Church Chronicles: Ep4: Holy Chic: Dressing for Special Occasions with Grace

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Hello, and welcome to Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today we're continuing our series on Holy

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Chic, the ultimate church attire handbook.

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In this episode, we'll discuss how to dress for special occasions like weddings,

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funerals, baptism, and the festive services.

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So how do we do that properly, right? So we're going to navigate our dress code

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for these special occasions, these special events with grace and respect.

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And so weddings are joyous occasions, but it's essential to dress appropriately.

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So you want to opt for elegant, but not overly flashy outfits.

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You know, so no one's telling you how to dress for a wedding.

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But, you know, if you watch a lot of YouTube, there's a lot of flesh being shown

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in the wedding and we're going into a sacred environment where we're honoring God.

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Save that flesh for your husband, right? I don't think the audience want to see all that.

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But, you know, so you want to look honorable.

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You want to look holy. Can we just say holy?

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We want to say holy. we want to look just a special, right?

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And so I know you got this special dress you want to wear and it's hugging everywhere.

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You do what you do, right? But make sure that only your husband gets to see those special parts.

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It's your wedding. You do what you want to do, but you ask yourself,

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does this wedding honor God?

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And so a lot of time people are opting, especially the older group,

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the older audiences, they're opting for maybe a suit or a lovely dress,

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which is whatever is appropriate for you.

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But you can find some nice dresses and you can kind of cover up those long slits and that deep V.

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And make your wedding holy and make it look really, really nice.

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I'm not the wedding police, but we are talking about holy chic,

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keeping our sacred place holy, really honoring God.

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You know, and then we're going to jump over here to funerals.

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You know, funerals require like a more somber approach. So most times you see

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people do wear more darker colors, more muted colors like a black, a navy, a gray.

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Those are suitable. And so you're keeping your accessories minimal and respectful.

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This funeral is not about you, right? And so you're keeping everything kind

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of like a muted approach.

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People are adding a little color to the wedding. And we don't,

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funerals, they call it home goings.

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And so check with the people who are having the home going and see what their

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color code is for the home going service so that you don't be out of place and

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draw attention to yourself.

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They might want it to be muted. They might want it to be celebratory.

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You know, pretty much go with the scheme of the event.

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Don't be the odd woman out or the odd man out on these occasions.

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And like I mentioned before in another episode, that a lot of times it's our heart.

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We talked a lot about that. But also the outfit does say things when you wear

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the proper foundation underneath it.

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We talked about maybe putting on nylons, which is crucial for comfort and modesty.

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Wearing pantyhose, like nylons and pantyhose. putting on the proper bra.

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Putting on the proper underwear, girdles and spanks and slips.

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And so even in your wedding, if you can see through your wedding dress,

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you might want to buy one of those slips.

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And of course, the slips cost a little bit more, but you're looking elegant on your wedding day.

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And even at the funerals or baptisms or whatever day that you're at the Holy

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Temple, putting on the proper undergarments is the key to having that nice, crisp look.

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Let's talk about baptism and confirmation. We want to also have an opportunity

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to celebrate those milestone events in style.

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And so how to dress for joyful and reverent occasions like baptism and confirmations,

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and those are always very celebratory events.

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So these events are, like I said, celebratory, but also they're deeply spiritual.

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So for baptism, light color clothing is often preferred.

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So the lighter it goes, I mean, you might need to put on some proper undergarments

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so that it's not see-through,

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so that it looks form-fitting, but it's also very professional,

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but it's also very, you know, nice and tight and right.

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So you want to dress modestly and respectfully, similar to what you wear to

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a formal church service.

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So you want to look good at your baptism and confirmation.

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Remember, you're expecting God to show up. So he might want to show up and throw

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you across the room. Are you ready for that?

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And then we're going on to our Easter and Christmas, our festive church fashions.

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And we usually call it Resurrection Day, but you're still celebrating Easter.

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Bring out your best for special celebrations, you know, so tip for dressing

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up while keeping it appropriate.

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You know, Easter is one of those, you know, that's when the seasons has changed.

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So spring colors are appropriate.

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Our whites are coming out. Our pastels are coming out.

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Christmas is a chance where people are wearing a lot of reds and golds and silvers,

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you know, So these are opportunities where you take it up a level,

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where you get an opportunity to dress up in church, in your tabernacle.

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So you bring in on these bright, cheerful colors for Easter and elegant festive attire for Christmas.

