Shade Clothing, Down East Outfitters and Knee Shorts just to name a few are Utah clothing company’s specially marketed towards Latter Day Saint women. Their success in business comes from a religious community or in other words niche group of people needing a specific need. This niche group’s need is to stay modest and follow their religious guide lines. They still however want to fit in with the rest of their community and to not stick out as different so they find ways to alter the trends at the time to fit in with their ideals. The clothing is however noticeably different than the average shirts and shorts found at department stores. It has a longer length to cover the midriff at all times and the neck line on the clothing is a lot higher than the average shirt. They also sell shorts that go down to the kneecap otherwise called bermuda’s to satisfy summer clothing needs for the latter day saints. In different communities the success is varied I lived in Provo Utah and the majority of women seemed to wear these brands constantly they were the “it” clothing and there was more Down East stores then the gap one of the world’s largest clothing company’s. Here in Saint George there are Down east stores but the majority of women don’t wear them on a daily basis. Provo Utah has a unique market where every one’s social ties are found in their religious communities. So the success of a company depends on how it's marketed towards that religious group.
The down east shirt symbolizes more than modesty it show’s a person’s religious views and what they value, and they value getting married to a returned missionary and having children. I am generalizing of course but I have yet to meet a girl that wears down east type clothing and doesn’t have latter day saint views and a determination to get married if they aren’t already. They wear down east shirts to provide modesty to dresses that would otherwise show off cleavage. During my last trip to the university mall in Provo Utah I saw a even newer and more blatant company called MODBOD their name itself means modest body. There’s even a shirt that cuts off right under the breasts and its only purpose is to provide modesty to other clothing.
I think these shirts are a cultural artifact because they are a perfect example of a everyday reminder of a religion and community. The people inside of this community don’t think anything is unique about the clothing and that is exactly what the company’s want they want. Their clothing to appear as normal as possible. The most successful modest clothing stores keep a distance from showing off that there whole purpose for being a store is to provide modest clothing to Mormons. They market themselves like a specialty boutique store and have sleek advertising. No one wants to go into a store knowing there only shopping there because their LDS and they have to wear modest clothing. They want to feel hip and with it, but if you look close most of the Latter Day Saint women dress a lot different than the average American.
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