Them's the Rules - My Clothing and Modesty Rules

The whole month of July is Pants Free July around here!

Granted, every day is basically pants-free for me. I normally wear primarily dresses and skirts for reasons discussed here.

I do have some standard rules/guidelines for creating a wardrobe that works for me.

I do care about modesty, but more in a sense of being comfortable vs. an emphasis on men's perception of my clothing. I value not needing to check if my skirt is riding up or top falling open. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Here's Week 1

My basic rules for buying dresses or skirts:

1. Hits at the knee or below

2. Neckline either naturally rests just below collarbone or can be easily closed with a safety pin

3. It has to further the variety of what I already own

4. Comfortable enough to wear all day long

5. Flattering

The knee length rule is because 1) I've found that to be more flattering on my big dancer thighs, and 2) it's the length least likely to fly up in the wind or ride up when putting the baby on my back.

Neckline for the same comfort reason - stays put in my very physically demanding day.

#3 is about spending money wisely. I don't shop often, but when I do it needs to help add to the variety already present. I will replace certain core wardrobe items (more on those shortly) - but, generally, I try and buy things that are very different in pattern, style, or color.

I don't really change base clothing during the day - just add on jewelry, sweater, or scarf to dress up or warm up as needed. My rule of thumb is it needs to be comfortable in the (likely) event I get stuck under a sleeping child. 

(Or at least it used to be likely. I miss having a baby who likes snuggles! Now I got a toddler who is a fan of the two-second hug.)

Now #5 is not something often thought of when selecting modest clothing, but I contend that modest clothing needs to be flattering. The point here is to feel comfortable and confident, and that's just not going to happen for me if it's not flattering.

Core Wardrobe Items!

The core wardrobe items were something I made up when I was traveling a lot in high school to conferences. I needed to carry the minimum of clothes that could give a lot of outfits, appropriate for varying occasions, and professional in appearance.

Those are:

• Basic Black dress with short sleeves
• Black and White tank tops (for layering)
• Black,White, Red cardigans + at least one other color (I seem to bounce around that other color depending on what clothing I'm working with. Coral and Turquoise are my current colors.)
• Maxi Skirt
• Black Heels 
• Black or neutral color flats
• Neutral color belt

I can get a week's worth of outfits out of this - easily. These are the only things I would potentially replace with an identical item.

Except for the maxi skirt. That would probably get a different color or pattern.

Gotta keep it interesting!

So if I wear skirts and dresses everyday, how do I change it up for Sunday masses?

Basic difference between my daily dress and my Sunday dress are: potential for heels, earrings, for sure makeup (which is a solid maybe every other time), and a veil of some sort when in the Presence of the Eucharist.

It's not strictly necessary to make those changes, but I like making a physical change to prepare for mass. Every mass is a working mass for me - between the kid aerobics at one and singing for the other - making sure I get dressed anyway does a lot for feeling like I actually went to mass.

Here was My Sunday Best for today!

You can't see them well, but earrings are there! The lacy scarf is really my awesome infinity veil from Veils by Lily. (Go for the sewn in clip. Seriously.)

Anyone else have rules for clothing? Don't worry - it's ok not to be this flavor of weird. It's probably better that we not all be Type A.

Next week it's on to creative re-wearing!