My sister-in-law and I went shopping on King Street in Charleston and experienced some serious sticker shock. I think our fingers actually buzzed when we touched the price tags of baby clothes that were fifty dollars and simple cotton shirts for one hundred and fifty. Is this inflation or the price of high quality living? We returned home that day surprised that we did not have a single shopping bag for all our effort. Perhaps the Outlet Mall will be a better choice tomorrow. I did love the “window shopping” to see the finery displayed in tempting colors and styles. Where would we wear those pretty things now?
Do you remember when we dressed up more than two years ago? Fifty years ago my mother and I would put on our best dress on Sundays ( I believe I owned three). My father and brothers put on a suit and tie to go to church. Other occasions included holiday dinners at grandma’s house, funerals, and birthday dinners at a fancy restaurant. High School was especially exciting, dressing in long formal gowns for Prom. Men in Tuxedoes made us look like we were being escorted by royalty or Hollywood stars.
Flash forward. A year of no church, dining out or formal occasions. Many of us took to wearing sweats. My daughters refer to them as “soft” clothes as opposed to hard clothes. As we returned to church and fine dining, there seemed to be less emphasis on dresses and jewelry. The suit and tie have disappeared from law offices, pulpits, parties even before the pandemic. Now, people are working remotely and totally casual. Some will admit to wearing a nice shirt and have on pajama pants and slippers hidden from the computer screen while conducting meetings online.
Does dress code matter? Public as well as Parochial Schools started wearing uniforms because data showed that students had better behavior. Uniforms helped them feel a sense of equality. Teachers found that when they dressed up, they were shown more respect and students focused on their lessons better.(https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Dress_codes). Even so, pastors dropped the robes and ties to be more welcoming and approachable. Jesus did not ask anyone to dress up for the Sermon on the Mount. We picture him dressed as a shepherd or maybe a pauper who had given his cloak to someone who had none.
Mathew recorded Jesus’s words on clothes in chapter 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
Still I worry. Like so many others, I want to look good, fit in with the group, and show some creativity in my choices of color and style. Well, maybe it is not worry. I do trust God and sometimes Goodwill to provide what I need to survive. I think women enjoy shopping, because it is our form of hunting. We walk endlessly to find a bargain or a treasure. Our tracking device is the constant marketing and advertisements that lure us out of the house. We go as a team to spot an item among the racks and shelves, like men scanning the horizon for the rack of and elk or antelope.
After we bag a purchase it is off to tea. This is where many world problems are solved. We will survive inflation if we share our resources. We will hold onto our dresses for a time in the future when the style returns or occasion merits it. We will look forward to tomorrow with hope that God’s love will prevail and peace will return to the land.