Rebelutionary Startups: Glarity and Christa Taylor
One of the keys to success in any business venture is to identify a need and then fill it. If that is true, we can expect great things from two new start-ups — one gearing up for launch and the other just over half-a-year-old, both headed up by teams of Christian young people — Glarity Media Store and Christa Taylor.
Glarity Media Store :: Unashamedly Christian
Brothers Alex (18) and Michael Poythress (24) knew that there are thousands of talented Christian artists producing excellent, God-honoring media but with no effective distribution channel for reaching the millions of consumers looking for this kind of family-friendly content.
Whether it be music, movies, conferences, or podcasts, Alex and Michael recognized that Christian families did not have access to high-quality Christian media and that many of the artists who were creating this media did not have access to Christian families.
Joined by tech-whiz, David Boskovic (18), they are working to build Glarity.com, an online Christian media store that brings artist and consumer together by creating a universally-accessible marketplace for previewing, purchasing, and downloading quality media from Christian artists around the world. Alex and I are honored to serve in an advisory role as board members for Glarity.
As of yesterday Glarity.com is accepting music and video submissions in preparation for the store’s upcoming launch. The first 100 artists registered will be invited to join a beta-test group of the store.
Check out their recent newsletter which reveals many of the key features that will make the Glarity Media Store a blessing to Christian artists and consumers around the world. Then, spread the word to your families, friends, and churches.
Fashions for the Empowered Traditionalist
Christa Taylor, the name behind the name, is a twenty-year-old rebelutionary from Washington State. For her the empowered traditionalist dream grew out of an infuriating, yet all too common experience. As a young lady, Christa encountered weeks of frustrating shopping trips — trying to find modest clothing that was also attractive and fashionable.
Finding modest swimwear was an especially long and arduous affair, entailing lengthy searches of both websites and retail stores to no avail. So she went to the drawing board and designed a new modest swimsuit that satisfied her desire for style and attractiveness. She calls it “modish,” a blend of “modest” and “chic.”
Christa now spends her days discovering and designing fine, modest clothing, long skirts, swimwear, and accessories for young women that buck the trends of fashion, yet stand out for stylish modesty. Her website, Christa-Taylor.com, was started in order to serve other Christian women in finding modest clothing and swimwear that matches their goals of modesty and style.
Introduce yourself to Christa-Taylor.com by participating in their Make A Wish Contest — your chance to win $150 worth of chic, Christa Taylor merchandise. Head over to the contest page for details and drop by Christa’s blog while you’re at it.
Business for the Glory of God
We are so excited about the work being done by these and other young people who see their work as a ministry, as well as a business, who seek to address real needs for the glory of God. It is our prayer that they can do well by doing good, and that each of you would participate in their vision and be inspired by their examples as you do your own hard things for the Audience of One.
For further reading on the topic of business we would recommend Business for the Glory of God by Wayne Grudem — 96-pages of sound biblical advice.
Actions: Glarity Newsletter / Make A Wish Contest
August 7th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
This is great! This is what it’s all about. Thanks for the links.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
There’s only one swimsuit?
August 7th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I am a little concerned with Christa Taylor’s clothing; I don’t find it modest in the least bit. Her clothing draws attention to her body in ways that it should not. I think that girls are to dress in a way that draws attention to there face, but not their body, as I see Chista Taylor’s clothing is.
As a young Christian girl I am always on the look out for modest clothing. So I was at first excited to hear of another modest clothing website, but was dissapointed as I looked through everything Christa Taylor has and found nothing that I would even consider buying. There was not one top that didn’t look too tight or that wouldn’t draw attention to my body in a way that my father would aprove of nor is honoring to my Heavenly Father.
August 7th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
How exciting. I have visited Christa Taylor’s site before, and love it. Glarity.com promises to be an excellent resource!!!
Thank you Christa, Alex, Michael, and David, for making these things available & for promoting godliness in your businesses!
~Bess
August 7th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Ariadne: How many swimsuits have you designed in the past six months?
Give her a little time and I think you’ll see more options. Thanks for asking!
Abigail: We are happy to point people to Christa Taylor for the same reason we point people to The Modesty Survey — not because she somehow defines modesty for everyone, but because she is a resource for thoughtful people. Each person must decide for themselves whether Christa Taylor’s clothing is sufficiently modest using the same discernment they would exercise elsewhere. If I may be so bold as to suggest it, I see in your dissatisfaction the potential seeds of a new modest clothing line headed up by Abigail R.
