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The importance of dressing well

Posted by tom | Jul 13, 2007

I must confess that I don't find dressing well a significant part of Making the most of college. During my decade at CMU I noticed a significant decline of the proportion of the student body which dressed oddly and a movement toward the more socially acceptable.  Possibly there was a change in the available applicants, maybe it was the economic reality that computer scientists/engineers were no longer going to be handed jobs for sure, but the Goths no longer are spread out on the floor near the center stairwell on the second floor of student center.

In high school, I had issues with dress at a summer program and I confess that I had an edge to me during the program, my senior year in high school, and my freshman year at Grove City College.

 I desired to wear what I wanted to wear to make a statement (i.e., as an expression of my being/personhood/identity) and I don't have much a sense of what is socially acceptable, its not intuitive.  Now Theresa buys the clothes (giving me a limited range) and advises me how to enable people to look beyond my appearence in order to listen to my words. Yes, there is discipline in this embodiment, but I must confess that socially acceptable dress as a vehicle for being heard still rubs me the wrong way (although my range for public expression may be more limited than others). Every now and then, I get away with something more creative . . . that is becoming harder and harder to do w/Hayley and Ellen keeping their eyes on me also ;-) Here's a part I found of particular interest, I wonder whether this rings true to you:

dressing well promotes respect for you. We are not just minds trapped in a skin suit. We are embodied creatures, whole people made in the image of God. We are made to do everything we do with all of us—body, soul, mind, and spirit. This means we don't exercise well when we're bored, we don't worship well when we're hungry, and we learn best when we take care of ourselves. I had a professor who was devoted to waking up at 4 a.m. every morning so he could exercise for about two hours before starting the rest of his day. He said he did it because staying physically fit helped keep his mind in shape as well . . .

Taking care of our appearance is part of caring for what God has given us and making the most of it. When we take care to dress well, we promote the same kind of well-being that comes from eating healthy food that tastes good. In an unfallen world, I suppose we might not wear clothes, but in the world we do inhabit, we can redeem our embodied existence even through small things like clothes. Making ourselves look good can be an act of worship, as we adorn what He has made and live lives dedicated to His glory.

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    I have to admit, I would have been hard pressed in college to determine who should win the award for the oddest clothing choices- you or my dear husband. That being said, in a culture that is overly obsessed with appearances, I'm not entirely comfortable with the suggestion that we need to care more about how we dress. I'm generally not in favor of slippery slope arguments, but it would be very easy to justify materialism as nothing more than "caring for what God has given us and making the most of it." I'll have to ponder this one a bit more.

    Posted by Becky, Jul 13 2007, 23:29

    I find that passage very unsatisfying on many levels. For starters, it claims that "dressing well" is as important to our well-being as exercise and proper nutrition. This is not self-evident and no supporting argument is provided.

    Secondly, it does not address the question of what it means to be well dressed. Does that mean fashionably attired? Does it mean "dressing up" instead of "dressing down"? And who gets to define all of those things? In what sense is Tom (as pictured) well dressed or not? I could certainly make an argument either way.

    Thirdly, I see a potential for this line of thinking to be at odds with the Bible's teaching on clothing from 1 Timothy 2 (particularly v. 9). The emphasis there is on modesty and simplicity, although I suppose a lot could be squeezed into the words "suitable" or "appropriate". If being well dressed means being fashionable, what does one do when the fashion is not modest or simple?

    Finally, at the risk of being guilty of sophistry myself, I would merely like to point out that those who strive to be well dressed are sometimes described as "slaves to fashion."

    Posted by Andy, Jul 16 2007, 10:43
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