TWIN FALLS - It wasn't your ordinary fashion show. Sure, there were similarities: big stage, multimedia images, attentive audience members watching each model's every step.

What about those confident runway attitudes?

Oh yeah, they were there.

But on the missing list: bottoms, bellies and breasts. Those were covered with fashion-conscious clothing, and by personalities that showed everything by revealing nothing.

This was Project ModestWay - a fashion show organized by The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints 7th Ward Young Women's Group. It reflected a growing concern among parents and kids nationwide about age-appropriate style that's still fashionable. Looking for positive role models with your children can help, a local counselor says.

Based on Bravo Television's "Project Runway," Project ModestWay linked a student "designer" with a "model" and paired them with "experts" in the field.

In January, the teams - ages 11 to 18 - went to the Deseret Industries thrift store in search of clothing they could alter and model. The only requirements: The clothing had to cost around $10, and the end product had to be modest.

In this case, that meant no spaghetti straps, no revealing cuts across the tops and up the leg, and appropriate for church, said organizer Amy Toft.

Once the designers and their models picked out clothing, they met with adults in the church with some sewing know-how and an eye for fashion. After that, they got coaching from local model Summer Stout to perfect a runway stride. The result of that collaboration ended up on stage at the Ward's multipurpose room Jan. 24.

"It's hard to find modest clothes," Toft said. "They're too revealing and too tight. We wanted the girls to take something and fix it. Modesty isn't just being covered. It's allowing people to see the real you and your personality."

For Hannah Brown, that meant taking a 1980s-style bold print dress and cutting it in half. She paired the skirt with a long T-shirt and turned the dress bodice around to form a jacket.

Hayley Howard found a rather plain and shapeless yellow sundress. She and her "expert" Jan Hyatt reshaped the hem with a curve and added black tulle. Then with $4 in fabric, the two made a black shrug and black belt. The dress went from shapeless to stunning - a perfect semi-formal dress.

After adding accessories, none of the girls spent more than $20 on their outfits.

In a world where kids are bombarded with scantily clad fashion models and celebrities, it can be hard to communicate that what's popular isn't always appropriate. What's more, looking at children and forbidding them to leave the house in what they're wearing can lead to family fights, hurt feelings and rebellion.

Family counselor Patrece Meza of Breakthrough Counseling in Twin Falls said parents can focus on the positive and look for teaching opportunities.

She suggested showing a young girl a picture of two celebrities. For example: Britney Spears, often pictured in revealing and suggestive clothing, and Avril Lavigne, most often fully covered.

"If you look at those two singers and see what Britney Spears is experiencing in her career and what Avril is experiencing, what would be your choice?" Meza said. "Hands down, my daughter would pick Avril."

Meza said the subject of modesty is a hard one, especially for girls ages 11 to 13. They often aren't aware of the messages they're sending by wearing less-than-modest clothing, Meza said, they're simply trying to fit in.

"You want to fit in with what's acceptable to be a part of the in-group," she said. "You don't connect it with being modest."

Modesty doesn't affect just girls. Instead of feeling pressure to wear clothing two sizes too small, like girls do, boys are often influenced to dress in clothes two sizes too big.

"The sloppier, the better off they are - always pulling up their pants," Meza said. The style reveals underwear and too much skin. "Ask them where that style got started. It started in prisons where you can't wear belts. Does he really want to look like a prisoner?"

The girls at the Project ModestWay fashion show said that, thanks in part to what they learned from this project, they know what's important when it comes to fashion.

"Show respect for yourself. Be proud of who you really are," Howard said. "Set the standards for yourself."

After all, added Project ModestWay student designer Rachel Toft, "modest is the hottest."

Resources online These Web sites offer either retail options for "modest" clothing or tips for finding and wearing modest clothing. Some are commercial, some aren't. http://www.catholicmodesty.com http://www.coverwear.com http://www.modestzone.net http://www.mollyme.com http://www.shadeclothing.com http://www.sewmodestclothing.com http://dressingwithdignity.blogspot.com A sample standard Different families may set different standards to define modesty. This set of tips, from the Brio magazine for young Christian women, represents one possibility. It's a starting point for conversation between parents and kids. Tips from http://www.briomag.com: While you're shopping • Choose tanks with wider straps (wide enough to cover your bra strap), smaller arm holes (so your bra isn't viewable under your arm) and loose cuts (so it doesn't fit like a glove). • Don't consider low-rider pants, unless you're going to wear a long shirt with them. • Choose shorts with a longer inseam. A good guideline is at least 7 inches. • Wear T-shirts and tops that have crewnecks or higher V-necks. • Buy sleeveless shirts that have smaller arm holes. In the dressing room It may help to have your mom or a friend give feedback in the dressing room. • Wearing a new shirt, bend over in front of a mirror. Can you see into the shirt through the neck hole? Lift your hands above your head. Does the shirt rise so that your tummy is visible? Take a side view of yourself with your arms slightly raised. Can you easily see into your shirt through the arm hole? • When trying on a pair of pants, do you have to suck in your stomach to zip or button them? Is it uncomfortable to sit in them? If so, the pants are too tight. Can you bend over in the pants without your underwear showing in the back? • With a pair of shorts, is your underwear visible in the back when you bend over? When you sit on the floor in front of a mirror and spread your legs apart as if you're stretching, can you see your underwear?