Welcome to THE coolest Frum fashion and lifestyle blog!

sharonlangert

Wed, Jun 01 2011, 10:17 pm

Hey guys I really appreciate all your comments especially the compliments and even the critiques. I actually work really hard at keeping in shape, I do it for my physical and emotional health. I eat very healthy and exercise but the biggest beauty tip I have is to fill your life with happiness and fulfilling activities. I am very involved in Chesed in my community and try to always be grateful for what I have. And no it does not come easy for me more than anyone else. I agree that I have a yetzer horah to look really good and I've always struggled with this as a highly spiritual and frum woman so I turned to this outlet as an inspiration to other women who feel the same way as me. That you can stay within the bounds of halacha and look great. I will try to do more posts on looks for 'real women' (I appreciate your suggestions!). But I want to emphasize that taking out a few moments to make yourself look great in the morning and watching your health is more than just shallowness and gashmius but also a way to feel really great about yourself so you can be more effective as the busy wife and mother that you are! I do it for myself and my husband and that's all! Modesty in actions is also a huge part of tznius!

Mimisinger

Wed, Jun 01 2011, 10:49 pm

bgirl33 wrote:

There are two I follow- Modestly Fashioned, written by a MOdox machmir girl from Teaneck, and more modern All Tumble Down

This is hilarious! I know the girl from the first blog - I met her a hundred years ago...she's such a nice girl! And, such a cute site!

shlomitsmum

Wed, Jun 01 2011, 10:55 pm

sharonlangert wrote:

Sharon....I think we are soulmates!!!!
I started MY blog for the same reasons ,mine Is very new ....I love the collages you do ,I wonder how do you do that?
All the best Very Happy

PinkFridge

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 9:14 am

Hi Sharon. I checked out your blog. Let me see if I can organize my thoughts:

* If you're posting the celeb-in-tznius-stuff, like Sarah Jessica Parker, to show that see, even the glamorous beautiful people understand the value of subtlety and elegance, good on you.
* If you're posting "adaptations" and asserting that yes, you can wear Barbie shoes, and skirts that may just pass the ruler test but that there's no way on G-d's green earth you can sit in, what's the chiddush, the kids (and old ladies) are doing that anyway; I hope they're not that credulous to look at your website and think, cool, we have a hechsher now.

I don't mean to be critical. Have fun, there might be great good that's coming from it and I'm sure that you're a really fine person. Seriously. I have someone in Lakewood and in many ways you are a fine role model and if your lives intersect, wonderful. BUT I can't see positing this blog as the arbiter of frum fashion.

sharonlangert

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 6:28 pm

Hey PinkFridge: I say that's a fair assesment of my blog. I am by no means trying to give a hechsher on anything or trying to make myself out to be the epitome of Mrs. Tznius. But I do feel there are so many levels and personalities in our communities that hopefully this will fit the niche for the woman who truly struggles with keeping the laws of tznius. For some people it just comes easier than for others and I don't believe those people understand the struggle or appreciate the asthetic enjoyment of fashion as an art as much. It's easy to take one look and judge. I read secular fashion magazines but I have found that most of them contain extremely immodest content and photos and are not ideal to bring into my home so my idea was to kind of make my blog an edited 'vogue' or 'bazaar' for the frum world. Definitely NOT a mussar shmuz on tznius! Get what I'm saying??

Btw I just posted a really nice summer giveaway and an article about keeping cool and covered at the beach and pool. Hope you like it and please feel free to continue commenting and asking me questions.

http://www.fashion-isha.com/20......html

PinkFridge

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 6:36 pm

sharonlangert wrote:

Hey PinkFridge:
Btw I just posted a really nice summer giveaway and an article about keeping cool and covered at the beach and pool. Hope you like it and please feel free to continue commenting and asking me questions.

http://www.fashion-isha.com/20......html

Oh, I definitely will. I think though, that whether you intend to or not, you are putting your imprimatur on this, saying yes, it is acceptable. Take one of the pictures in the giveaway, focusing on the tan skirt and the sockless sandals. With elbows clearly showing. I think it would be better to have had her covered up a bit more, if on the way to or from the beach.

Note to rest of the world: I'm not knocking people who dress that way. Don't take it personally. Just saying that while no one in Lakewood who is struggling with tznius should feel disenfranchised - and I know just how easy it is to feel disenfranchised in some locales - I think that there are some mixed messages here.

