) Came over for dinner also in his pajamas. It was so much fun. It was however in stark contrast to my paternal grandparents christmases. Where pajamas are fine until about 11 then you get dressed for family to come over. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Who the hell are "lolli and pop?!"

Michelle and Jim Bob, respectively. I clicked on #speaklife and it’s all Christian inspirational posts - it doesn’t seem to be code for anti-abortion posts.

Edited December 29, 2019 by QuiverFullofBooks
Added last line

[HerNameIsBuffy]

1 minute ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

Michelle and Jim Bob, respectively. I clicked on #speaklife and it’s all Christian inspirational posts.

Just when I think these idiots can't get any more precious.

[neuroticcat]

I think in this instance #speaklife is a “sweet” way to throw shade at people criticizing the wearing of jackets/hats indoors...keeping sweet while throwing shade - haha! ?

[princessmahina]

6 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

That rule was only for men.  And back in the day women had to cover their heads in Catholic church and would wear hats to mass...my mom always had a lace handkerchief to cover her head in case she had to go to church impromptu.

Laughing because I veil at mass and keep one in my handbag because I have the memory span of a goldfish and keep forgetting it.  Alas, I switched over to a diaper bag and have nothing but baby stuff in it. Jokes on me, I guess ??‍♀️

[Bad Wolf]

34 minutes ago, princessmahina said:

Laughing because I veil at mass and keep one in my handbag because I have the memory span of a goldfish and keep forgetting it.  Alas, I switched over to a diaper bag and have nothing but baby stuff in it. Jokes on me, I guess ??‍♀️

Yeah. Diaper on the head probably wouldn't cut it.

[grandmadugger]

6 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I agree that Lauren isn't pulling it off, which imo is not a bad thing. First, she's super young, and most people are still kind of awkward and trying to define their style at that age. Second, I'm not sure how the Bateses came about their relatively recent influencer aesthetic prowess, but they were a hot mess before, and general consensus was they were weirder and way less stylish than the Duggars circa 2008, which is really saying something. They are now highly polished turds. I detest the Duggars, but the Bateses even more so, in large part due to their phony influencer vibe which I find both incredibly annoying and sinister.

If I were a betting woman one of the Bates girls bought an Instagram course.  

[Daisy0322]

On 12/27/2019 at 2:52 AM, Idlewild said:

I felt a bit sorry for Lauren in the Christmas pictures. There she was looking all chic in her hat & most of the other adults looked like they’d thrown on whatever was on top of the laundry basket! I suspect Christmas at her parents house was a classier affair.

it’s a conundrum- while Duggars have easy money and fame, Lauren may be feeling she ‘married down’. 

I think sometimes it’s a matter of preference... I tend to dress myself and my kids up a little for holidays (My husband wears his “nice jeans” ?, a nicer shirt and his ditches the cowboy boots for a day) but not super dressy except Christmas Eve. I have a large family and it’s pretty mixed on how dressy people get but I’ve never found it to be awkward. I do think the swansons seem a little classier than the Duggar’s but I’m not sure that’s a reason to feel that you married “down”. But I guess it depends on what is important to you in a partner though and Lauren does seem to fancy herself well-to-do/ she kind of reminds me of the girl version of Jeremy. 

[FleeJanaFree]

Geez after reading critiques of her over the top outfit I went on their insta expecting Lauren in a full length ballgown or something! She looked perfectly fine to me; not overdone at all. I'd get annoyed with wearing that hat, but it looks fine/Im not the adult wearing it. I don't think it was ridiculously out of place, but rather stylish. 

[princessmahina]

3 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Yeah. Diaper on the head probably wouldn't cut it.

Dying rn at the image of me with his sea monster pocket diaper pinned to my crown ??

[Idlewild]

I do think Lauren looked nice and the young women of her age that I know do ‘dress up’ for special occasions- most of the young men do too! My point was the Duggars don’t bother- their house looked a mess - it’s more like a functional canteen than a home and Jinger apart none of them are bothered about looking well dressed unless they’re being paid to.

Lauren stood out because she looked ‘put together’.

i won't snark about her ‘copying’ looks- we used to copy things from magazines and I dare say if Pinterest had been a thing when I was young my friends and I would be all over it! 

Hats indoors when a lady was outside the home used to be a thing for genteel folk - I qualified as a lawyer in England over 30 years ago and one of my earliest memories was at a magistrates court in a well to do market town where the female magistrates wore their hats in court! But it was odd even then.

