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Why Dresses 
For nearly
three years I have worn dresses or skirts exclusively
instead of pants, shorts or jeans. One day, I was in
jeans and the next day I was not. I have only shared the
reason for this decision with my husband and my mother
until this time. Amazingly, no one else has asked about
it. I suppose that is a blessing because I felt quite
self-conscious about my appearance at first especially
when attending a casual get-together where everyone else
was in jeans or shorts. I worried about being questioned
about my clothing. What would I say about it?
"Why DO
you always wear dresses, Trish?"
Well, the
simplest answer to that would be that I wear dresses out
of obedience to the Lord. Yes, I know that may make me
sound like some sort of freak. Well, God did call us to
be his "peculiar" people (Deut. 14:2, 26:18;
Ps. 135:4; Ecc. 2:8; Titus 2:4; 1Peter 2:9).
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At the time I made this change in
my clothing, I was really questioning what my role as a woman,
wife and mother should be. The world sends out so many mixed
messages so I sought the one reliable source for wisdom, the
Lord. I prayed and began studying His word. I also scoured the
internet and discovered the witnesses and examples of many godly
women there. Several had written articles about modest dressing.
They provided scriptural based arguements for wearing dresses
exclusively. I could see their points but the whole idea seemed
kind of weird. It would be one thing if you belonged to a church
of a denomination that advocated this, but what about
"normal" people like me? I remember thinking that I
could never be quite so peculiar. Then I heard the Lord's voice.
Christ reminded me of all that he had done for me; how he had
died a painful death to save ME from my sins. My gratitude
towards Him is immense! Then I clearly heard Him ask, "Would
you not be willing to do this LITTLE thing for me?" I looked
down at the bible verse before me. It was Deut. 22:5, "The
woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither
shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are
abomination unto the Lord the God."
Yikes! There was no question in my
heart about what the Lord was asking me to do. God wanted me on
the path to becoming a woman of God and dresses are the uniform
that He wants me to wear. I was convicted of God's desire and it
was a pivotal moment in my life. "Yes Lord!" I said.
"I will do whatever you ask of me." I changed my attire
to obey my Lord.
Do I judge others who don't wear
dresses? Of course not. No one's salvation depends on this thing.
I do not know why God convicted me in this area and not other
godly women.
In retrospect, I can see that God
was preparing me for this for quite some time. For one thing,
when my oldest daughter was two years old and learning to exert
her will, she decided that she would only wear dresses. She would
cry and cry if I tried to make her wear shorts and a shirt.
Finally I decided that I liked her in dresses anyway so why fight
this. From then on, I only bought her dresses. My second daughter
naturally wanted to emulate her big sister and also wanted to
wear dresses. Then I was the only hold out in our family, but I
didn't even realize it. But the Lord changed
that....<smile>
Here are some links to articles
about modest dress:
BIBLE GUIDELINES ABOUT CLOTHING
Women's
apparel - Modesty
What Others Have Said!
Bible Dress code of modesty
Let's Talk Modesty
The Sin of Bathsheba
I know how difficult it is to shop
for modest clothes. There is not a lot available in most stores.
One good option is to sew your own clothing, but for most ladies,
there is just not enough hours in a day to do this. Here is a
list of links I have compiled to sites offering modest clothing:
Pure in Heart
Anabaptist Bookstore: Dress-Making Service
by Mennonite Seamstress
Lilies Apparel
And for your daughters:
Babies 'n Bows
BoomersKids children's clothing, formal wear, flower
girls and pageant dresses.
- They also carry mother/daughter sets
For those of you who do sew:
Kathy's Modest, Sewing Patterns Page
Broomstick Skirt - Free Project at Erica's
Elizabeth Lee Designs
08/10/02