Part of the problem as I see it, is that the notions of what type of clothing is tzniusdig and what is not, DO tend to change from generation to generation, in spite of what many on this forum believe. There is a minimum level of what is agreed by all to be modest in dress. For example, the neckline and elbows must be covered, the knees must be covered, even when sitting down or getting in and out of a car. The clothing should not be too tight, or too flamboyant, so as not to attract undue attention.
What attracts attention, however, DOES often change with the times. There are people who hold that wearing a skirt that is floor length, is not tzniusdig. There are people who feel certain colors are not tzniusdig. There are people who only wear stockings with seams, or it is not tzniusdig ENOUGH.
If a woman were to cover her head ENTIRELY with a white or black turban, do you think people would not stare at her? Do you think that women wearing BURKAS are not being stared at? I find that to fit the definition of “attracting attention.”
I think we get so caught up in the minutiae, that we forget that some things are not a matter of lack of tznius, they are simply a matter of not looking so different from everyone else (within limits, of course), that everyone else is staring whenever we walk by. A pretty woman will attract attention, even when dressed in the most modest way she can. Should she NEVER go outside? (That will make it really hard for her hubby, the Kollel Guy, who needs her to go out to earn a living, so he can sit and learn).
And if a girl is “plainer” and less confident than other girls, should she never dress in a way that makes her feel a little more confident (again, within limitations), so that when shidduchim ARE redt to her, she feels attractive, thus enabling her to be more outgoing and personable on the date?
Not everything is untzniusdig. Twenty, thirty years ago, the concepts of tznius were a little different from those of today. Forty years ago, women who were ALL considered frum, wore short-sleeved blouses (some even wore short skirts). Sixty years ago, women whose mothers wore bun-shaitlech with tichlech on top, had daughters who wore cap sleeves. Their fathers could even have been rabbonim. No, not all girls did that, but girls who were considered unquestionably frum did so.
Our feelings about tzniusdig clothing have evolved somewhat, and we are more into covering up than those previous generations were. But what we are seeing today, is more of a reaction to the shmutz around us, than to the actual concept that the clothing is not so tzniusdig, IMO. If it were not like this in today’s society, maybe the rabbonim, like those of yesteryear, would not be so vocal about it as they are now, and attiribute all the ills of the Jewish kehillah, to lack of tznius. This is just my observation. I do believe women (and MEN) should dress and always act in a tzniusdig way.