‘Bringing Up Bates’ Alum Katie Bates Explains Why She Changed Her ‘Dress Standards’

Bringing Up Bates alum Katie Bates is revealing the reason she ultimately decided to deviate from her famous family’s modest dress code.

“I’d say I’ve really only changed my actual dress standards one time, and that was about a year after I got married,” Bates, 25, revealed during a Saturday, September 5, Q&A via Instagram Stories after being asked about her decision to adapt her style. “I just got to a point where I wanted to really figure out for myself what I believed, what the Bible actually says and how we’d want to raise our kids.”

Katie is one of Gil and Kelly Jo Bates’ 19 children, who raised their large devout brood to follow strict modesty guidelines in adherence to their conservative religious beliefs. Katie, following in her family’s courtship traditions, married Travis Clark in 2021. (The pair share daughter Hailey, 3, and son Harvey, 23 months.)

Katie further explained on Saturday that she started re-examining the values she grew up with after her wedding.

“I came to my own convictions through that, but I also think there’s a lot of grace for people to land differently on some of these things,” the content creator acknowledged in her upload. “Since then, I honestly don’t feel like my standards have changed much. I think what’s changed more this year is what I’m comfortable sharing online.”

Katie continued, “I used to be more selective about certain things I shared, and now I’ve just chosen to share life more as it is, so some of it may seem new online even though it really isn’t new for me.”

Earlier this year, Katie revealed that she suffered a pregnancy loss just hours before Clark, 25, publicly apologized for his infidelity.

“I had an affair and repeatedly broke her trust. There is no excuse for what I did,” Clark wrote in a social media statement. “This was my failure and my responsibility alone. I know that words don’t begin to express the damage I caused or the depth of the hurt I’ve brought into her life, but I am truly sorry.”

Katie and Clark, who recently moved to Texas, have since been focused on working through their marital issues in therapy.

“At the end of last year, I made decisions I deeply regret. I’m disappointed, ashamed, and honestly, disgusted with myself,” Clark recalled via Instagram in March. “The last couple months have been humbling. A lot of hard work, therapy, time with God. I know I’m not owed anything, but I am desperately fighting for my wife and my family every single day.”