 

[raspberrymint]

Where is this large group photo?  I didn't see it on their instagram.  I also don't think there's (usually) anything wrong with the way the adult Duggar women dress.  I dress pretty similarly, including at most events.  Hell, I'm less formal if wearing jeans counts as less formal than skirts.  I have one designer dress I probably can't fit into anymore, and that I've only worn to weddings.  

I'm not rich.  I don't think I'm a slob.  

Edited December 30, 2019 by raspberrymint
Summary

[MamaJunebug]

9 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Yeah. Diaper on the head probably wouldn't cut it.

Wouldn’t necessarily bet on that. Big Mama Junebug was raised Catholic in the 1930’s and said if you didn’t have a hankie for a makeshift Mass headcovering, a Kleenex would do. 

Of course I’m still such an old hippie, when I think of diaper I think of cloth diapers. A Pamper or a Luv would, erm, stand out, that’s true! 

[Sullie06]

We do a combination of dressing up and down for the holidays lol. We dress up for our annual Christmas Eve celebration with my husbands family. Then we dress down, usually PJs or jeans/sweatshirts for brunch at my Moms but then do dress up again for my dinner at my sisters. 

I think Lauren looks good. A little over dressed for the occasion maybe but if she feels good, good for her. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

Is the veiling for mass a regional thing? I was raised catholic and NO ONE in our church did this, and we would sometimes go to a church near by for a different mass, and I do remember an occasional old lady doing this there, but it was few and far between.  I don't recall ever seeing anyone do it at my grandmas church in WI, and if anyone would have put head covering on for mass it would have been my grandmother, who went to mass daily for pretty much her entire life.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

26 minutes ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

Is the veiling for mass a regional thing? I was raised catholic and NO ONE in our church did this, and we would sometimes go to a church near by for a different mass, and I do remember an occasional old lady doing this there, but it was few and far between.  I don't recall ever seeing anyone do it at my grandmas church in WI, and if anyone would have put head covering on for mass it would have been my grandmother, who went to mass daily for pretty much her entire life.

It was required pre-Vatican II.

I was mistaken, it was a few years later...

Quote

In the 1970s there was a judgment issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a document titled Inter Insigniores that basically stated that since chapel veils were not a matter of faith, it was no longer mandatory for women to wear them. In paragraph 4 it states:

quote from https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/what-happened-to-head-coverings-at-mass

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by HerNameIsBuffy
facts matter

[Meggo]

I was born in the mid 70s and never saw anyone wear a head covering in (Catholic) church.

I did see my grandparents get to mass at least a half hour early for early mass and then fall asleep. Or run through the prayers faster than anyone else. But no head coverings

[princessmahina]

As far as I can tell, it seems to be making a resurgence. A number of women in my Catholic Facebook groups have started doing it. It’s definitely gotten more popular in my area though I’d say more women don’t than do. We also go to an English language mass, not a Latin one— I love the Latin mass (I studied classics in college so I have a thing for Latin) but the only priest who does it around here is...really odd, kind of off putting, and more conservative than I’m comfortable with. 

[nvmbr02]

My mom was born in the late 50's and still veiled for mass when I was a young girl in the 80's. She stopped around the time my youngest sister was 2 so probably around 1987.  My dad's mom veiled until she passed away 2 years ago. My maternal grandmother stopped around the same time my mom did.  My family was on the more conservative side, catholic school and all that. 

I rarely go to mass anymore but I haven't seen anyone head cover/veil around here in years. 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, Meggo said:

I was born in the mid 70s and never saw anyone wear a head covering in (Catholic) church.

I did see my grandparents get to mass at least a half hour early for early mass and then fall asleep. Or run through the prayers faster than anyone else. But no head coverings

I was born in the mid 60s, went to Catholic school and don't remember women with a head covering. Even though we had all school masses, we often had plenty of people stop in to attend. I think head coverings are still used in Europe and Hispanic countries more than here. I don't think you can see the Pope without one. 

[Born Skeptic]

4 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I was born in the mid 60s, went to Catholic school and don't remember women with a head covering.

Veiling or hats were considered by the Vatican to be a requirement for adult women prior to 1976.  Some more forward thinking parishes stopped requiring them sooner.  I can remember my uncle visiting us in 1975 and being shocked that my mother wore a hat or veil to church.  He belonged to a Charismatic Catholic church in Hawaii.  We lived in a super conservative area in New England.  I had never given it any thought prior to my uncle's visit and suddenly found myself noticing the hats and veils that I had never really noticed before.