Today I am so excited
because I will share with you what Orthodox women are wearing in our area through a tour
of an Orthodox Jewish clothing store for the whole family I will also share five things you will only
find in the Jewish clothing store that makes it so unique as well as five of the body parts that
need to be covered for our way of dressing to be considered modest as merry Jewish Orthodox women
as a bonus I will also discuss what it means for me to be modest or Tziniut / Tzinius as an
Orthodox Jewish woman and answers some questions like do I find it restrictive / oppressive to be
modest why I dress modestly and so much more and if you're new here hi my name
is Sara Malka and on my channel I share all facets of my Orthodox Sephardic Jewish Life
as a full-time working mom with small kiddos so don't forget to leave this video a big Thumbs
Up And subscribe to our Channel let me put on a pretty tichel (headscarf) and let's jump into it
the Jewish clothing store we are visiting today is in the next city and more specifically in the
Hasidic area but the store caters to all Orthodox Jewish communities whether Ashkenazi Sephardi
Chabad and all the other Jewish communities around us when we go in the store we see right away what
are the modest clothes that are in style for this season as well as the first thing you will only
find in an Orthodox Jewish clothing store and which makes it so unique is the amount of the
same dress or skirt or even top in different sizes for children clothes usually in a regular clothing
store you will find maybe five to seven same dress or skirt in different sizes but here you will find
20 30 to even 50 of the same item in different sizes and this is because one of the thing that
is often seen in our Orthodox Sephardic Jewish community and even more prevalent in our Ashkenazi
and Hasidic communities is to dress our children in the same matching clothes for us in our family
we do dress our girls with the same clothes and it really helps to avoid for our children
to be jealous of the other sister's clothes on a side note it makes beautiful pictures and on a
funny side note it makes it super easy to find our children when we are in an outing for example when
we're looking for them on the playground being all dressed the same way makes it super easy to find
them and of course for us if they would voice they did not want to be dressed the same way anymore we
would stop but for the moment they still like to be dressed the same way another thing you will
notice in the girls or woman side of this Orthodox Jewish modest clothing store is that there are
only dresses and skirts because only dresses and skirts are considered to be modest for girls and
Ladies as Orthodox Jewish women the skirts can be all kind of styles A-line, straight cut but they
never have a slit and they should never be skin tight these dresses and skirts to be considered
modest or Tziniut / Tzinius in Hebrew have to pass the knee while we are standing or sitting
and I will show you what I mean a bit later in the video maybe you're asking yourself at what age do
we dress modestly as Orthodox Sephardic Jews and the answer depends on the Family's Customs for
us our girls dress modestly wearing only skirts and dresses since they were 3 years old and our
son started to wear modest clothes starting at 3 years old as well including wearing tzitzit and
a kippah and I will talk a little bit more about that later in the video as you can see the tops
are also beautiful and high quality I really like this dark sage green (almost olive green) and also
I really like this sweater and I think it's going to come with me because I absolutely love balloon
sleeves and I think it helps me look slimmer too but again maybe it's just in my head and rest
assured I will soon film a full video G.od willing on how I dress modestly at work on Shabbat and for
All Occasions so don't forget to subscribe to our Channel and turn on the notification Bell
this way you do not miss that episode as well the second thing you will only find in an Orthodox
Jewish clothing store that makes it so unique are these "Shabbos robes" or "robes for Shabbat" these
are long and elegant robes we wear in our homes on Shabbat and holidays they are often made of velour
and usually are not worn in public as they are more considered as a house robe but some people
will wear them in public as they are definitely modest these robes often are long and almost
touch the floor like what Leah is showing now when you walk around the store one thing you will see
is the incredible amount of skirts and they are all high quality skirts made of thick material
to avoid modesty "faux pas" or incident like transparency which is a big No-No in our community
as you saw even our white skirts will have two Plies of fabric and lining in strategic areas to
make sure the undergarment are not showing because I'm 5'9 or a meter and 75 centimeters thank G.od