August 7th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
^ For Abgail. When i first looked at the clothes from her website, my first reaction was Wow, cute (And even modest). They were even certain outfits that i wouldn’t wear because they didn’t fit my personal taste in clothes . Overall i think they have a good line when it comes to tightness. It’s tight enough to show that they’re a woman yet loose enough to say that you’re a lady. Just thought i throw in my two cents.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Oh dear, I think this whole modesty issue is getting dangerous. I had a look on Christa’s site and her clothing is lovely and modest without being ridiculous.
I think we better all be careful about judging someones ‘Godliness’ based on the clothes they wear. We are no better than the pharisees in the bible if we do.
Are we going to start judging someone the minute they walk into our church? Like “Oh dear she is wearing a strapless dress… she obviously is not walking right with God…”
If a girl who in her innocence (yes it is possible) wears a strapless dress to church and another ‘modest’ girl judges her for that, who is more right with God?
Of all the moral bandwagons to jump on is this one really worth writing a hundred columns and articles about? Would Jesus, who hung out readily with prostitutes and tax collectors and spent more time telling off the pharisees for their bad attitudes (the attitude that you have to act and speak and even dress a certain way to be worthy of God)
pat us all on the back for our efforts or convict us of our proud and judging hearts?
August 8th, 2007 at 2:46 am
Just a note too. I do not in any way condone deliberate immodesty by anyone.
However neither do I believe that a girl’s walk with God should be evaluated by the clothes she wears.
I do also believe there needs to be basic guidelines set by a church for its congregation in relation to modesty.
I just do not want a non-christian to walk into my church wearing a tight top and feel completley isolated and ostrosized by other members of the church because of her immodest clothing. I do not want our ‘laws’ to be a stumbling block to her coming to christ.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:06 am
While I do agree that you can focus on one thing too much, modesty is an important factor in how others (nonchristians) see us. Yes, WE should NOT judge a person by their clothing, makeup, etc., but we need to be aware that people are looking at us and ARE judging us by our clothing. It is a very difficult subject to say definitely, for everyone, that this ______ is not appropriate. Many people have different views and standards for modesty.
That said, back to how others see us.
I walk in wearing a tube top, super mini skirt that peeks, and super heavy makeup, I can be the nicest person in the world, but people are going to judge me by what they saw first. Or I can walk in wearing a modest shirt, skirt and and a parent approved amount of makeup, looking modest but cute, and have a wonderful attitude. “Man looks at the outward appearance…”
I do not believe that what we wear is a factor of whether we are a christian or not.
I do believe that our first impressions, for good or ill, reflect back on us as christians and as teens and young adults.
What I suppose I am trying to say is really, that yes, we can go overboard on the importance of modesty, it really is an important thing, and I think that what Brett and Alex are really trying to do is give us help with modesty in a world that keeps trying to be increasingly immodest. There is almost no emphasis on modesty in the world of media,etc. They are giving us valuable resources that we can look at, whether we agree with the standard of modesty or not. Their website is all about giving us resources to live the way God wants us to live, devotions, hard work, living our faith, etc.
Thanks for the information, and thanks to all those who are trying to live up to Gods, their parents and their own personal standards in modesty.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Sheridan: Excellent thoughts. You might be interested in listening to C.J. Mahaney’s message “The Soul of Modesty” — towards the end he does an excellent job addressing the idea of non-Christians walking into church and being ostracized for how they dress.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I’ve been reminded time after time, that modesty comes from the heart. Modesty can not be strictly set down in a book of rules, despite our best efforts it seems to become to sticky. Soon we get out our measuring sticks and start seeing how much we can get away with and still carry the label “modest”. I would just like to point out that you can ware a sack with an immodest attitude. True modesty comes, not from legalism, but from an attitude. The heart of modesty is not wishing to make our brothers in Christ stumble.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Sheridan: You are right that we should be careful not to judge someones ‘Godliness’ based on the clothes they wear. I did not mean to be judging Christa Taylor herself, but her clothes. I think that we most definitely are suppose to judge the clothes, whether or not we think that they are modest. I was judging Christa’s line of clothes not other people, epecially non-christians. I agree with you, I don’t want to be a stumbling block to the non-christian who walks into my church imodestly dressed by my judging attitude. She may still feel isolated but I hope she will feel loved by my friendliness to her.
