Let me begin by explaining that I went to a conservative Christian day school that required all girls to wear skirts and to have some sort of stocking on their feet. Since ankle socks with dress shoes were only appropriate for those 8 and under, most of us wore hose. (It seems so funny now that as a 12 and 13 year old, I was completely comfortable in hosiery!) Anyway, I had a drawer full of boxes of Leggs brand, mostly in black and nude, as those two colors covered the bases for all my leg-covering needs.
Fast forward to my freshman year at college, where I attended an equally (if not more so) conservative Christian Bible college that also required girls to wear nylons or tights. Since the fashion industry hadn't reinvented tights into the cool, lycra-infused samples we have today, most girls didn't wear them because of the dreaded "elephant ankles" they produced. So I packed up for college with my suitcase full of Leggs, prepared for them to last the entire semester, or until my mom offered to buy me more. Once again, nude and black were the colors of my choice.
Oh, mournful day, when my new roommates (older and wiser) informed me that no one wore nude hose on campus. They were soooo 80's. So there I was, with boxes upon boxes of nude hosiery, and wanting to fit in, I couldn't (or wouldn't) wear them.
I convinced my mom to buy me a few more pairs in the more acceptable colors of white and cream, and steeled myself to take extra care of them so that they would not develop a run and force me to wear the old lady shade.
And none too soon, I myself joined in making disparaging remarks about the clueless girls who dared to wear such out of date nylons.
I'm so ashamed of that girl, who was such a slave to fashion and popular opinion. And yet, I'm not that different now. Sure, I have less time to agonize over my wardrobe like I use to, and I'm learning to be confident in whatever I wear now, but all too often I find myself thinking way too much about what other people think of my clothes.
I'm still growing and trying desperately to remember that being clothed in Christ's righteousness is more important than any designer label, but the pull of fashion still has a few of it's claws in me. The funny thing is, looking back at pictures of myself in high school and college, I thought I was dressed so fashionably! And I laugh now at how silly I looked. I guess that is one of the lies of slavery to style - you look fabulous for a day, and the rest of your life you will be mocked for your choices. Thanks be to God that His clothing for us will never go out of style!
5 comments:
'soooo 80s'?!!! 'old lady shade'?!!! Now you tell me! Man! I should have been your friend in college - I woulda dressed so much more fashionably.... Oh well, at least I only wore nude ones occasionally ;o)
Oh, this cracked me up. I, too, attended hose-requiring schools. To this day, I avoid hose like the plague!
Just gotta tell you, my sister said that "our college" just dropped the rule of having to wear "hose" to class! Can't believe it! She says she still wears them (or leggings) during the winter for warmth since they still have to wear skirts. However, how sweet is it to wear just sandals and no itchy hose during the fall and spring?!! Guess we went to college a few years too early! ; )
Oh, the FREEDOM! I guess we did go a few years too early - especially since they can wear pants into town now, too!
I'm with Rachel -- why didn't you warn me then! :) I KNOW I sported nude hose. NOT suntan, but nude. . . :) Because suntan would have been horribly tacky. :)
My sister is at PCC and it's been a touch of reliving those dress rules for me (though I know she lives on the edge and does not get demerits for it). Such as. . . leggings!!! :)
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