If I could design a clothing line, as one kind reader suggested, the outfits would probably look a lot like this one from The Peruvian Connection. They have a lot of pretty clothes, as does Soft Surroundings. It is nice to get ideas from catalogs and then go down to the mall to find something similar...on sale.
UPDATE: Christine has a post on the same topic.
Christmas is right around the corner. Richard has a link to some wonderful, homemade soaps, which would make great Christmas gifts. Share
11 comments:
Gorgeous.
I read the post yesterday where you lamented hideous dressing by some groups of Catholics. I do not like some of the "modesty" style guides proposed by Catholic women, they are horrendous and look like the woman is wearing an ugly bag. I love style and hope you can promote stylish dressing-using scarves, etc. Alice von Hildebrand is a lovely example. Her husband would take her abroad every year to buy clothing, colorful suits and scarves. She is the epitome of modest style, a woman who carries herself with dignity and she looks Catholic-- naturally beautiful, with personality---and she's in her 80's!
On the other hand, I know some women who have let their appearance "go" because they have suffered from depression and mental illness and are suffering interiorly in such a manner that causes them to lose interest in art, beauty and life itself. When I lament poor fashion, I do not mean to include this group of women. I am thinking of healthy sorts who deliberately dress with little care, thinking they are better Christians. One time a woman chastised me for wearing mascara! I was totally upset, and young at the time, and this confused me. Thankfully, with research and study I realized there can be a misunderstanding of the role of beauty in the world---the world has high jacked the beauty of God's creation, has over sexualized everything, and often our reaction is to throw the good out with the bad.
Thank you for promoting feminine beauty--it is being eroded in our culture.
Thank you for your reflections, SF. Yes, Alice von Hildebrand dresses beautifully, and with that continental flare.
Yes, people who are seriously ill cannot always help themselves. I do think that dressing in shapeless baggy clothes can certainly add to depression, if one is prone to it already. Sometimes, a little thing like a nice sweater or pretty scarf can boost one's morale.
I know what you mean about those who dress plainly out of piety and then are quite critical of ladies who want to dress modestly but attractively. But it is a severe misunderstanding of piety. I am working on an article about this for "Canticle."
Some think that JP II's theology of the body, the body as the external expression of the person, will do much, as it is promoted, to cut off this unhealthy puritanical understanding of the role of beauty/ or the lack of beauty equating itself with virtue.
But currently this false idea runs rampant in circles of devout Catholic women....the idea that hideous dress = holiness.
And of course we should, I can hear the objections, avoid vanity, but personal expression and simple beauty does not make one vain. Actually a false sense of self importance because one has stripped beauty from their life and clothing, could actually be a form of vanity......and when you fast, be certain to comb your hair.:>
"And when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face." Matthew 6: 17 Thanks for recommending that quote, SF; the entire passage of Matt. 6:16-18 is worth pondering once in awhile. I hope that Pope John Paul's theology of the body does help people get over this new puritanism. But, too often, love, marriage, spirituality are all reduced to the details of NFP; even love becomes mechanized for some of our devout young people, already surrounded by a utilitarian society. No wonder they take refuge in colorless androgyny.
Sigh, that picture looks like me before I got puggy. ;) That is the sort of outfit I wore to work everyday in the colder months. I like conservative bohemian, or classic with a twist.
Now that I'm shaped more like an oak than a twig, I have to wear empire waist or longer tops with no belts.
VERY nice!
I know exactly what you mean, Alexandra! And I like the conservative Bohemian look, too!
Thanks, Jeff!
"the world has high jacked the beauty of God's creation, has over sexualized everything, and often our reaction is to throw the good out with the bad."
So true, SF.
And a lovely ensemble, Elena.
Thank you, Christine. And there are many other similar lovely outfits on that site.
Oh bother, "puggy"? I meant pudgy, not puggy which sounds like I resemble a Pug dog. I do like Pugs...pudgy pug - that's me. ;)
Ha, ha, I knew what you meant!
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