Modesty Shorts

You can get leggings now with a little skirt at the top. At first I thought it was simply an odd sort of fashion thing but the skirt does prevent the dreaded 'camel toe' effect and also what my mother used to call ' like two boys fighting in a sack' i.e. large, unrestricted buttocks seen through well stretched leggings.

Sadly, the world has changed since my friends and I turned cartwheels and did handstands against the playground wall. Nobody turned a hair back then. We tucked our skirts into our knickers legs and we probably did it up to age 11 years! We were still children at that age, unlike today's girls. The internet and camera phones and messaging apps have turned girls into commodities whose ill-advised pictures, often demanded by so called boyfriends, do the rounds of groups of boys. Appearance and fashion is a relentless pressure for many little girls, starting so young. It says "look at me"... I don't think it started for my cohort, back in the sixties until we were well into our teens.

So, I think modesty shorts might be a good idea, although rather sad. If you've ever watched the TV programmes about the emergency services picking up scantily clad, drunken girls from the gutter, you might agree that a little modesty would go a long way these days. ?

P.S. can remember having to fight to allow younger daughter to wear culottes as her school uniform in primary school. M&S had started doing them as part of their school uniform range and as the children seemed to spend any sitting down time crossed legged on the carpet....and then playtimes involved climbing bars etc...seemed a jolly good idea. School tutted a bit but soon realised it was a battle they would not win. They quickly became part of the school uniform range.

Same for me Iam, but the navy knickers were compulsory school uniform too, in the girls grammer it changed from navy knickers to white knickers to be worn under navy knickers, not pleasant in the summer , not forgetting the sanitary pad and belt.

I think it's a good idea, but I've had a look at some online and they're all dark colours.
Hilda's idea of roomy knickers matching the dress is a good one.

My five year old GD has a gym skirt with shorts attached underneath. I think it's a good idea. The pants girls wear seem to be so flimsy compared to the ones I wore as a child. They have no decoram at that age and think nothing of doing cartwheels or whatever and showing their pants.

I think the tiny knickers children wear now are the problem , surely there is something in between voluminous pants we wore and tiny knickers that I see them continuously pulling out of their bottoms

It ought to be ok to wear little knickers these days but unfortunately it isn't, so modesty shorts should be regarded as a fashion accessory.

My GD wears cycle shorts, because she says it keeps her cool and comfortable in the really hot weather. When the weather is cooler she doesn't bother, but her knickers are perfectly adequate.

I don't see a problem with it. I would probably do the same myself, if I were a young girl today, as underwear seems to be a bit flimsy these days...we had more "protection" with our thick non see through navy blue knickers with elasticated legs! Same thing really!

sorry that wasn't clear ,my daughters friends are buying them for their little girls

Please let them carry on with no decorum, they are children and there is plenty of time for becoming little ladies. Just dress them in sensible ordinary knickers and they can do what we did - tuck their skirts into knicker elastic to do cartwheels etc.

To be blunt, you can still see the crotch even with skirts tucked in.

(if they're doing handstands, cartwheels etc.)

Wow... and I was just wondering yesterday if I could find pettipants for myself to wear under my mother-of-groom dress. They were popular in the 60s and 70s.

It's vertically accordion pleated, past the knee, but whilst twirling in front of the mirror (as we will be dancing up a storm) it went up 'there' ! If I can't find them, it will be 'boy shorts' knickers for sure. But in the expected heat and shapeware not needed, I would prefer the pettipants. Can I get them in the UK?

Well, normally I'd say that modesty shorts are only necessary if you have a dirty mind BUT the world we live in today has changed and not always for the better for all sorts of reasons.

My granddaughter used to wear the modesty shorts under dresses until she was about 11 and ready for secondary school. She was very tomboyish, cartwheels, handstands, climbing trees, and all her friends had them too. This is going back about 10 years now. When I first saw them I was surprised at the need for them but as knickers ar"nt made as substantially as they used to be I can see why.

At my co-ed grammar school in the 1960's we had a public footpath crossing the playing fields. Before each games lessons we had to queue up and pull open the side of our shorts so that the gym teacher could check that we were wearing navy blue knickers underneath. We were told this was to stop men on the footpath from getting a flash of white pants.

I think they're a great idea. I look after my neighbour's 8 year old little girl on occasion after school. She likes to watch 'Dance Moms'. They usually wear 'modesty shorts' under their dresses and they look very discreet and ladylike. She refuses to wear only normal under wear now with a dress and says she feels uncomfortable. She still wears pants but with little shorts over the top.

For school, I think suzied's idea of matching dress and shorts would allow youngsters the freedom to do cartwheels and the like with total freedom. I agree that school dresses can often be a little short. The matching school dress and shorts in this photo are a good example. Maybe you should start that business suzied. ?

Do we have an 'edit button yet'? lol. There are a whole lot of ' freedoms' in my post.

It's a sad world we live in but we are more educated about sex offenders these days. When I was at school and even my DDs, we weren't so aware and therefore didn't take precautions.
My DD dresses my DGD in skorts much of the time, which is a great idea.

My DIL insists on buying pants one size too big for both young granddaughters so they last longer ...the resulting "bagginess" between the legs and unfortunate views as a result would certainly benefit from "modesty shorts"!! Odd thing is, my DIL is pretty "modest" and easily embarrassed by anything personal and by nudity (very quick baths and dressing to avoid the children being naked too long etc and can't cope with me admitting to sleeping naked in hot weather!) so I don't know why she is unfazed by the "baggy pants" mishaps!!

We invested in modesty shorts (not sure they were called that back then) when my tree climbing daughter found the branches uncomfortable to sit on........trousers were not the soultion as she was in Princess mode.........happy days

They sound like a great idea and I see nothing wrong with encouraging GDs to be a little modest. It doesn't restrict them but gives them more freedom rather than worrying whether their knickers are showing.

Looks like all the tennis players are wearing them, so they must be practical/fashionable at the moment. Seems like a good idea to me.

I'm not sure we have to feel sad about making sure our daughters and granddaughters are wearing clothes that they are happy and confident in. After all I'm not sure who actually started the fashion for girls wearing very short skirts and little knickers...all a bit 1940s and 50s Shirley temple....if you actually look back at those fashions they were a bit odd. Short very full skirts that actually exposed or at least drew attention to the anatomy.
Both my girls liked shorts, trousers and dungarees when they were growing up. I did make them gathered skirts just above the knee for those occasions that needed something a bit more girly.....but that being said when their school uniforms permitted long trousers for girls they were keen to wear them rather that skirts. Their P.E. uniform were lycra shorts with a skirt on top if playing in a match. They both had their 'Laura Ashley' moments when young but those skirts were well past the knee!