Four Things Wrong with Fashion Magazines (and one fun remedy!)
I’m back in Kodiak. It’s beautiful. Fall is my favorite season. But this isn’t about that. It’s about another kind of beauty.
On the way home from Europe, I bought a magazine in the airport.
I bought it because who doesn’t want to “be your best at every age”? Who doesn’t want to “future-proof your face”? and “take years off your neck”? And—I’ve been working like the dickens since I got home, preparing for the next speaking trip (leaving next Tuesday). A few moments of superficial de-stressing distraction? Check.
I haven’t bought a fashion magazine for years so I was, shall we say, astonished? It was hard to reconcile the fashion magazine’s pages with the dire daily News——impeachment proceedings, global warming, Turkey’s militarism, etc. And on the Church front, the heated debates over women in ministry, and so much more. Fashion magazines seem to live in their own etherized world, but then, I began to look more closely. I began to see some connections after all.
Is this outfit making a subliminal statement about women in ministry perhaps?
Maybe this fashion statement is a subtle commentary on the women running for president?
And of course there’s Demi on the cover——clearly addressing global warming:
This one, I think, is making a statement about the sexism in Nascar racing.
And this is surely pitched for an increase in military spending: for women’s uniforms.
(Check out the price tag on that lacy see-through Prada skirt that looks like the black slip I bought at Walmart for $10. And the cost of the boots . . . I know some widows, some unemployed, some homeless, some ministries that could really use those funds . ….)
I’m not against fashion. We all subscribe to fashion in some way, just as we all subscribe to some kind of worldview, theology and epistemology. Even if we can’t articulate precisely our beliefs about existence, meaning, God and truth we all live and breathe and build our lives around our assumptions. And we all wear clothes. (The nudist and the atheist may try to opt out of these systems, but no-clothes and no-god are both still aesthetic and philosophical positions.)
We can’t escape fashion—-but this magazine has given me reasons to want to. Here are four:
*I’m against the kind of fashion that believes you have to look wounded and miserable to be chic.
*I’m against anyone telling you can look fabulous at any age—-if you can pony up the cash for these threads and bags:
*I’m against the idea that as soon as you see your neck beginning to sag you consider a $24,000 plastic surgery. (that was the upshot of the one page article on “taking years off your neck.”)
*I’m generally against people telling you what to wear. (And how do you sort this out: the same issue proclaims it “earth tone season” also declares it “bold, bright color season?” It advocates wearing $549 sneakers with $1,949 skirts. I admit it: I’m confused.
Call me shallow, but I do care about clothes and fashion. I have a hard time passing up a thrift store and I love creating my own outfits. Nearly everything I wear is second-hand. When my closet gets too full, I send it off to our local Salvation Army, where my threads will get yet another life.
I’m waiting for the magazine that raids Goodwills, Value Village, Salvation Army, all my favorite haunts, posting cheerful models wearing creative, eclectic finds along with the happy price tag: $4.99. $11.99. Sign me up for that.
So where is the theology here? It’s there, like the stitches that hold our garments together, like the slip under a silky skirt. (No, not like spanx under a slinky dress, though Christ does, arguably “hold all things together.”)
I’ve written on fashion before. Today, my words are simple. We’re asked to Love God with all that we have, with all that we are. And to love our neighbors the same way. We do most of that with clothes on. So wear clothes that help you love God. Wear threads that help you love your neighbor. Wear clothes that make you smile and that lighten the loads of life. (But I hope that doesn’t mean a $3,000 pair of boots or a $495 pair of jeans.) Life under this sun is so heavy, but it’s also miraculous and colorful and full of surprises (just like a thrift store) so why not dress like it?
(How do you snap a photo by yourself? And I am indeed wearing flowers and polka-dots together today. Total cost of outfit: $23)
My thrift store ways now run in the family:
I’d love to hear your wisdom on this! How can we love God and one another through our dress?
(P.S. Elisa Morgan, author of “Hello Beauty-Full: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You” will be one of the keynotes at the first ever Wonder Years Gathering for women over 40. At Mt. Hermon, Feb 21 - 23. Her topic? True Beauty.) Registration is open now!))