it is sometimes difficult for me to find skirts that cover my knees when I'm sitting walking or
standing and often at first glance like this skirt it seems absolutely perfect but in reality it is
not so let me show you what I do to make sure a skirt is the right length for me or not and
if it's not the right length so I can exclude it right away and avoid trying too many skirts and
being disappointed that they are indeed the right size but the wrong length as you can see I took
this amazing blue and black skirt that I would wear with a black turtleneck and long dressy
boots and I also took this beautiful brown skirt of course a brown skirt is longer but let me show
you what I do to make sure the skirt especially the blue one is the right size or not I will put
the blue skirt in front of me when I'm standing it seems pretty good and it covers my knee but when
I feel below my knee even bending down there's barely an inch below my knee so I'm certain that
when I'm going to be walking or sitting I will have to pull down the skirt to be able to cover
my knees at all time the rule of thumb for skirt to be considered modest for Orthodox Jewish women
is for the skirt to fall two to four inches below the knee to avoid riding up when we're walking
or sitting my friend Ruth created a tool to help measure the right length of the skirt to be kosher
and of course I did not have it with me but I will show it to you in the next modest clothing video
but as you can see the brown skirt absolutely will stay modest at all time and usually I will prefer
that length to avoid issues especially at work as I mentioned at the beginning of the video this is
an amazing modest clothing store because it caters to the Orthodox Jewish community at large and not
only to a certain group so everyone can find what they like from a classic skirt and dress
to the more sporty look like these stretchy jean skirts and if you are asking yourself how much do
these skirts cost they are on average between 50 and 70 Canadian dollars per skirt for the
more classic one but usually the more sporty one are going to be found between 10 and 30
dollars and on sale you can even find skirts for about five dollars and on a side note as
you can see and contrary to how we are often depicted in the media we wear a lot of colors
the third thing you will only see / find in an Orthodox Jewish modest clothing store are Kosher
bathing suits they are long enough to cover our knees and also they cover perfectly our neckline
and fall below our elbows as these are three things that need to be covered on our body to be
considered modest or Tziniut / Tzinius as Orthodox Jewish women they come in different models as you
can see you have the onesie the one piece and otherwise it comes in two pieces skirt and top
together I personally prefer the one piece as I wear leggings underneath and a bathing cap and
once I put them on I'm ready to go for a swim for our girls their modest bathing suits only come in
a one piece to cover their busy body at all time and if you want to know more about when and how we
wear our modest bathing suits I talked about them a little bit more in my Jewish Hotel tour and I
encourage you to watch that video after this one here's another another item you will only find in
a kosher clothing store and these are bibs that are color coded for meat and milk in our family
we use red for meat and blue for milk as we cannot mix meat and milk together and often children will
eat off their bibs and if you want to know more about our kosher kitchen I have made a video on
a tour of our kosher kitchen explaining why we have two sinks five sets of dishes and so much
more and I will leave the link in the description box below and the link above you will also find
in a Jewish modest clothing store interior robes they are long and made of terry cloth or cotton
or velour but they are not as elaborate as a Shabbos robe and again they are usually not worn
in public I usually wear them on top of my PJs or on top of my nightgown and as you can guess
you will find kosher or modest nightgowns in the Jewish kosher store they are usually long and fall
below the knees the neckline cover the collarbone and the sleeves are below the elbow they come in
all different shapes and styles and often they will be more colourful/ "loud" like this black
nightgown with this red and painter print while I'm showing you other models and different clothes
in the store I will answer a question I often get aren't you feeling oppressed because your hair is
always covered in public your body is covered from the collarbone to your waist from your
shoulders to below your elbows from the waist to below your knees at the minimum and if your legs
are not completely covered to your ankles with a skirt you have to wear tights to be considered
modestly dressed as an orthodox Sephardic woman before I answer this question I have to Define
what is Modesty or Tziniut / Tzinius in Judaism being modest is not only about how we dress it
