Beautifully Modest You – Rita DavidsonLFFA

I wore pants for the FIRST time in 18 years – it ain’t pretty

IworePants

I wore pants for the FIRST time in 18 years – it ain’t pretty

By Rita Davidson

 

GASP! “WHAT?” Your all saying, “Rita wore PANTS?”

Well as many of you know I STOPPED wearing pants before I wrote my book, ‘Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue’ in 1998. That is 18 LONG years or 6570 DAYS of wearing SKIRTS! Whew!

So WHAT would make me wear PANTS after all these years?

Screen Shot 2016-02-24 at 12.34.31 PM

I told you it ain’t pretty. I Joined the T-tapp Challenge!

Ever wake up one day and realize if you don’t DO something no one else will? Well that was me.

I’ve been plus size most of my life and I always knew I didn’t want to be, but no matter what I did nothing changed in my size, that is until I found T-tapp in 2012. Back then I was a size 24 and was willing to try ANYTHING. With anorexia as a teen scared me from EVER wanting to diet again, but I always wanted to be healthy.

When I started T-tapp it opened up some health issues I didn’t know I had, such as buried anxiety that got released after I started and adrenal issues that I soon discovered gave me an adrenal crash. I went from size 24 to 20-22 back then and I was a believer. J (Haha well you know what I mean).

After our house fire in 2013, there wasn’t much I could do except all the sneaky fit moves Teresa has shared. (moves you can do all day while doing dishes, shopping, driving). I slowly rebuilt my T-tapp library of DVD’s thanks to my T-tapp supporters. But I got off track Lent 2014 after having anxiety start up again.

So when the Challenge 2016 came around I thought THIS would a great way to get me back on track? So I entered Saturday!

Now I am a stubborn SKIRT wearing girl here, so this was a real challenge for me deciding if I COULD enter. You see Teresa Tapp; the founder of T-Tapp needs to see photos of us so she can study if the moves are working. She is a researcher, my kinda gal, and has designed this perfect system of movement to get the maximum effect from the least effort. This Challenge helps her study our body and she can see improvement where we can’t.

Now I have issues (don’t we all?). I have hyper-extensive arms and legs and had rickets as a child so have knock-knees (which is why I LOVE skirts!). But my leg issues give me pain in my knees and lately hip pain too. So after MUCH DELIBERATION with myself, I realized for Teresa to be able to see my leg issues she needed to SEE my legs. If these legs are not fixed could eventually put me in a wheelchair as I age.

I have a BIG responsibility to take care of this temple of the Holy Ghost and to be here for as long as I can for my boys and family.

I have a BIG responsibility to YOU as well, as so many of you have come to depend on me for some clarity that pants are NOT NEEDED. So I didn’t take this lightly. So when it came time to take the pictures for the FIRST time in 18 years, I made some observations, I FELT NAKED.

I mean I REALLY FELT NAKED. It took me DAYS to finally get these on, in a locked room by myself. Lest anyone think I would never wear them. LOL

There is something INTRINSINCLY WRONG if you can wear pants and NOT FEEL NAKED. PANTS are not and SHOULD NOT be natural for women. I kid you NOT; we are giving away the BEST part of who we are by wearing pants. Ultimately it was a real blow to my pride to wear them, and a really good reminder why God placed this message on my heart for all these years.

Funny thing is, you DO NOT NEED pants to DO T-tapp! I do my daily moves ALL in my skirts. It’s the only exercise I have TIME for.

Just 10 MINUTES a day, 3 MOVES – in a skirt!

Now I can DO these moves in a skirt, cause my skirts are wide enough, if you are wearing pencil skirts well it’s not going to work.

I’m NOT a hypocrite. I wrote a book on #realCatholicModesty in 1999 to inspire women to be modest as the Church teaches. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t wear pants – THAT would make me a LYER.

But I will say if it took me 18 YEARS or 6570 DAYS to find a GOOD reason to wear pants, WHY are you wearing them at all? (I’m ducking; don’t throw plates at me ladies!)

If you don’t understand #realCatholicmodesty, well I guess you’ll have to read my book to find out. 🙂  GRAB a copy HERE.

In the meantime, join me on my Instagram to watch my T-tapp Challenge journey in SKIRTS! It goes until April 23, 2016. Who knows I might even WIN? LOL

If I DO I’ll be in a SKIRT!

