Day Twenty-Two

"Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak."

-Rachel Zoe 

I recently decided to accept a challenge from my heavenly Father as a small way to be like the rest of the world. 

Statistics say 70-80 percent of the world live in poverty. So I guess I'm considered one of the "lucky ones" then. While I still have to be conscious about the way I spend my money, I'm not desperately searching for my next meal. 

So what do poverty and fashion have in common? I've learned from the time I've spent traveling on the mission field, those people we would consider "less fortunate," don't worry about what they are going to wear or spend an unreasonable amount of time deciding their outfit for the day, in fact they simply just wear what they have. Regardless if it's clean or dirty. 

I remember when I was living in Nicaragua, spending my days with most of the same kids, and being able to recognize when somebody had a birthday. How? Because most of the time, birthdays were the only occasion they got new clothes. I was able to recognize this not because I kept tabs on what they wore or noted when they arrived to class wearing dirt stained shirts. No, it was because when they wore something new, they wore it proudly. And usually their new shirt was worn with styled hair, their nicest shoes, and accessorized with a smile. The biggest smile. 

To them, new clothes, even if it was just one shirt, was associated with thoughts like "someone loves me" or "someone cares about me." They didn't purchase  something just because they could. I found it true that they bought things with purpose. Often, working hard and saving up enough money to make that happen. 

A North Dakota State University study says 55% of first impressions are based solely on the way you dress. Obviously, clothing says a lot about a person. So what does your wardrobe say about you? 

Regardless of what our society says, I want people to look at me and see a daughter of the King. I want people to see someone who is caring and kind. I want it to be known by my clothing that I care about God's people. 

Coco Chanel says, "beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself." So let's set the fashion trends and name brands aside, and chose to be ourselves. Be the unique you filled with purpose and God given passions, and let that you be expressed through what you chose to wear. 

Regardless of how my 21 day challenge impacts you, it has shown me how insignificant the materials we clothe ourselves in actually are. For the last 21 I looked basically the same. I lost count of how many days I wore the same pair of jeans in a row. I wore the same chambray  button up probably 5 days out of the week, and no one seemed to notice. Nor did someone make a comment about how I literally wore the same pair of shoes 21 days in a row. 

Maybe what we wear isn't as important as what we have made it out to be. Perhaps we put too much value in  insignificant matters. 

So to sum up what I've learned; 

"Buy less, choose well, and make it last." 

-Vivenne Westwood

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"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

Colossians 3:12