What is the "normal" frum litvish dress code for women?

amother

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:17 pm

Im a young mom, passionate about my yidddishkeit, about Hashem, and even about chassidus.
I grew up in a very chassidish home, (covered sheitels,beige tights etc) as I got older, got married etc certain external things about the chassidish dress code bothered me(I ddidnt want to go with thick tights and long band /hat), and I felt like I wanted to go for more of a litvish style look. I go with very modest length wig(shoulder),I get my nails done regularly (only pink!), wear black tights in the winter and beige in the summer.. now I know that litvish does not equal modern,and thats why im asking these q's and gearing it for litvish ppl(I havr friends and acquaintances that dress in a similar fashion as me, but I find that theyre not so clear of the nuances. ). I think most litvish women dress beautifully (chassidish women do to, but they are very quickly,y identified as such,:chassidish, whereas litvish dont strike out so much.. excuse my rambling) so a few q's
Whats the denier or color tights ( beige ) accepatble in average frum litvish girls?
What color nail polish is ok ? Any shade of pink?
I know that eye makeup could be a halachic prob, but whats the accepted look in frum litvish citcles (when I say frum litvish I dont mean uber frum ie black tights in summer..)
Thats all,
.
Oh, and I wanna explain myself agin. I have nothing againt the mesorah or look of my chassidish brethren, but found myslef stifled by it. If a litvish lady sees me she might think I look chassidish, but my family thinks im modern lol. My mom freaked when she saw my nail polish. But im tzanuah (why am I defending ,myself!) And proud of myself.

amother

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:26 pm

amother [ Magenta ] wrote:

I'm litvish and happy to help, can you please clarify your question? I'm not totally getting what you are asking
Do you want to know what I wear on any given day? Like do you want to know what I am wearing now.?

No .I like my wardrobe bh!
. sorry wasnt clear,I specified it towards the end of my ramblimg essay. Wink

Tights. Nail polish and eye makeup.

pesek zman

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:26 pm

I’m RW MO but (aside from Halacha) I definitely have a ‘dress code’

I cover knees and elbows all the time. Collar bone not all the time (meaning I don’t wear shells under shirts) I always wear stockings. I don’t wear open toe shoes. I don’t wear nail polish but if I did it would only be nude. My Shaitel is shoulder length and I don’t wear large earrings. I do wear any color of the rainbow.

naturalmom5

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:36 pm

pesek zman wrote:

No offense but what makes you RWMO
You sound much more intense than most of the Collel wives I know

amother

Cobalt

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:37 pm

Im litvish/right wing, whatever. My collar bone, elbows and knees are always covered, I make sure my skirt will cover my knees even when I sit/bend etc.

I wear stockings all the time, but the sheerest, least denier possible as my Rav holds its not even halacha to cover the leg.

Whatever eye makeup, eyeliner,mascara etc I just make sure not to look overly dramatic. No costume theater makeup lol. But all regular makeup is fine.

As far as nailpolish, it used to be in my intown right wing circles that only sheer and very light pink/cream/nude was acceptable but ive seen a huge, gradual, shift in the past 10 years or so. By now even the typical Bais Yaakov crowd is wearing darker color nail polish. Not like red or black exactly, but darker pinks, greys, muted purple, taupe has become very accepted.

amother

Khaki

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:45 pm

Many yeshivish poskim hold that you need to wear tights that are at least 30 denier. Not everyone follows that (many people don't), and not all poskim hold that way. I used to wear only 30 denier; now, I'll go with 20-30, whatever I can find. Also, sometimes it's not just about the denier, since depending on how much the material is pulled, the tights will appear thicker or thinner.

Nail polish- most yeshivish people will only wear more neutral-colored pink. It's already a bit of a step outside to wear a color other than pink, or to wear a very bright pink. If you're talking just Litvish, many Litvish people will wear colored nail polish.

Makeup- there's a wide range. It seems that as long as you're not wearing a really "s-xy" style, most makeup is fine. I see many very yeshivish girls with bright blue and purple eye shadow, pretty thick eyeliner, etc.

amother

Scarlet

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:48 pm

amother [ Cobalt ] wrote:

Are we twins? Lol

All this is true for me as well. Except nail polish-I have become more adventurous as I’ve gotten older and more comfortable so I occasionally will wear light blue, bright pink or purple. Still can’t bring myself to do red though. Disclaimer: we do live out of town and even our schools do allow nail polish, gasp!

amother

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:52 pm

pesek zman wrote:

What stockings do you wear ? Im currently wearing sireco 40 denier ,but it seems that litvish wear even thinner? Whats the halacha about tights.? I obviously wont ask my Local dayan cuz where I live very opaque is the norm (though you do get some sheer as wel)

amother

Smokey

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:57 pm

naturalmom5 wrote:

No offense but what makes you RWMO
You sound much more intense than most of the Collel wives I know

I am not Pesek Zman,
But I would like to answer in general-not speaking for her.

MO is an ideology!!!!
It is about believing in Torah U' Maddah (/ ת״ע)
It is believing in Am Yisrael B' Eretz Yisrael (al pe Torat Yisrael).(Yes, I am quoting B"A- we know what Kool-aid I drink)
It is not less frum or less machmir about observing Halacha.

amother

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 12:58 pm

Ok. I actually only wear mascara (which doubles as unprofessional eye liner )as a geder cuz I don't trust myself with eye makeup. Im very artsy type and if id do eyeliner id wanna go winged look. If id wear Eyeshadow then id do smoky look etc..and in my circles it would be very eye catching. THANKS YALL !

amother

Amber

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 1:01 pm

There is such a wide range of norms in litvish circles.
Some dress same as chasidish style-short sheitel, no nail polish, minimal makeup, opaque tights.
Only difference would be black tights in winter.
Others dress however they want-you can even find women without stockings in Flatbush-and you have everything in between the two extremes I described.

amother

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 1:03 pm

amother [ Vermilion ] wrote:

OP, many chassidish women are better dressed then the litvish women. Litvish women dress very plain. Many in maxi skirts & falls. (At least that's how the women dress in the litvish development next to my house.)

True. Especially and mainly the kids.
But im not talkimg chassidish with tiny band(or no band ) atop expensive sheitel and cute dress with matchig purse and sligbacks. Im talking chassidish ,with very minimal makeup ,and hat or very long band on top of sheitel etc

pesek zman

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 1:05 pm

naturalmom5 wrote:

No offense but what makes you RWMO
You sound much more intense than most of the Collel wives I know

My philosophy (hashkafah)

Kollel wives dress less modestly than I do? I have a hard time believing that!

(My husband identifies are more yeshivish but a)he has no input on my tznius b)I definitely don’t. )

pesek zman

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 1:08 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I never heard of the word denier till this site. I wear hanes, sheer mist, etc. I don’t know how sheer/not sheer they are) But no one in my community wears stockings (all the time) so I ‘fit in’ better with sheer stockings (so as to not look like I’m wearing any)

pesek zman

Wed, Jul 31 2019, 1:12 pm

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

Pretty much, yes. I was raised in a YI home with BY schooling. I’m somehere I’m the middle. But definitely not BY (which to me is ‘yeshivish’)

I’m also more liberal in my overall thinking in a way that leans MO (rather than yeshivish)