Jinger Duggar Vuolo Once Never Wore Pants Because She Thought She Had to Wear Only Dresses 'to Please God'

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Jinger Duggar Vuolo is opening up about why shorts and pants were never a part of her wardrobe growing up.

"I thought I had to wear only skirts and dresses to please God," Vuolo, 29, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week's issue. "And if I step outside of what I think is expected of me, I would think God's going to be so displeased with me and it could bring harm on myself."

RELATED: Jinger Duggar Vuolo on Growing Up Under 'Cult-Like' Religious Beliefs: 'I Was Terrified of the Outside World'

Nolwen Cifuentes

Dressing modestly was just one of many rules Vuolo followed along with her ultra-conservative family.

The former star of TLC's 19 Kids & Counting and Counting On was raised by her parents Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle Duggar, 56 who were devout followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, an organization established by disgraced minister Bill Gothard in 1961.

The IBLP movement teaches that women should be subservient to their husbands and that followers should shun dancing, dating and much of modern popular culture. Jim Bob and Michelle have spoken at its seminars; Gothard, 88, led the church until 2014, when more than 30 women accused him of harassment and molestation.

Nolwen Cifuentes

RELATED: Jinger Duggar Vuolo Remains Supportive of Josh Duggar's Wife Anna and Their Kids: 'I'm Always Here'

In 2017, Jinger walked away from the organization and is sharing her journey in a new memoir Becoming Free Indeed, which details how she left behind her childhood fears and embraced a new life — one still based in faith but no longer commanded by one living man.

Thomas Nelson

"That's the beauty of this journey," she says. "The teaching I grew up under was harmful, it was damaging, and there are lasting effects. But I know other people are struggling and people who are still stuck. I want to share my story, and maybe it will help even just one person to be freed."

Watch the full episode of People Features: Jinger Duggar Vuolo below

As for how her family feels about the changes she's made, Jinger says she still has a good relationship with the Duggars.

"It's been years of us discussing with my parents," she says. "When I first started wearing pants, I had conversations with them about that and let them know, this is what I see in the Bible."

She continues, "People can say what they want about your changes and how you got there. But ultimately we've just sought to be really gracious and hopefully patient with my family and share those things. I understand we can be in totally different places and come to different conclusions, and at the end of the day they will go on their journey and I'm on mine and each of us can arrive in different places at different times. We've just sought to talk about those things and at times just agree to disagree."