Jinger Duggar Defends Her Decision To Wear Pants

Jinger Duggar, 25, is defending her decision to go against how she was raised to dress by wearing pants and her mother, Michelle Duggar, 53, is reacting to it. The reality star was spotted wearing a pair of pants while hiking the Hollywood sign with her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, 32, in the Oct. 22 episode of Counting On, and she later opened up to producers about her fashion choice, which is very different from the dresses and skirts she was expected to wear growing up, in an on-camera interview that was included in the series.

“Why did I decide to incorporate pants into my wardrobe? I think for me personally, my parents always raised us to honor Christ in everything that we do. That’s where the Lord’s led me as of now,” she explained in the episode. “Growing up, my parents instilled in us the importance of modesty. And so I’m really, really grateful for that foundation and for that training.”

She went on to admit that she discussed her decision to wear pants, which started after she married Jeremy in 2016, with Michelle and her dad, Jim Bob Duggar, 54, beforehand and was grateful for their support. “We had conversations before I started wearing pants and I just shared my heart with them and where I saw the Lord leading me,” she said. “I was really grateful for their response. They said just to walk with the Lord convictionally, and to seek to honor him and to maintain modesty.”

Michelle, who wore a different wardrobe when she was young, including pants, also appeared in an on-camera interview in the Counting On episode to discuss her own reasons for restricting her daughters from wearing pants while raising them in her conservative Christian home. “I had a lot of baggage in my life up until the age of 15,” she admitted. “When I was born again, my life totally changed. It was just transformed. And as I began to read the Bible and pray, the Lord really convicted me about the way that I was dressing. I had been known to mow my lawn in a bikini, and [had] not even a clue that that could cause someone else to stumble.”

“I realized that modesty was very important for me, personally, because I know that anything that I do can affect other people and I just read a passage in the scripture that said it’s not good for a woman to wear that which pertains to a man,” the mother of 19 continued. “And so the best that I knew, and how I understood, I obeyed my word, and I just felt like I should wear dresses and skirts. My girls, I just dressed them in dresses and skirts as well. Being that that was my personal conviction. I’m raising my girls to be modest and honor the lord in how they represent themselves.”

When asked how she feels about Jinger’s decision to wear pants, Michelle explained why she doesn’t see a problem with it. “It’s OK that my kids may have different convictions than me,” she said. “I know that he’s leading them, and that’s the most important thing.”