Tired of low-rise and low-cut? Modesty can be chic.

Their crowd grew to 350 this year from 250 last year - growth the organizers find particularly significant, considering that last year they had national media coverage of a member who had written a letter to Nordstrom asking for a wider variety of clothing for girls.

"It has struck such a chord for people," says Pam Gunderson, the adult head of the Greater Seattle Challenge Club, and mother of Ella, the letter-writer. "It's just a natural inclination to want to be sufficiently covered up. It doesn't take faith to realize that, but sometimes I think it takes faith to move people to action."

The girls she works with - ages 10 and up - are not looking for dowdy styles, but want to be stylish and feminine. Sometimes they alter the clothes they find - adding waistbands or layering shirts.

Still, some teens find that it's difficult to be fashionably modest with what's on the racks.

"Clothes today are too tight, too sheer, and too revealing," says Sarah Kator, a Meridian, Idaho, teen, in an e-mail. "I always have to buy shirts a size or two larger than they are designed to be worn, and I'm not a very large girl."

Ms. Kator, a senior in high school, recently won a contest to design a modest prom dress sponsored by the Modest By Design Clothing Co. Her prize: Her black pinstriped creation was made for her to wear to her recent prom.

Like Rippy, she is Mormon, and prefers clothing that has sleeves, appropriate coverage, and is not clingy.

As the modesty movement, as it's been dubbed, gets more publicity, there is some debate about its necessity. Recently, two columnists for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution considered that point, with the "left-leaning" writer taking issue with her counterpart's claim that such a movement is crucial, especially to avoid things like early sexual activity.

"The modesty movement may seem like a wholesome trend, but it is probably one of the oldest forms of female control," writes critic Diane Glass, who has a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School. She argues that some religions have dictated women's clothing for ages, and adds that less emphasis should be placed on women's clothing and more on men taking responsibility for their ability to control themselves.

"If I had a teenage daughter, I would want her to dress modestly also, just out of a sense of her own safety," she adds in an interview. "But ... the problem is the cause or the origin of what the modesty movement is about."

Some of those involved in the movementtake issue with that assessment. Heather Gist, one of the owners of Modest By Design, disagrees with the idea that those calling attention to more demure styles are the oppressors.

"Aren't we allowing ourselves to be controlled by mindlessly accepting the trends put forth by the fashion industry?" she writes in an e-mail. "Aren't we allowing ourselves to be controlled when we buy into the attitude that we are only pretty or desirable when we wear clothes that leave us open for all to see?"

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