Real Style

One evening several days before the 1963 high school prom at St. Mary’s High School, all attendees were required to bring their prom dresses to the convent for vetting by our principal, Mother Mary Cajetan. Everybody knew up front that no strapless dress would be approved—not, anyway, without added-on wide straps, improvised modesty panels and who knew what all, so why bother? Necklines judged too low would be raised with lace insertions. Spaghetti straps would be bulked up. Read More

Gary Swickley, owner and founder of Kosher Casual in Bet Shemesh, Israel, is not subtle. Naming his “fashionable yet modest” new clothing items “TeeNecks,” he very definitely had the New Jersey town in mind. “The socio-religious makeup of Teaneck is very much in line” with our customer base, said Swickley. “It was a great play on words that my wife thought of.” Swickley — an American immigrant to Israel with a Harvard MBA —said he works closely with Jewish schools in Bergen County, offering commissions from sales of his products. “Our customers want to wear the latest styles but need to revise them” to fit their needs for modesty, he said. Read More

Just last month as missiles rained down upon Israel, world Jewry responded by giving millions of dollars to reduce the suffering caused by the war. With Israelis now faced with restoring a once vibrant economy to its pre-war level, Jews living outside of Israel can play an important role in this recovery by increasing their purchase of Israeli-made products. FJN would like to recognize the efforts of several Hebrew day schools in South Florida and their relationship to Blue and White Kids, an Israeli manufacturer of school and camp clothing. The company produces a wide variety of the company's T-shirts, polo shirts, sweat shirts, sweat pants, pajama pants and skirts now being worn by students of the Brauser Maimonides... Read More

We interviewed Gary Swickler of Kosher Casual so we could learn more about their invention. Read More

Gary Swickley, an American-born Israeli, was one of the first to recognize the potential. He created “Sleevies,” a product that lengthens shirt sleeves; and TeeNecks, a bib-like undergarment that “covers cleavage” by raising the neckline. His company, Kosher Casual (www.koshercasual.com), has a retail warehouse in Beit Shemesh, and also sells “dress code” clothing to roughly 35 Jewish schools in the U.S. “Business is growing very, very well,” Swickley said. “We’re moving into to the Christian market as well. We do a whole lot of wholesale business to stores and home businesses, and to other retail websites.” Kosher Casual offers a variety of shirts with varying sleeve lengths and skirts “that stay below the knee even when a girl is sitting,” Swickley said. Swickley doesn’t know how many Christians have purchased his items, but said, “If I get an order from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, I know it’s not from a Jew.”