Catholic Frumpiness

Kathy Shaidle at the soon to be renamed RelapsedCatholic Blog has taken the time to make several posts on the issue of Catholic fashion. Or maybe I should call it the issue of the Catholic lack of fashion. By this she, and I too, mean the general absence of any taste in clothing found in so many of the young men and women populating the 'Catholic revival'. Arm-pit level dress pants for boys, curtain skirts and mock head scarfs for girls - at age 20. You know what I'm talking about.

So I've decided to put together a few points - randomly right now, but maybe one day in order. Let's begin:

1) Fashion is OK. I am not by any means a stylish person, nor am I outrageously good looking nor blessed with an adonis-physique (quite the opposite). But I at least know that in our day and age, one needs to keep up at least minimally with the winds of fashion to be taken seriously by peers in our society. Jesus didn't wear animals skins, John the Baptist did, and people thought John was a pretty crazy guy and most people didn't listen to him, which was okay with John. Jesus from what we understand liked a good wine and party, spent a lot time in the market place, and He is God for goodness' sake. If Jesus kept up with fashion, you should too.

2) Dressing your children like they are headed to an audition for the re-union of Little House on the Prairie is not fair and possibly child abuse. It doesn't matter that they might be home-schooled or wear a uniform to school, they can still look good in public. The flood pants that were cute at age four are downright embarassing and repulsive at age 17. Parents please remember this.

3) Engage the culture with your beliefs, not with your clothes. This speaks for its self. People should not know how Catholic you are by your garb unless you are a monk, nun or priest.

That should do it for now.