Monday, November 12, 2012

Cautionary Add

I don't think it's any secret that I've undergone a pretty radical change in my thinkings, conviction, and lifestyle in the past five years or so.  Some of these changes have involved what I deem to be universal truths - values and lifestyle changes that have real worth and application to everybody.  But a portion of them are very personal.  Clothing and manner of dress is one of those "personal" things.  Honestly I really don't think that Christ cares how a person is dressed - I think that verses that speak about modesty are mostly referencing the heart and mindset.  I don't think that there's anything redemptive about dressing in a particular style or covering your hair or any of that.  And I think that what one Christian will feel God prompts her towards will not necessarily be the same as what the next woman feels.  For me, I've mostly been a woman (and girl) that dressed conservatively.  I think it started young, because I had such a desire to just grow up already (I remember distinctly wanting to either stay single my entire life or just skip over the whole dating thing and be married at once) and also an obsession with all things historical.  I loved Halloween not so much for the candy or any of that, but because I could dress up in historical costumes (which I was always begging my mom to sew for me, although she didn't really like sewing - I think she was glad when I was old enough to manage myself).  Even as a senior in high school, I convinced four of my friends to dress up as characters from Little Women (that's one extra, I know, but we had the four sisters and Marmee).  Of course I immediately claimed Jo, because that's just me.  ;)  But anyhow, I'm getting off-track.  As I've gotten older I've been drawn to a purposefully conservative (but hopefully elegant!) style.  I really love wearing skirts, which is something I wouldn't have said before - and the longer the better.  Because of this personal taste evolution, I've started watching a few blogs of women who have very stern convictions regarding dress and modesty.  I'm adding them onto my blog, but I wanted to add a vitally important disclaimer before I do: I do not agree with everything they say in the slightest.  For instance, a common complaint I've read is that society dresses in an androgynous manner (which strikes me as kind of funny, really, because there are very few people who you can't tell immediately what gender they are, even if they are in pants).  But then those very people are constantly complaining about the short skirts, tight pants, and cleavage-baring tops that are drawing men's eyes towards women in a lustful manner.  That doesn't add up, and I think therein lies the danger of trying to universally apply a "dress code" to Christians.  I'm also not an isolationist who believes that the secular world, public school, and feminism are damaging to our ability to be Christlike.  But I think there's room for lots of different "Christian" lifestyles and my particular style doesn't make me any more or less a Christian than theirs, so I've decided to go ahead and add it into my public blog reading list on the basis that anything that encourages me to dig and delve into the Bible more MUST be a good thing regardless of whether I agree all of their opinions or not.     


On a ever-so-minimally-related note - I am totally crushing on this skirt.  It is fleece!  Ah, the heavenliness of wearing clothing that is fleece.  It's handmade by a guy in Virginia, which I totally respect, and at $50, if I would wear it a lot, I think that's well worth it.  I'm thinking Christmas present to moi...

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