I think that we need to be careful that our standards are not just a little higher than the worlds. When we compare ourselves with Christ things look far different. We can’t let the world dictate to us what our style and fasion is, but rather the Bible.
Brett: Actually, I had already been thinking about starting a modest clothing line, so thanks for the encouragment!
Hilary: Thank you for reminding us of a very good point. Modesty comes from the heart. I hope and pray that I will never make a brother in Christ stumble by what I am wearing and that my attitude will always be pleasing and honoring to God.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
I totally agree with all of you in that modesty is an important part of a christian’s walk.
Every day I choose to love and serve my God according to His Word. I am careful to question my heart motives in relation to how I dress. But I also have realized how much of a stumbling block modesty and other good issues can be in my walk with God.
I have to be honest, before reading a whole heap of christian blogs I was blissfully unaware of certain elements of christianity that some of these christians deemed vitally important!
For instance, one girl wrote on her blog that she felt ’sad’ that other girls wear pants. Apparently wearing pants is unladylike and immodest according to her. She also stated that she was thankful she wasnt like those other girls! (Reminded me of the pharisee that prayed out loudly in the town square ‘thankyou Lord that I’m not like the tax collector!’)
Another young man openly stated that he believed girls that didnt wear a head covering were unGodly and immodest. He even stated that he would not even consider marrying a girl that didnt wear a covering because she wasnt Godly enough!
I sat reading these blogs absolutley shattered upon the realization that I obviously wasnt a good enough christian because I wear pants and no head covering!
So began about 2 months of self-condemnation and serious bible reading!
Romans chapter 14 was my saving grace on this subject.
I do realize that modesty is very necessary but how far do we take it? upon whose standards are we basing our stances? Is God really concerned when I wear pants? I dont believe so, but others do. Am I then not worthy of certain men’s respect because I do not meet their standards? how easily legalism and self-righteousness comes rushing into these areas!
August 8th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Brett:
cheers for the link. C.J is excellent at creating a balance on these issues.
August 9th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Thanks, guys, for posting those links - both are wonderful examples and resources. I am especially impressed at Christa Taylor starting her own modest clothes line being only twenty - that should surely encourage us that we don’t have to wait until we are “all grown up” to do something big!
August 9th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Yeah, you’re right, Brett. I guess I’m a little impatient for some pretty yet modest swimwear.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Ariadne: I have a friend that makes pretty yet modest swimwear.
She does a wonderful job! Though it is quite a different style than what Christa makes. 
You can go [url=http://comstox.com/page/1fhfj/Modest_Swimwear.html]here[/url] for more info.
August 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Well, it doesn’t look like the link worked. Sorry about that. But you can to http://www.comstox.com and then click the “Modest Swimwear” button.
August 9th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
I think that it is wonderful that a young lady has taken a stand and has started her own clothing line and that her intention is to help other young ladies find modest, fun clothes
August 9th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
I saw your friends bathing suits, Tiffany, and I fell in love…I want one!!!
August 10th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Tiffany,
I agree with Lucy—your friend’s suits are very cute! Thanks for sharing.
-Bess
August 10th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I really appreciate you guys making us aware of “rebelutionary start-ups.” It makes us aware of “alternatives” to the typical resources out there.
However, being a girl looking for modest apparel, I really appreciate the link to Christa Taylor
August 10th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I love Christa Taylor! She’s one of the only modest AND trendy clothing options I’ve found.
August 11th, 2007 at 9:15 am
First of all, I must make a HUGE apology for not commenting. Though I do sometimes forget to read the blog, I do read it, and love it, and should tell you all through comments. I’m sorry.
Thank you for sharing these two new neat opportunities! I will continue to take a good look at Christa Taylor’s clothing, a lot of it is very nice.
God bless you all in your endeavors.
Sheila
August 11th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Thanks Tiffany!
I guess modesty is defined differently by everyone. Some people may think shrugs draw too much attention to your chest, for example, and others may not have a problem.
I definitely feel that we should not judge people by their clothes. As for me, I want to help(not distract!) the guys around me, and set an example for my girlfriends.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I love Christa- Taylor! Mrs. Mount (I think some of y’all know her) told me about her store/business and what a great resource it is. thanks for sharing about it!
August 15th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Hay brett, do you know when the glarity store will be open, and will it have other christan artists that have been around for awile or just new people?
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