also includes how we talk how we move in a space how we interact with others to be modest is being
in control and to act with dignity and reverence on a side note contrary to popular belief modesty
applies equally to men and women now that we understand what is Modesty and Judaism I can
say I feel empowered by dressing modestly and it is a constant reminder how I am a child of G.od
the King of kings and I should act accordingly I feel that modesty in dress and behavior allows me
to interact with the world in truly powerful ways as my inner self comes forth I never felt that
modesty meant a denial of self nor does it force me into hiding rather it creates a private area a
dignified space in which I can evolve it might sound strange to you but I feel feel protected
when I wear modest clothes I feel enveloped in the grace of G.od and it is a very special
feeling did you ever felt protected when you wore certain clothes I would love to know let me know
in your comment below and yes on the days where it is warm and I am sweating and being modest is more
challenging I remember the words of the Gemara or Talmud and the Zohar which state Tziniut / Tzinius
or modesty is an infallible way to be blessed with good health sustenance and much nahat or
blessing from our children and grandchildren so these words are there to remind me that
what I'm doing when I'm dressing modestly is not only to help me physically but Also spiritually
and here is the fourth thing you will only find in an orthodox clothing store shells they are a layer
we put underneath our clothes to render any top Kosher for example if I find the most beautiful
sleeveless top or see-through top to be able to wear it I would simply put one of these shells
under it and voila it becomes a kosher modest outfit the shells come in all different colors and
they also come with three quarter sleeves or full sleeves and they also come with no sleeve if let's
say you are wearing a shirt and the collar is too wide or too low (and passes your collarbone ) then
this would help you as well in this modest clothing Jewish store you also find some
slips they are useful if you buy a skirt or dress that is a bit transparent and we will wear them
underneath I love this one because it is a dress slip so it does not ride up or down when I wear it
but of course they have regular slips as you can use both and it is according to one's preference
in this particular store they also carry uniforms for girls most Orthodox Jewish girls schools are
called Beth Yaakov or House of Jacob and the boys schools are called Yeshiva every girls
and boys school have their own uniform they have about the same shirt which is usually a
thin striped blue shirt they also wear almost the same sweater with some variations as some
carry this School monogram before we go to our fifth thing that makes a modest clothing store
so special I will quickly go in the boys section here you will find suits white shirts yarmulke
/ Kippah which are these little circle head covering Orthodox Jewish boys and men wear we
can also find some Tallit Katan (some call them tzitzit) which is a garment with four
corners and strings attached to them and these strings are called "Petilim" boys over three
years old and men wear them under their clothes to fulfill the Commandment written in the Torah
next to the boys clothes there is a woman hair covering section and I have already made a video
about my favorite head covering and I will leave the link in the description box below
and the link above next to the Head covering we have the fifth and final item you will only
find in an Orthodox Jewish modest clothing store kosher tights for tights to be kosher or modest
they have to be at least 60 denier which is a measure of opacity in tights usually the higher
the number of Denier the more opaque the tight will be but for different brands depending on
the tightness of the weaving 60 denier means it is almost transparent like this one and for another
brand 60 denier is a tighter weave and makes the tight almost fully opaque I prefer the opaque one
this way if one day I'm overdue for a wax or shave I'm covered literally and figuratively
this completes the tour of this Orthodox Jewish clothing store to give you an idea of what we wear
as Jewish Orthodox women in our area and I would love to know what is the one item that you were
really surprised to see we wear as Orthodox Jewish women please let me know in the comments below
thank you for being here it means the world to me and the same way I love wearing modest clothes
because I feel safe and protected wearing them I also feel safe and protected when I'm around you
if you're here until the end please write in the comments I love feeling protected So I know I was
not alone and if nobody told you today know that YOU ARE LOVED and YOU ARE ENOUGH Just the Way You
Are until next time stay safe stay blessed and don't forget to FRUM IT UP ( elevate the mundane)