Jewish Customs Part III -- Fashion

There are a few things that distinguishes a Jewish person from those around them. Like the way they dress. Not all Jews wear these things but quite a few do and so I thought I would talk about them a little.

First, there is the kippa. I bring this one up first because this is what my boyfriend wears everyday. As far as I know, there is no rule that requires one to wear a kippa but it has become a meaningful tradition to remind one of God's presence above them.

It's less common among women to wear kippas, at least in Orthodox Judaism but I won't get into the movements within Judaism here. In very traditional or observent groups, men also wear payos. This is done because in the Torah it says that one should not cut the hair on that part of the head. So it grows out very long. There are also Jewish men who just grow out their beards really long too. For women, the tradition has been to wear skirts. I heard someone in class saying she feels more comfortable in skirts because they are less revealing then pants and thus she can be more modest. There are certainly skirts that are not considered "modest" but one is to use their own judgment when wanting to be modest. Another practice for married women is to cover their hair either with a hat, scarf or even wig. These practices aren't really difficult for me because I have always been pretty modest...maybe even to the point of being ridiculous some might think since I almost always (except like once in my life) worn a big shirt over my bathing suit and as an adult don't even own a bathing suit. I just use a shirt and shorts...haha. The only thing is that it gets a little warm when i have on layers of clothes. And I am very "tomboyish" so wearing a skirt sometimes gets in the way. But it is nice anyway.