With love,

Rita xo 🙂

P.S.

I did ask for a new Category for us women who wear no pants so maybe we’ll see that in 2017! 🙂

*There are affiliate links in this post. But only products I LOVE!
12717618_955329111214575_1556987311828504946_nRita is a Catholic wife, and mother of seven, with three autistic boys.  Author, of “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) and speaker, she has a PASSION for making #realcatholicmodesty understood. She is a licensed Hairdresser, and Make Up Pro with a degree in Natural Health who enjoys essential oils. She enjoys making people smile and sharing God’s love with anyone who will listen. After overcoming a stroke, disabilities, they lost everything in a devastating house fire that made them homeless for six months. She is determined to lead souls back to Christ by finding the #realcatholicbeauty in their lives by carrying their crosses with Joy!
©Copyright 2016  Rita Davidson & Little Flowers Family Press  All Rights Reserved.

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Comments

10 responses to “I wore pants for the FIRST time in 18 years – it ain’t pretty”

  1. Dina Avatar
    Dina

    Rita wow 18 years! That’s great! I’ve been wearing only skirts for about 2 years. But sometimes I do get discouraged. I wonder if I’m crazy for not wearing pants, and I start fretting about what others may be thinking about me. That’s when posts like this really inspire me! I thank you, Rita for sharing your journey and all you have learned with us. You are a joy and an inspiration.

    Reply
    1. Rita Davidson Avatar
      Rita Davidson

      Thank you Dina!
      I’m so thankful my posts are inspiring you to keep wearing your skirts! I try to be ‘real’ so no one thinks I’m perfect…and thankful that this was helpful for you today. God bless you my friend!
      With love,
      Rita xo 🙂
      Author of the bestselling, “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) saved from the ashes is RETURNING!

      Reply
  2. marianne primett Avatar
    marianne primett

    +JMJ+

    Dear Rita,

    While it might be necessary for your T-TAPP consultant/mentor to see your legs,
    is it necessary to post an image of it on the world wide web? Ask this question:
    would a Catholic lady post an image of herself in the garb a doctor has one don
    for medical exams? One cannot help but think of Jacinta who was mortified to have to bare her side for the doctor to perform a medical procedure to treat her pleurisy, the possibility of being immodest more painful to her than the physical suffering.

    The internet/facebook/instagram culture tempts people to share every little tidbit and trivia of their lives but is it really as God meant us to live? Our supreme example, the Blessed Virgin Mary, lived a veiled life, a hidden life. A happy balance must be sought, opening our lives, sharing when it can truly edify, help, and educate the precious souls around us, yet avoiding the temptation of ‘look at me, look at me now’ that pride presents to us all in these media.

    Thank you always for your work towards educating and encouraging the beautiful virtue of modesty so important in our dark, confused times when even the elect can scarcely be saved! Looking forward to the 3rd edition of Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue! God bless you, Mary keep you, St Joseph protect you.
    In Christ
    m

    PS – i, too, am plus sized, with the usual symphony of complaints (Deo gratias!!) but whilst i strive to eat moderately, exercise with walking, and take supplements with no real improvement, it comes to me at over half a century in age that maybe this is one way God draws one closer to Him – as vanity always rises up whenever 10lbs drop, better for this soul to be achy and fat than bouncy healthy and trim!

    Reply
    1. Rita Davidson Avatar
      Rita Davidson

      Hello Marianne!!!
      So GLAD to hear from you!! 🙂
      This is a very insightful comment…and some very good thoughts.
      While it was not NECESSARY for me to post this pic. (There are 5 pics associated with my application actually.) I chose this pic as it was the least immodest….not showing my ‘divided legs’. I realized there will never be a way to please everyone. You see if I had not posted anything, others might think what was I wearing shorts? or what was I trying to hide? Am I so prudish that I would rather wear a bag? Sometimes the more one tries to cover up something the more it gets out there. If I won this contest my pictures would become public anyhow and I dared not be a hypocrite if this post could instead help someone.

