For years, fans of 19 Kids and Counting watched the Duggar daughters grow up. During this time it was clear they dressed conservatively, and favored long skirts as part of that look. As it turns out, due to growing up under the strict rules of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), daughters like Jinger Vuolo (nee Duggar) were actually tasked with avoiding pants.
This became a topic of interest years later, but at the time 19 Kids and Counting was still filming (the TLC show was ultimately canceled in 2015), not everyone had the same memo. In fact, Jinger Duggar recently recounted how photoshoots for the TLC series were always “challenging,” particularly given even some of the people adjacent to the show didn’t know exactly what the girls could and couldn’t wear.
They would have your picture there, usually next to the wardrobe thing. They would have your size, your style, general style, written out and that way they could keep everybody sorted. And yeah it was like, some things they would pick out, a couple of them didn’t realize that we didn’t wear pants. And so they would try to do jeans with like a longer shirt.
Speaking in the January 22 episode of their podcast, Jeremy and Jinger Vuolo spoke about how weird it was to be on a reality show, particularly when it came to going to photoshoots, which were “fun” but chaotic. Sometimes there would be a “surprise” and Jinger would be able to take home an outfit (Jeremy also once nabbed a great pair of Cole Haan boots), but other times the clothes were “too big” and needed to be pinned on.
The whole thing sounds like it was a big challenge.
Getting everyone, you know, in something they wanted to wear was always a little challenging. I was always a little nervous about that because I didn’t know what wardrobe they were going to choose. So that’s something where I was hesitant going into it. No [cutting edge]. They wanted it to look like we chose the clothes, even though we didn’t.
Of all of the Duggar defining characteristics that have been discussed over the years, the pants thing has been a public source of fascination. But Jinger Duggar previously said she’d given her parents a heads up when she decided to wear trousers mostly because she was worried there might be a “paparazzi photo” while she was out.
In a separate interview, Jinger also spoke about why her perspective about her wardrobe changed, noting it took a re-reading of The Bible in order to realize that some stuff is subjective.
I don’t need to only be wearing skirts to be pleasing to God… ‘don’t wear that which pertaineth to a man’ it’s like, ‘Well, I could look at that and say don’t wear pants ever.’ But that was a big verse that was used to say you should only wear skirts. …So, when I started searching these things out for myself [I realized], ‘Oh wow, it’s not all as simple as it seems.
In the same YouTube episode, her husband Jeremy also spoke out about other IBLP principles he just was not aware of before diving into a courtship with Jinger. He, for example, didn’t realize there were rules in place like he wasn’t even supposed to go to the “gym.” It was eye-opening for him to realize that so many people who’d grown up in the system she did had to “find a new identity” once they moved away from the structures of the church.
Which leads us to the Duggars relaxing some of the rules.
Jinger Isn’t The Only Duggar To Relax The Pants Rules
Over the last several years, most of the Duggar daughters have debuted moments where they have preferred sweatpants, jeans, or even the occasional shorts while out in public. Jessa Duggar was an early adopter of the trend, and Jinger was the first Duggar to publicly throw shorts on in an Instagram post. It’s clear as they have started their own families and moved away from the realm of reality TV the leading ladies are figuring out their own fashion do’s and don’ts.
These days, though we’ve even seen a photo of matriarch Michelle in pants. Suffice to say, I think the “no pants” rule has officially been relaxed.
In recent years, Jinger has been open about her upbringing. Though she credits Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar as giving her a relatively happy childhood, she said the world she grew up in had so many requirements and expectations she felt her entire life had already been mapped out. Then, she met husband Jeremy Vuolo and they made changes, including shifting their lives to the Los Angeles area, where Jinger subsequently wrote the books Growing Up Duggar and the more recent People Pleaser, both of which she called “hard” and “scary” because she was putting herself out there.
