on Appearance

"A good man often appears gauche simply because he does not take advantage of the myriad mean little chances of making himself look stylish. Preferring truth to form, he is not constantly at work upon the façade of his appearance." - Iris Murdoch

I absolutely deplore clothes shopping. I have a friend who has not shopped for new things for a long long time (x years where x > 2). He keeps his clothes in good condition and avoids spending money frivolously. He is very active in social justice. I would also say he is a very Godly man.

For me, there is the constant questioning of whether I actually need new clothes or if I am buying it just for the flash and the glitz. Thus, I haven't purchased anything new for a long time. I desperately need a new pair of walking shoes, but I'm too lazy to get it. Plus, I feel kind of vain turning down this pair or that if I don't like it. (And all of the sales lady seem to size me up and know that I'm the type to not spend monies...I must have "cheap" plastered on my forehead.)

Furthermore, I have tons of clothes in my closet already. I only wear about 10% of it though. My mom keeps buying me stuff, and I keep telling her to stop buying me stuff...but she just tosses it in my closet anyways. Pretty much, everything I buy I wear. Anything she buys is hit or miss...but, she says it is such a great deal!!!! (...which means I would give it to my dad.)

My hugest beef with clothes and appearance in general, is that society idolizes it beyond all recognition. "The clothes make the man". People should invest time in building up their character. Unfortunately, the returns on character are not so easily realized as the looks of envious peers coveting the latest designer jacket. And many of us have fallen into this trap, including myself.

I was thinking about adding in an obligatory..."where do we stand as Christians" remark. But, my regular readers are smart enough to know. Or the Spirit will reveal it to them. :)