Clothes...Not what they used to be.

Certainly, one of the most memorable sermons I have ever heard was by our good friend and Prof in college, Ted, who started his message with this sentence...

"Who told you you were naked?"

There is an unbelievable amount of theology in that sentence, but the most obvious effect of that little conversation between God and Man was people wearing clothes.

When I was in high school, I loved clothes. I had a closet jammed crammed full of things that looked good on me no matter how I turned in the mirror. I spent all my babysitting money on them...usually at the Salvation Army, though, even then.

Since having kids, though, clothes are not nearly as much fun. Things don't fit the same way. And I can't seem to figure out how to wear the clothes that are out there anyway. Everything looks like a series of raggedy pieces layered over more pieces of raggedy stuff.

Yesterday, I went shopping, all by myself, to try some of the new styles on and get an idea of what looks right. I found myself studying the manequins like one of those 3D computer pictures, hoping to see the REAL picture emmerge.

Here's what I discovered....ultra-low-rise jeans are NOT for me.

I did end up buying a few things...but I realized something.

I grew up attending Christian school, where we were required to wear dresses everyday. We also dressed up for church...I actually remember being told that it was inappropriate to come to Wednesday night service in pants....or rather "slacks." (Ugh, there's a word I hate, Tammi.) As a result of all those modesty talks over the years, I am ultra-conscious of being "too sexy" and I have a tendency to dress like Bea Arthur by default.

Anyway, so that's why I had so many clothes. I had dressy clothes, clothes for basketball and cheerleading, and play clothes for the 4 hours a day at home where I could wear jeans. And I had these separate wardrobes for years...during college, where we had to wear dresses, while teaching the first two years we were married and while working as the church secretary, except then I had to get new clothes becuase I my clothes were too dressy for work, but we still dressed up for church. Then I got pregnant and had to get another wardrobe. Then when we moved to Michigan, I was "just a housewife" so I didn't need my work clothes as much, but we still dressed up for church. I guess it was somewhere in the last few years that I have completely lost the need for dress up clothes, other than an occasioanal event. I've never EVER spent money on clothes I "just wear around the house." Which basically means that other than getting dressed to go to the grocery store or the Vintage, I wear rags, but not the fashionable kind of rags.

I've gone from needing three wardrobes to needing just one small one...and it's taken me this long to realize it!

Clothes are a big hairy deal. They really are. They give people a first impression of us and reveal our "status" in life. They reveal our hidden longing to stay young and thin, or to be taken very seriously. They can be modest or immodest. They are expensive, which means we have to find balance in our spending. Little kids in Guatamala make them for us, which means clothes are political. They keep the spark in our marriages and show our respect for one another, not to mention keeping us warm and comfy. And don't even get me started on dressing my kids because I'm probably living vicariously through them.

So, just in case you didn't have anything to ponder today, just think about clothes.