December weather has Sanya Iqbal, senior, reaching for scarves and sweaters to go with her already-worn maxi-skirts. These choices denote her “mod” style, where the “mod” is short for the “modesty” Iqbal’s endeavored to promote.

“I had a religious awakening over the summer where I realized modesty was a big part of my religion, Islam,” Iqbal said. “I realized dressing modestly was a way for a woman to honor herself and respect herself in a beautiful way, and I learned that I didn’t have to expose myself to be beautiful.”

Islamic dress requires modesty. The Qur’an, the religious text of Islam, urges Muslim women to dress chastely, covering most of the body. In the U.S., some see adherence to this as oppressive, but Iqbal believes otherwise.

“The religious journey sort of started when my friend and I started teaching at the mosque together and started talking about things in our religion, like modesty and being kind to others,“ Iqbal said. “Because of my friend, I was motivated to go further. I thought, maybe I could do this modest fashion thing. I thought it might be a challenge, but it wasn’t at all.”

Iqbal said her friend was afraid to start dressing modestly.

“A lot of girls fear it because they think it’s not stylish,” Iqbal said. “And I was like, it’s so easy. So I just started. I got a lot of fashion ideas on Instagram and found you can cover up so many ways and it usually looks awesome. People compliment me on it.”

Iqbal said, along with this new change in her dress, she’s also become more friendly with people.

“It’s not that I wasn’t before,” Iqbal said. “It’s just, now, I feel like I have motivation to meet new people and help them, and I feel like there’s a greater purpose in my life now. That purpose, fulfilling it, is becoming a huge deal to me. I’ve decided that I need to get involved in the community.”

Iqbal said just by dressing modestly, she’s already made new friends.

“I started using Instagram more and people started following my modest fashion blog and they really like it. I’ve found lots of friends. It’s been a great experience.”

Iqbal said her own style involves maxi-everything.

“I wear lots of different maxi-skirts,” Iqbal said. “I’ve got like, every color. People ask how many dresses I have, and I have a lot. I just really like how they flow. They’re not as restrictive as tight pants. I wear maxi-cardigans a lot, too, even though they get caught in notebooks a lot when I pass people. But that just starts new conversations, so it’s cool.”

Iqbal has also started working more with makeup.

“I just personally feel if my outfit is so upgraded, I should probably upgrade my face too,” Iqbal said. “I enjoy it. It’s art for my face.”

Iqbal said she wants people to know that dressing modestly, no matter one’s religion, is not hard to do.

“I know a lot of people think it’s not stylish to dress this way,” Iqbal said. “With Islam, people usually think of the head scarf and think it looks really boring, but you can be stylish, especially if you get the right fashion inspiration, like from me, and especially if you’re motivated.”