Sorry, I shouldn't have posted without time to really express myself well, I'm on precision timing now and had just gone online to check something else.

sharonlangert

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 6:49 pm

Wow! I clearly cut off the picture at the elbows while so many other frum bloggers show short sleeves. Also there is absolutely nothing halachically wrong with wearing open toe shoes with no socks when wearing a super long maxi skirt! I even asked my local "Lakewood" rav. I feel like I'm back in high school where I always felt harshly judged and nitpicked for wanting to look good!

Bottom line, do what you feel comfortable and what you feel is right and ask your local rav if you have any doubts. I am no posek and never claimed to be.

penguin

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 7:08 pm

I see you feature a pair of very high heels with red bottoms. I've actually seen people wearing these, and I am really shock

I mean, I can't believe there are too many women for whom wearing really high heels is not torture. You can look put together in flats, or small heels. Is there any reason to have them really high (unless you have a serious complex about your height) unless you are seriously trying to look seksy? Something about the arched foot, the calf muscles standing out...

and then, to REALLY make sure no guy fails to stare, you choose a pair with RED bottoms. I don't care if you wear red, purple, neon green. So you attract attention, fine. But red-bottomed shoes, what do they do if not scream "LOOK AT ME!"

NO?

sharonlangert

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 7:22 pm

yes I agree but really it's more for the woman to look at on the site than to actually wear. I guess I'm just in circles where women really appreciate the asthetics of fashion. You wouldn't actually catch me wearing those. Like I said in a prevous post and I will emphasize this again: This is a more modest and edited version of a fashion magazine, not a lesson in tznius! This blog may not be for everyone and that's ok. The Jewish nation is made up of all different types and we all need to love and accept each other.

amother

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 7:36 pm

I'm also from Lakewood and the Last I checked Rabbi Forsheimer is the accepted posek for the community and he wrote a detailed guide to tznius.
Not only that but an asifa was held where numerous community rabbonim attended in solidarity.
I read through the pamphlet and I do not recall if he specifically said open toe shoes are assur however I definetley would be surprised after reading that pamphlet to hear that he holds it's mutar. Nor do I think any of the major four Rabbonim would hold that three quarters of the stuff on your blog is mutar at all.
I am positive they would say it is assur. not "better not wear them' rather assur.
(They say skin tight is assur that is about half you blog you know.)
On a side note my Dh attended the asifa for men which was addressed by the Rav personally, (the one for women was addressed by a women regarding the halachos since the rabbonim felt it was more tznius) and when he came home he said he never saw Rabbi Forsheimer so obviously uncomfortable to be speakig about something and how he bent over backwards to say everything in as clean a manner as possible. My Dh said he learnt more about tznius from watching the way the rav spoke then what he actually said!
Please Sharon, your blog definetley hits a certain market however don't say it represents Lakewood because it has absolutley zero to do with the yeshivish Lakewood and that is the majority of lakewood and what Lakewood was founded upon.

sharonlangert

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 7:49 pm

I never ever said it represents Lakewood. All I said was that I am from Lakewood and I am an accepted part of the community. You are right, the majority of Lakewood dresses much more modestly and I never ever intended to market my blog for Lakewood or any yeshivish community. It was more for the younger generation and more disallusioned people of today who feel they are never good enough so why even try. I have many many young girls look up to me as a role model of someone who can balance being frum, being busy with chesed in the community, and also looking stylish. There IS a market for this and people are going to have to start realizing we cannot just throw people away because they don't dress exactly how you do. When I was growing up in Baltimore the poskim and the teachers in Bais Yaakov told us an entirely different set of halochos than we impose on our children today. Also I will not name my rav but he is not one of the poskim you mentioned. Ase L'cha Rav...I have my Rav and he is not the same as yours. Let us all learn to love and accept each other it is sinaas chinum that is destroying us not an inch on a skirt!!

amother

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 7:54 pm

First off look in the begining of yeshaya and youll be surprised at whats destroying us.
as for your rav fine, but Lakewood has city rabbonim and the Rabbonim do not accept you way of "dressing as tznius' at all.
Not better not to, rather not tznius.
if therabbonim in baltimeor hold differently fine, however lakewood is not baltimore.

