By Brenda Black
I lived during the 70's. It wasn't
pretty back then. Big chunky shoes, gaudy patterns and way too many
gigantic stripes running all the wrong directions. Either the
dresses were too tiny or they were tent-like. Jump forward four
decades and a visit to the mall is blinding! It's 1972 all over
again.
Gargantuan blooms in vivid hues and
more horizontal stripes than the tiniest of figures can handle. They
all screamed from rack after rack like a bad dream that just kept
repeating itself.
No matter the name on the store, the dress
selections barely covered the derriere or they kissed the ankles.
And heaven forbid if you looked for a mid length. The mullet dress
was the only alternative. What a mistake! Whoever designed these
train wrecks didn't know how to conduct business up front or
have a party in the back.
I tried to find the least offensive
options and wriggled in to a dozen or so with absolutely zero
success. If the cut even came close to workable, good ol' polyester
ruined the possibilities. I tried on one little number that weighed
more than my hefty Labrador, it was so decked out in layers. I left
feeling discouraged, far from stylish and basically mauled by yards
and yards of ugly.
No dress. How about shoes? Again, an
adventure of extremes. Either flat or frighteningly steep. I'm past
the point of heels that make my nose bleed. My back can't take it, my
calves cry and I've seen way too many young ladies who try to master
them, end up looking like tight rope walkers without a balancing
pole. I like cute, but I like my comfort also.
Maybe I'm just out of touch, but do
customers really like this stuff or is it just all that is offered?
Shopper after shopper hauled their hideous, over-priced goods out the
doors much to my dismay, as I walked away, determined to appreciate
even more what hung in the closet at home.
I'm far from hip. Don't consider
myself a fashionista. But I do have the common sense to not spend
hundreds of dollars on a dress that looks like Sonny and Cher's
living room drapes. I won't always fit with the trends and probably
seem a bit boring with my preferred monochromatic garments. I'm okay
with that. I suppose I should live and let live when it comes to
fashion flair or failures, but I can't wait until this 70s throwback
is thrown away and something a little more tasteful and elegant makes
its debut. I'd even settle for recycling a different decade, if only
the styles were more flattering and less like clown suits.
Cultural trends tend to shift, and
often with the upheaval, modesty and good sense disappear. Peer
pressure pushes us in to corners of “I had no other choice” in
matters far more serious than what we are wearing. These are the
times in which we live, but it doesn't mean we have to succumb to
only what the world has to offer. God still calls us to be set apart
and make the kind of choices that honor Him. We need to go to our
prayer closets and seek His opinion rather than go with the flow of
the masses. There's always a choice about what you wear on the
outside – more importantly, how you clothe your heart.
“No temptation has seized you except
what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1
Corinthians 10:13)
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