Oh, the ladies of the FLDS. Call them what you will, but it’s sort of difficult to ignore their place as the style icons of summer ’08. Fashion savvy girls and guys spent the majority of that news cycle all but creaming over the perfectly coiffed hair and constructed sleeves, and I thought for sure Marc Jacobs would be the first to send some warped (and probably awesome) version of the image down a runway.
Turns out he’s been beaten to the punch…by the FLDS ladies themselves.
In an effort to create a sustainable income, the women of the church have launched a website to sell their modest garments to us hell-bound masses. Pristine dresses, nightgowns, mother/daughter apron sets (the daughter version would make a way-cute mini) and boys’ trousers all go for anywhere from $12 to $100 and are constructed with the same meticulous detail that made them so iconic in the first place.
But it’s a tricky situation, this–a lot trickier than your typical buy-or-not-buy quandary at Zara. While supporting women in need is an obvious no-brainer, it’s unclear whether the real benefit will be to them or the church itself. The FLDS is majorly problematic (so much so that the Southern Poverty Law Center has defined it as a hate group), and throwing it any bit of funding is just irresponsible.
I’ll definitely grab some style inspiration from fldsdress.com (and if anyone can tell me how to get my thin, moody hair to do that, I swear I’ll buy you a margarita), but I’m inclined to err on the side of caution and make my own version of the daughter apron. What do you think?