sharonlangert

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 8:03 pm

So you think it's ok to say ona'as devorim and hurt another person's feelings because you are posting anonymously and I am out there being honest about who I am? Do you learn hilchos shmiras Haloshon everyday like I do? This is why so many people are disenfranchised with the frum world. So sad! I hope you're not someone I run into on a regular basis! oy! I see this is not the right forum for my blog and I apologize if I have offended anyone. I will remove the post.

lamplighter

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 8:10 pm

OP, I see you're new here so let me just warn you. When you post things on here, it is to a rather wide range audience of very opinionated women Smile

If you wanted to advertise/publicize your blog- smart move to do so here but it's gonna get critiqued big time. This is in no way personal to you, it's what this forum is about and if you can take the heat, its rather exhilarating (assuming no one is being mean).
I found the tznius standards on the blog to be sketchy and for a frum young woman who wants to look good and feel great it was not the inspiration I was looking for. I DO think we need a blog that promotes fashion in a completely tznius way and by that I mean covering the collarbone, knees, legs, and elbows and nothing being too tight. I'm not that picky Smile

You have a great writing style and there is something about you and your blog that is incredibly refreshing- I wish you lots of hatzlacha as you fine tune your target audience and goals for your blog.
Hope to hear from you more and welcome!

Yocheved84

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 8:15 pm

There is no need to remove your post. Let's just clarify a few things:

1) The shoes with the red bottoms are Louboutins--with the price tag, most people--frum or not--are not wearing them.

2) She is showing the world that you can dress more modestly than the majority of fashion magazines would have you believe. Is it necessarily OUR level of modesty? NO. However, it is MORE modest than not. I don't think it's an exact model of how we are to dress.

3) I think the blog could be improved if she did a combination of the fashion magazines plus EVERYDAY wear--not just the party scenes. (And truth be told, I think the skirts are a *tad* too tight and the heels a *bit* too high. And I am very liberal and arguably more secular than most people on here. If I saw a non-frum person dressed like this, it would still turn heads for me.)

4) I used to work at fashion magazines (I would prefer not to say which, but they are the ones by the cash register at the supermarkets). OP's writing and style ability is on-par with a professional level stylist.

5) We should take her blog for what its worth--we don't need to subscribe to it, but perhaps she can incorporate our ideas--maybe show some girls with some meat on their bones, show some looser clothing, and show some everyday looks.

OP, please don't get so offended. I also think some people were taken aback by the fact that you started posting about your website before we all got a chance to know you. I personally really enjoy your blog, and plan to buy many of the outfits you suggested, in looser, plus-size, low-heel versions.

sharonlangert

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 8:21 pm

Thank you lamplighter and the other anonymous and sweet commenter. I really appreciate that! Yes I am always trying to improve myself and fine tune things to make them work. That's why we are all here. I guess I'm still growing from being one of those insulted disenfranchised young girls to a woman who wants to prevent other girls from feeling that way. Every project is a work in progress...and all of your opinions will definitely help me when coming up with future blog posts.

DrMom

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 8:43 pm

I view at fashion blogs and magazines as a place where those who are into fashion can get inspirations/trends which they can then adapt to their own lifestyles and community standards. If you look at runway fashions or even upscale "high fashion" magazines, the clothes and styling and makeup are often way over-the-top. Most readers know not to take it literally. They just use it to get inspired, or to admire the aesthetic vision being presented.

I don't think sharonlangert is literally advising readers to wear blue seude red-soled Louboutins ($$$). She's saying, "wow! royal blue and red really play off each other well. Look at those vivid colors pop! Here's a photo of some celebrity at the Cannes walking down a bright red carpet in a royal blue gown. Wow! And see these fab shoes? Also amazing. Isn't this color combo great? And BTW, the celebrity gown is reasonably tznius. How about that?"

Other garmets she is highlighting are tznius (IMO; your community may vary), but the styling would need to be toned down for my community and lifestyle.

(^^^All this is being typed by someone who is wearing a college t-shirt and pj bottoms.)

auntie_em

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 8:55 pm

lamplighter wrote:

OP, I see you're new here so let me just warn you. When you post things on here, it is to a rather wide range audience of very opinionated women Smile

Welcome to Imamother! In addition to what lamplighter has already said, tzinus is kind of a hot-button topic here right now.

I don't think Pink Fridge meant to make you feel like you were in high-school, being picked on. If you decide to get involved here in our community, you will see she is not like that and is also very funny!

As for people being critical, when someone posts and says "Tell me what you think"...trust me! We will!

Anyway, welcome again. I hope we get to know you better soon!