Jinger And Jessa Duggar Talk Fashion, Don’t Mention Modesty Rule About Dressing To Avoid ‘Defrauding’ Men

Jinger and Jessa Duggar talk about fashion in a new Counting On promo, but the reality show stars fail to mention why they avoid pants and only wear skirts and dresses that completely cover their thighs.

Instead, Jinger and Jessa talk about their favorite colors to wear and how the Duggar daughters all share clothing. As Christianity Today reports, Jessa is a big fan of fall colors like olive, maroon, and brown. At the time the fashion-centric TLC teaser was shot, Jessa’s “post-baby” wardrobe included a lot of baggy tops. She gave birth to her first child last November, and she wanted to keep her body covered up while she tried to lose the weight that she gained during her pregnancy. Jessa Duggar seemingly feels a bit more body-confident now, as evidenced by the tight top that she’s working out in in the photo below.

In the Counting On teaser clip below, Jinger and Jessa Duggar never explain the real reason they stick to wearing skirts, even when they’re lifting weights. Jessa claims that she’s “super-into maxi skirts” because they’re “so comfortable,” and Jinger says that she purchased a long dress from a thrift store because it was a great deal. However, there’s a Biblical reason that the Duggar girls are rarely spotted wearing pants or shorts.

In their book, Growing Up Duggar, Jessa Duggar and her sisters explain that their mother, Michelle Duggar, is responsible for the lack of blue jeans and shorts in their closets. Michelle turned to the Bible for fashion advice, and Deuteronomy 22:5 is the verse that made her decide that it’s sinful for women to wear pants.

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God,” the verse reads, according to Bible Hub.

Even though a massive number of women wear pants and shorts nowadays, Michelle and her daughters seemingly still believe that the garments only “pertaineth unto a man.”

The other Bible verse referenced in Growing Up Duggar is 1 Timothy 2:9.

“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array,” it reads.

In a TLC blog post, Michelle Duggar writes that “modest apparel” should cover the body from the neck to below the knees. She decided to start dressing modestly after reflecting back on the bikinis and shorts that she wore during her teen years and feeling guilty about the “desires” being stirred up by her skimpy clothing. According to the Counting On star, she felt like she was responsible for keeping men around her from thinking sexual thoughts.

“When I got older I really felt convicted about my responsibility for how I was causing others to be defrauded. And I began to cover up because I felt responsible for my part in that.”

Michelle writes that “the definition of the word defrauding is to stir up desires in someone else that cannot be righteously fulfilled.”

Michelle’s views on modest clothing seemingly made Jinger Duggar, Jessa Duggar, and their sisters somewhat paranoid about their fashion choices. According to the Duggar family matriarch, her daughters often ask her if she thinks that their skirts are too short or their tops are too low-cut. In Growing Up Duggar, the girls write that they feel like they “have a responsibility not to dress or act in a way that builds up sensual desires in guys.”

The girls have also been taught to help their brothers avoid being “defrauded” by women who don’t follow their modest fashion rules. As Cosmopolitan reports, female Duggars use the code word “Nike” to let the men in the family know that should immediately stare at the ground to avoid seeing a flash of leg, bare shoulders, or a hint of cleavage.

“That’s a signal to the boys, and even to Dad, that they should nonchalantly drop their eyes and look down at their shoes as we walk past her… It’s meant to help keep the guys’ eyes from seeing things they shouldn’t be seeing,” the girls write in their book.

According to Gawker, the homeschool curriculum used by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar includes a lesson that condemns female victims of sexual abuse for dressing immodestly; it teaches girls that they are to blame if they get molested while wearing revealing clothing. However, it’s highly doubtful that Jinger and Jessa Duggar will talk about dressing to avoid sexual abuse if they decide to film any future fashion segments for Counting On.

[Image via TLC/YouTube]