      As women we all realize we have to bare ourselves to our doctors for needed procedures. Would modesty prevent us from needed medical procedures for example? While Jacinta was mortified to bare her side for the doctor she didn’t refuse his procedure. I’m sure her suffering was offered up. We must be careful that modesty doesn’t become an end unto itself.
      Our culture today IS facebook/instagram no matter how much we fight it is HERE. Lives are trivial and stupid it is true, but if we ignore this very real development in society we lose the ability to use this for God’s service. My Facebook page has over 8000+ people there. Everyday I remind people to pray, remind them to say their rosaries or today wear their scapulars. One woman there found me and returned to the Sacraments after 30 years! Granted it’s not for everyone, but for those of us that are in positions to reach people, God does not want us to hide our faith under a bushel and ignore this very real evangelization tool (I hate that word).
      Some of us are meant to live beautiful, hidden lives like Our Lady. The rest of us wish we could go back to that life, but as God would have it, He chose some of us to be out in the limelight to reach the souls that are out there that need guidance. A happy balance must always be sought it is true. Joan of Arc would have rathered stay home hidden too, but God called her out to do what no one else could do. Let us pray we will always be God’s willing instrument to follow His will no matter where it will lead.
      It is true we all understand ourselves best. If we know our weakness is vanity than we know we must take steps to mortify that. I have always said that our weight could often be a way God draws us closer to Him. But would it be prudent for me not to use the tools that God has placed in my life? I have a family to take care of, three disabled boys that may be with us all their life? If I left it up to God to sustain me (and granted perhaps He would) would that be wise of me not to help my health, my weight if it was the tool that God gave me to keep me here for my boys? I am reminded of the saying, “we must pray as if everything depends upon God, and work as if it all depends upon us.”
      I am quite happy to be fat and bouncy for God if he desires me to do that. But what if He wishes us to get healthy, so we can better represent this beautiful faith for those we encounter? I must not be so afraid to change that I neglect myself. How many of the saints do we know that were edifying such as St Elizabeth of Hungary who was a queen? With our modesty we can become a channel of grace when our beauty inspires others to look further into the faith. This is part of what I have expanded upon in the Third Edition of Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue. Which I can’t wait to send!
      it is a delicate balance for sure Marianne and we must all make our choices with what we know. God’s will be done.
      With love,
      Rita xo 🙂
      Author of the bestselling, “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) saved from the ashes, RETURNING!

      Reply
  3. Paulina Avatar
    Paulina

    You are my inspiration, Rita! I’ve been a skirts-only gal on and off for nearly ten years. I wish I could say I had never fallen off the wagon once in that time :/ But alas, it was pressure from my now ex-husband that led me to give up my skirts for a time. I remember the first time I wore pants and again, and then short, immodest dresses/skirts…I truly felt naked and exposed! My anxiety sky-rocketed…I was so worried about how my body looked and whether or not I was showing anything. It was a terrible time.

    Now that I’m no longer married, I am back to my long, modest skirts, and have never felt better or more at peace! The only time I wear pants is at night, to bed.

    Regarding T-Tapp, I’ve never done it before, even though I have most of the DVDs. It seems like it takes a while to get all the moves down…maybe I’m just over complicating things? Anyway, I’ve set the DVDs aside for now in favor of Leslie Sansons’ Walk at Home program. It’s my favorite way to exercise, and I love that I can work out in my maxi skirts with no problem. Granted, I don’t need to lose weight (I’m borderline underweight), but it helps keep my energy up (sleep deprived mommy of two little ones here!).

    I can’t wait until your book ships!

    Reply
    1. Rita Davidson Avatar
      Rita Davidson

      Hello Paulina!
      I’m so sorry to hear about your marriage. I had no idea.
      Thank you for your kind comments on this post. I was hoping my observations would be of some use for those that strayed from the wagon or at least let others know that none of us are perfect and there is always room for improvement with our modesty!
      All my T-tapp workouts I easily can do in my skirts so I am very thankful for that! I Love that it only takes 15 minutes out of my day, no preparation and it’s done and the science behind it proves how good it is for our health.
      So nice to see your excitement for my book! I can’t wait to start shipping it too!
      God bless Paulina and your little ones,
      With love,
      Rita Xo 🙂
      Author of the bestselling, “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) saved from the ashes, is RETURNING!

      Reply
  4. Lawrence Avatar
    Lawrence

    Many years ago your book helped me understand that the Church teaches that if an activity cannot be done modestly than it should not be done at all. It should go without saying that certain private situations are allowed (bedroom/with spouse, or when medically necessary, etc). If given the strict choice, it is better to be seen in a bag or burlap sack than to be seen in our underwear which is what you are wearing in the above picture.

