WWTPD?

I imagine I would have said something snotty to the woman, and wouldn't have said anything to shame my daughter. Maybe not the right answer though...

Me neither, I assumed they were maybe lycra mid-thigh things? That was part of what made me unable to imagine the scenario along with the possibility of a perv holding a phone camera under the table?? Possible I guess but not something that would have crossed my mind I don't think.

In this case she is talking about outerwear shorts worn over underwear, like your gym knickers. It's a thing here. When younger girls wear a dress or skirt, they wear a pair of shorts (they may be longer or short) to cover up a little more, usually fitted and made of lycra. It allows them to be a kid and run and play without without flashing their underwear to the world.

My 23-year old daughter still wears them, especially if her skirt is a little short. She doesn't like to get caught with her skirt flipping up in the wind.

I agree.

I think the woman was out of line to speak to you about it.

I would have struggled to not immediately whisper back "you need to close your lips and mind your business"

I agree.  Regardless of whether girls are wearing shorts under the skirt, IMO they should still be taught to be aware of what they are showing, how they are sitting when wearing a dress/skirt, etc.  

A number of years ago when some of my older nieces were late middle school/high school age, modesty shorts weren’t yet a thing here. They attended private schools and I believe the dress code was that they were supposed to have skirts that came to the knee, or maybe just barely above the knee. Those girls would roll the waist of the skirt up so their knee length uniform skirt looked like a mini skirt. My sister was constantly yelling after them, “Roll your skirt down! I can see your underwear and so can EVERYONE ELSE!” There were even a few times when she was walking up the stairs behind them in the morning and made them go back to their rooms to change underwear because they were wearing thong underwear under their uniform skirts and nothing else!     

I agree! 

Maybe that lady doesn't realize that most girls and boys where shorts underneath certain articles of clothing.  My girls wear dance shorts underneath skirts and my husband and my friends sons wear spandex type shorts under their longer gym shorts. 

OK, I'm going to admit my age here: I just turned 73. I never heard of modesty shorts or any of the other names for this apparel, and, like the lady in the restaurant, I would have assumed the girl was just wearing underpants. I probably wouldn't have said anything, but I don't think the woman was being rude--certainly, not intentionally. Her heart was in the right place, and she was probably a mom herself who was feeling protective toward a child who was not aware that she was revealing too much.

I agree with the previous poster who said that the woman probably felt a sisterhood with other women. When I was a kid, we wore skirts over full-length slips (and underpants, of course) to school. Girls would always advise each other, discreetly, if their underwear was showing. "It's snowing down south" meant that your slip was showing. I don't think there was any euphemism for underpants, because the skirts were long enough to hide them, and girls didn't do cartwheels on the playground unless they were very reckless.

I do think the girl's mom could have spoken to her daughter later, but adolescents tend to be embarrassed by any discussion like that, so there is probably no way to phrase it that wouldn't have resulted in the same embarrassment. Still, it would have saved the day at the restaurant.

Today, when I see young teens displaying too much of their anatomy in public (usually, wearing a top that is very low-cut or wearing flesh-colored tights with nothing over them), I have to bite my tongue, not to say anything, but I realize that they are following the fashions of a culture I'm too old to participate in. But since I'm from a different generation, I feel that it's not my place to say anything; I'm not their mother or sister or their school friend, and even if I said anything, they would not feel they were revealing too much or doing anything wrong. There are no standards or "rules" anymore! So it's best to just dress the way I feel is appropriate for me and let those young girls learn, the hard way, from their mistakes.

I used to stand daily behind a gaggle of private high school girls at Starbucks that would do the "roll the skirt up to make it shorter" thing before and after school. And they weren't wearing modesty shorts. This was within the last five years. It was like a walking Victoria's Secret commercial. Especially when they would bend over to pick things out of the cooler case in the front of the store. Needless to say, there were a lot of men that drank coffee there in the mornings...