What Do You Wear to Church? Why?

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.

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…