As Matt mentioned in his generous introduction, I was fortunate to study for a summer under Claudia Bushman at the (then) Smith Institute at Brigham Young University.  I  spent two months reveling in the history I knew, and was alternately fascinated, disturbed, and incredulous at the history I did not.  At the time, I was interested in how LDS Church teachings linked female modesty and morality and its effect on women’s self image. As projects often do, it transformed; my resulting paper focused on changing standards and  rationales for women’s dress, particularly as indicated by the evolution of  the BYU Honor Code and the For the Strength of Youth pamphlets.  (more…)