    If something is least immodest, and we know that all immodesty is evil (or as you say, immodesty is “Satan’s Virtue”) than you are saying that you chose the least sinful picture (or the lesser of 2 evils, which is a sin). This is not a pedantic exercise of logic and I do not at all wish to point fingers. “Don’t you know that where purity is concerned there is no matter that is not considered to be grave?” (St. John Bosco’s holy guide in his dream in answer to his children only committing venial sins against purity). What I am, and I am sure many others are, praying for is that you see your mistake, and remove the picture from everywhere you can before any other people are scandalized by this blatant contradiction.

    In the digital and internet age everyone must understand that any picture taken has a chance of eventually being seen by others (even if not by you) and therefore if it is not modest to be shown in public, it should be not put on a camera at all unless absolutely necessary (which could be necessary for medical reasons).

    You helped me many years ago with your stern adherence to the teachings of the Church, I hope and pray that you will not make lite of what I and others have written, and be helped by those you yourself have helped. It is not prudish to listen to the Church’s advice, or your own advice, but humility.

    Reply
    1. Rita Davidson Avatar
      Rita Davidson

      Thank you for your comments and observations Mary Ann,
      The point of this blog post was not for the already converted, like yourself, but my observations of how shocking it was to wear pants after 18 years in skirts. Many women who don’t wear skirts do not realize how un-natural pants are when modesty is trained properly.
      I did not post this picture to somehow give approval of what I was wearing. Yes, it is immodest. I believe that was my point, if you read it again. You may say this was a sin, but lets not get immodesty mixed up with impurity here. Those are two different things and it is the ‘intention’ of the wearer that matters to God. Which is why women with skirts on can still sin against purity for example.
      I’m quite prepared to have the Church comment on this one day. I am not here to win anyone’s approval for what I do, but only to help women “THINK” about this issue so they may one day commit to it.
      Pants are not “objectively evil”. St Thomas Aquinas observed that pants ‘may be worn for grave reasons’ which is exactly why St Joan of Arc was able to wear them without sin. (You will read more about this in my upcoming edition of, “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue”.) You yourself explain that something immodest ‘could be necessary for medical reasons.” This is exactly why I took these pictures in the first place, if you read the article? To help with my crooked legs, leg pain, weight issues and more. I am not engaging in a vain attempt at exercise to be more attractive but to help with my health issues which is important in caring for our bodies that God has given us.
      Posting this picture was humiliating for me, but if my own embarrassment helps other women to forgive themselves for their own mistakes and encourage others to keep the battle going, then I’m glad to be a fool for God.
      God bless you,
      Rita
      Author of the bestselling, “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) saved from the ashes, is RETURNING!

      Reply
  5. Jacinta Boudreau Avatar
    Jacinta Boudreau

    Haha; great article! I was so confused at first but I get it now. LOL.
    My mother has worn skirts since her teen years. – – Because of minor health reasons she had to go to a special place to do stretches. Figuring it would be more modest in pants, than in skirts, with her legs all over the place – she would wear her pants under her long jean skirt going in and out of the building, – with a long SHIRT that covered down to her knees almost – so she would be properly covered. Now, she says that it cured her from ever even thinking of wearing pants themselves after seeing herself in them. LOL
    We both agree that, even if we were as “fit” as we preferred, pants just do not look good on us. Haha. There is nothing like walking around with long skirts brushing our ankles ! It feels so nice and feminine!
    I myself grew up wearing skirts, (Deo Gratias) so, I’m going on 23 years this September! Yipee! High five skirt sista! 😉 May Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart triumph and the Holy Spirit open the hearts of those women who need to hear the modesty message. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Rita Davidson Avatar
      Rita Davidson

      I LOVE your enthusiasm Jacinta!
      So glad you kept reading instead of judging just from the picture!
      I really try to be the example for everyone who is trying to wear skirts daily. It’s not as easy as it looks, and for me I’ve not really got off the wagon since 1998, but I really felt wearing those and giving my thoughts about them would help even me understand why it’s hard for others.
      I got some bad emails from that post…but I think people missed the point. Many others were inspired so I was glad it reached those who needed to hear it.
      Yes, I so much love being feminine and feel much more confident and beautiful now than ever when wearing shorts and pants as a teen.
      High five skirt sista!
      God bless you and Mary guide you,
      Rita
      Author of the bestselling, “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” saved from the ashes, is returning!

      Reply

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