That evening we were going to dinner with some good friends to celebrate our friend’s birthday. I was torn and battling in my head: do I stick to my static wardrobe experiment or do I take a cheat day. Up until this point, the only cheat day I had taken was for Easter. I could have easily worn my jean skirt, white collared shirt and my dressier shoes, and my fun big necklace. But somehow the thought kept coming to me that if I wore my static wardrobe and did not dress up, I was disrespecting my friend, as well as disrespecting his special day. Even donning my white collared shirt, my static wardrobe is much more casual than my usual party dress. Even though in Charlotte it is perfectly acceptable (if not stylish) to wear a white collared shirt and jean skirt to an upscale grill restaurant on a Saturday night. I would also never want to offend my friend because of my experiment, and I really wanted them to know that what mattered to me was them. Honestly, I could break from my experiment to celebrate a special day.
My husband and I discussed it because I was torn. We decided the right thing to do was dress in a cute dress and forget the experiment for the night. I was super excited to shop my own closet for the first time in a while! When I put on my favorite leather dress, I thought, “well, this is a little too much celebration and I really don’t want to draw attention to myself on someone else’s birthday.” So I chose my perfectly respectable 40s-style plaid dress. It’s beautiful and cute, and not too eye catching or revealing. The dress was perfect and I was excited to celebrate our friend!
Fashion Rules: We have talked before about the rules of fashion and how they have gotten really slack over time, and the old rules really do not apply. Like wearing white at certain times of the year, or open toed shoes or slips with a dress. But I will venture to say, I think there is a new set of Fashion Rules. These rules are more geared to people and location and the actual event. For instance, we used to attend a very formal church; dressing for Jesus and in respect for worshiping the Lord was very, very important. We even had a women’s talk on why you dress for the King. In a nutshell, it was like, if you had a visitation with the King or Queen of England, would you wear your ripped jeans, tee shirt and flip flops? The point was you should give the Lord that same respect in meeting for worship on Sunday as you would a high level official. I remember several years ago (maybe more than several … time runs together, doesn’t it?), a group of students were being honored by President Bush, and two of the students wore flip flops. The press went crazy! For weeks highlighted pictures of these two girls were debated and talked about. I heard options both supporting and against the choice. But overall, the line seemed to fall on the side of it really was not respectful of the office of President to meet in something so casual as flip flops (FYI). They were not fancy flip flops, they were one step above shower flip flops. Bottom line, whether she thought she looked cute, or her feet hurt from her other shoes, it really did not matter. The rule still applied: she was disrespecting the office of the President by not dressing appropriately.
We are now member of a church that is much more casual. People don’t wear sweats or yoga clothes, but they certainly don’t have to be fully decked in traditional “Sunday best,” either. I feel totally comfortable and appropriate wearing my static wardrobe to church. At this church the message is surely Jesus loves you however you are dressed. It is very much a come as you are mentality. As long as your heart is in the right place to worship the King, it really doesn’t matter if you wear jeans or flip flops. The Lord won’t feel more respect from you if you wear your Sunday best. Particularly if your heart attitude going in is one of indifference and checking off the Christian box at church. “Let’s dress really nice and show up and be seen, then go back to our lives.” I would venture to guess that the Lord would be more pleased when His people show up in jeans and a tee shirt, but with a heart of genuine humility, wanting to learn and grow closer to the Lord, and seeking to love others.
Tip of the day: Evaluating the situation, and determining if it is socially ok (for the setting), loving and respectful of others to wear your static wardrobe is important. By all means, just do not blindly wear your static wardrobe in all situations – it just does not work and whether you know it or not you’re embarrassing yourself!