Happy Wednesday friends!!
Today, I have a very-important question for you:
What do you wear to church?
Truth be told, I’m a little bit all over the place. I grew up in a more traditional Baptist church, and we always dressed up for church – ruffles, tights, patent-leather Mary Janes, and even a hat on special occasions. My dad wore a shirt and tie (if not a full suit) every week.
from The Mindy Project – via theBerry.com
Then, when I was in high school, I went to a more contemporary church and loved the fact that I could wear jeans on Sunday morning. I was all about casual church… for a while.
I’ve told you before that I’ve dressed “like a mom” since I was a teenager, and that absolutely was true when it came to church… Once the novelty of wearing jeans to church wore off, I found that I actually enjoyed “dressing up” a little for church – even though (maybe especially because) I didn’t have to. In college, I wore jeans and t-shirts (well, actually jean skirts, Polo t-shirts, and pearls if we really want to get technical – I went to college in the SOUTH y’all) every single day, so Sundays were a nice opportunity to wear something else. Mostly, I wore sundresses, “dress pants” and “cute tops,” or a skirt and a blouse.
Similar to this:
But, now, as a working mom, those clothes are strikingly similar to what I wear to work every.single.day. (Of course, back then, I could comfortably wear a pencil skirt and a sleeveless top – these days, I’m a bit more “covered up” if you will.) Somehow, the idea of ironing (ha, let’s pretend I actually do that), or even just putting a lot of effort into what I wear, is a lot less appealing these days…
I still try to look nice, but I’d say I wear jeans about 85% of the time during the school year.
More like this:
Interestingly, since it’s summer now and I’m out of school (and back in shorts most days), I’ve noticed that I’ve started dressing up more for church again. Maxi dresses, skirts, etc. This wasn’t necessarily intentional, it just kind-of happened. But, coincidence? I think not.
And this (in the summer):
To be clear (and I realize some people may disagree with this statement), I really don’t think it matters what you wear to church. Worship, fellowship, scripture teaching – all of those things can happen whether you are wearing your “Sunday best,” jeans, or – for that matter – pajamas.
I choose what I’m going to wear to church based primarily on a.) what’s clean, b.) what I haven’t already worn during the week, and c.) what makes me feel good about myself. I try to look nice not because I think Jesus cares – goodness knows he has “seen” me at my worst – but because I always try to look (at least decently) nice out in public. 🙂 I do think there is some level of respect that should be adhered to in church – for example, I wouldn’t wear a mini skirt (not that I ever do), my bathing suit, or probably even just shorts and a tank top to church. That said, I wouldn’t judge you (or at least, if I did, I would know I was wrong to do so) if you did either. Make sense?
What about you? What do you wear to church? Why? Do you have strong convictions about attire for church or are you more like me? (Let’s have a healthy – read: nice – discussion, OK?)
E
*All items pictured in the outfits above are at JCrew Factory now. Lest you think I have the best wardrobe ever, rest assured that these are just things I would wear – I don’t actually own any of them. 😉
P.S. My blog/sort-of real life friend Kendra (who has seven kids btw) wrote a really thought-provoking post about “Why What [We] Wear Matters” on her blog Monday. It is definitely worth a read, and I’d love to hear your opinions on what she had to say…
This is great! I am pregnant and in that weird in between phase where I’m almost too small for my normal clothes but not quite big enough to pull off maternity (slash not ready too). I actually wore “dressy” shorts with a nice shirt and cute flats to our traditional church on Sunday and was extremely anxious about it! All morning I repeatedly asked my husband if I looked okay or if he thought anyone would say anything and of course, no one did!
Thanks E! You really need to figure out how to make those clothes actually part of your wardrobe, they are super cute. And I say we bring back mom pearls.
I agree Kendra!!! E has a beautiful set of “mom” pearls that I think she should wear, at least to church!!!
I do agree that when I am more casual during the week (as I am most of the time now as a SAHM) I enjoy dressing up on Sundays because I have nice clothes that I want to wear. When I was working and dressing up every day though, jeans and a cute top were my church go to. I’ve had days where I’ve worn something more casual to church or more dressy and both times felt self conscious about what I’ve worn and I’ve come to this conclusion: no one cares! No matter they age they’re probably thinking more about their own outfit than ever noticing yours! Ha! It’s been freeing for me to dress in something that makes me feel good and helps me focus on worship.
Cute outfits!
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I feel like we are on the same page, ha!! During the school year, when I’m dressing up every day, I like to be more relaxed on Sundays. Or rather, I want to wear something DIFFERENT than my Monday-Friday clothes. Mostly during the summer, I am a sun-dress, sandals, and of course, I love my pearls!! 🙂
I enjoyed this post! I think we wear similar clothes to church – it depends on my mood, but sometimes I’ll wear a nice jeans outfit, or sometimes I’ll wear a skirt or dress. I do think it’s more respectful to at least look “nice” at church – as opposed to looking like I just rolled out of bed or came from the gym or something. I don’t have any scriptural support for that, it’s just a personal preference. I’m also one of those people who think that the general public could stand to take a step up in the level of formalness for almost any occasion though.