573 Let's Play Dress-ups

Remember when our mothers kept a box of dresses, old jewelry and worn out high heels so little girls could play dress-ups? I'm thinking churches need to have a "dress-up" day for adult women.

Today I was wearing a 10 year old blazer which was maybe $29 when new, a 4 year old white cable knit sweater bought on sale, and a skirt I bought for $10 last spring at Meijer's after winter sale. That's the good news. The bad news is, I was one of the best dressed women at church, and it was communion Sunday. They aren't alone. The only men I saw who were wearing suits were over 65. But I'm only addressing women here.

Please don't remind me that God doesn't care what we wear to worship. That's pretty obvious considering that Christianity is a world wide religion and 2000 years old. God has seen every imaginable style, fabric, adornment and head dress that can adorn a human body. My grandmothers both wore prayer bonnets. But that excuse has the faint ring of "I can worship God on the golf course just as easily as in a church." We've become so sloppy, so careless in our appearance, so casual, that I think we need a kick in the pants to jump start our pride, which certainly wouldn't be among the sins we confess at the altar these days.

I have never seen a woman who looked more attractive, graceful or feminine in pants than in a dress or business suit. Nope. Not even a $500 wool pants suit looks better than a $50 rayon dress. Especially women over 40. Doesn't happen. We have too many bulges, bumps and dietary indiscretions revealed in pants. Either our legs look like two sausages fighting for space in a tight package, or toothpicks flopping around in a round box. Perhaps a woman in snazzy slacks and layered sweater or dress jeans and jacket looks more stylish--if she were headed for a sorority meeting, the golf course, or a day at the mall--but she doesn't look like she stood in front of a mirror and said, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it."