How we choose
There is no certification for modest clothing the way there is for food, and modesty is not one fixed standard — it varies between people, families, and traditions. So Modestly Mine does not tell you whether a garment is acceptable.
Instead we describe every piece precisely and let you apply your own standard. Each item carries five attributes, and you choose which of them matter.
Sleeve length
Sleeveless, short, elbow, three-quarter, or full length to the wrist. Taken from what the retailer calls the piece and how it describes it. If neither says, the piece is left out rather than listed on a guess.
Hem length
Where the piece falls — hip, tunic, knee, midi, maxi, or full length. Read from the retailer’s own description. A garment described only as “long” does not qualify as any of these.
Neckline
From plunge through to turtleneck. Anything with an open or low neckline is recorded as such so it can be filtered out or layered.
Fit
Whether the cut skims the body or falls away from it. Fitted, regular, relaxed, and oversized are recorded separately — a maxi dress can still be body-con. Where a retailer does not describe the cut, we record it as regular, which keeps it out of the relaxed-fit filter rather than into it.
Fabric opacity
Sheer, semi-opaque, or fully opaque, read from fabric composition and lining notes, because a long sleeve in chiffon is not the same as a long sleeve in crepe. A lined chiffon is opaque; an unlined one is not. Silk is not assumed either way.
What you can filter by today
- Full length — hits at or below the ankle
- Long sleeve — covers to the wrist
- High neck — no open neckline
- Relaxed fit — does not skim the body
- Not sheer — fully opaque fabric
Where these attributes come from
We read what each retailer publishes about a garment — its name, its description, and its fabric composition — and record the five attributes from that. We do not have the garments in front of us, and we do not claim to.
What that rules out matters more than what it allows. When a retailer does not say how long the sleeves are, or what the fabric is, the piece does not go in the catalog at all. Most of what these stores sell is left out for exactly that reason. We would rather list fewer pieces than describe one wrongly, because a tag you cannot trust is worse than a piece you never saw.
There is one thing we read into: a coat, blazer, or cardigan with no sleeve length given is recorded as long-sleeved, because the sleeveless version of those is called a gilet or a waistcoat and named that way. We do not extend that to dresses or blouses, where sleeveless is common and often goes unmentioned.
Sizes work the same way. We list the run a retailer publishes, in its own wording, and we do not translate between stores — a 12 at one shop is not a 12 at another, and pretending otherwise would be its own kind of wrong tag. Where a store publishes stock we read it once, when the catalog is built, and the piece is dated so you can see how old it is. A garment sold out in every colour is taken out rather than left to waste your click.
We check a sample of every batch by hand against the retailer’s own photographs, and the source of each attribute is recorded so a wrong one can be traced. If you spot one, the address below reaches a person.
Honesty about how this works
We are independent and we do not sell clothing. Every listing links out to the retailer that stocks it. We may earn a commission when you buy through one of those links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects whether a piece is listed — an item either meets the criteria or it does not.
Spotted something tagged wrong? Tell us at hi@modestlymine.com and we will fix it.
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