A woman should dress modestly as a sign of self-respect. A woman’s body is valuable and not everyone who walks by should be privy to it. It is so valuable that I shudder to use the word “modesty” and will refrain from using it here. Because modesty has nothing to do with it. I am beautiful and worth looking at. I dress discreetly, because I am valuable, not because I lack confidence. Unfortunately, a disturbing trend has entered the space of discrete dress.
Women who dress discretely often adopt frumpy and/or decades old fashions as streetwear. Dressing like your great-grandmother did in the 40s may keep you covered, but it isn’t going to inspire many women to your philosophy. It isn’t merely the clothing they adopt. They often incorporate the hairstyles, jewelry, and shoes the women wore as well. They take on a vintage identity that entirely subsumes their own. When I look at them, I see a black and white photo come to life; I lose sight of them. It is no different than LARPing. Most LARPers go to the forest on weekends dressed as goblins and wizards. These women go to the supermarket dressed like characters from Little House on the Prairie.
I am all for taking old styles and giving them a fresh look, but in order to do that you actually have to give them a fresh look. Styles repeat themselves, but designers reinvigorate them in new and creative ways. The discreet fashion movement too often lacks creativity, merely coping and pasting old styles. We need to take modern styles and make them discrete, take old styles and refresh them, and invent things that are entirely new and different. We are modern women and we can dress in a discreet manner as modern women. Don't lose your identity in your grandmother’s closet. It won't lead to Narnia.