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I like that kind of like a semi-formal for Christmas. And those are great choices.

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And usually you can look around the decorations that you see around the church

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is pretty much kind of the colors that are what you can choose from.

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So you go like, I don't usually dress up for those events. I don't even know what to wear.

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Well, usually whoever the church hires to decorate the church,

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those are the colors that are pretty much appropriate. So pick one of those colors and,

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Go shopping and find you a beautiful dress for those events.

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But just remember, keep it tasteful and respectful.

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So whoever designing clothes these days, they forget that every outfit that

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you try it on at the store.

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And if you need to get an extra article like a slip or a different bra to wear

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underneath it, you know, make it look right and tight at the store.

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You know, I think I heard Juanita Bynum say when she's in a dressing room,

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she's just laying out on the floor.

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She's doing what she normally do in her attire so that when she get to her event,

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she knows what that outfit is going to do for her when she gets ready to do her thing.

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So don't let that outfit surprise you. Right.

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So if it's too short in the dressing room, you know, it's going to be too short

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when you get to the sanctuary.

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And if it's too form-fitting in the room, you know, if it's hugging the wrong

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way there, I don't think the dresses that we buy or the outfits we buy really

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change once we get to the sanctuary.

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Sometimes it feels like it gets a little too tighter if you ate breakfast on

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the way to the event or anything can change.

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So just make sure it's appropriate, it's respectful, it's modest that you have

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on the right gear underneath it.

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OK, so let's go over some scripture.

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Philippians four or five, it says, let your gentleness be evident to all.

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The Lord is near. I like that the Lord is giving you the wink or he's giving

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you that Lord look, you know, like what you got on, girl?

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The decrees for this is I decree that my gentleness will be evident to everyone I meet.

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I decree that I will live with awareness that the Lord is near.

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Wouldn't that change the way we dress if we knew that the Lord was close by?

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Just something. I decree that my demeanor will reflect the nearness of God.

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You know, sometimes we put on an outfit, it changes us, maybe to a positive,

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sometimes to a negative. And the final decree is, I decree that my life will

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be a testament to God's gentle presence.

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In Proverbs 11, 22, it's like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman

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who shows no discretion.

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I'm going to read that again. And it says, like a gold ring in a pig snout is

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a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. Dang.

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Proverbs was written by Solomon. So Solomon, you'd probably,

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you know, he had a lot of wives and cocklebones running around.

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So he pretty much knew what he was talking about. So that felt like a slap upside the head. Smack.

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And so we don't want to, we want to use a little discretion in our dressing.

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We want to use a little discretion in our dressing.

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And the decrease for this one is I decree that I will use discretion in all areas of my life.

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Number two, I decree that my beauty will match the wisdom, be matched with wisdom and discernment.

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Number three, I decree that I will honor God with my choices and actions.

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Number four, I decree that I will seek to reflect God's wisdom in my life.

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These are powerful here. They're all powerful, of course.

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But when you just say rewind here and you go back to Proverbs 11,

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22, and we think of what this looks like, like a gold ring in a pig's snout.

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What's a pig doing with a gold ring in his snout?

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He eats garbage and he doesn't need to have a gold ring in his snout. So he's out of place.

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And so is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. It doesn't match.

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And so we want to look good on the outside.

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Our voice doesn't have to be loud. Our dress doesn't have to be loud.

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We are seen when we walk in the room, whether we say something or not.

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And so our discretion should match all areas of our life.

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Wisdom and discernment should match every area of our life. Our choices should

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be what God would choose for us.

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I mean, we're seeking him first, even in our dress attire.

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And then what we look like is a reflection of God's wisdom in our life.

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That's good. That's good. Let's go to Ephesians 6, 11.

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It says, put on the full arm of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

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And what the devil's schemes would tell you is that it don't take all of that.

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Sometimes I probably lost a

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few, my, you know, listener, because dressing don't really take all that.

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But if it don't take all that, why did God put that in the Bible when he says

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like a gold ring and a pix?

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Now, I mean, everything matters to God. And so put on your armor so that you

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make wise choices to dress appropriately, not for the world.

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Not even for your friends, but you do it unto the Lord.

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I decree, I will put on the full armor of God every day.

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I'm dressing for the Lord every day. I'm putting on God's wisdom every day.

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I decree that I will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy,

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that this enemy will not talk me into walking out the house without discretion,

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without God's wisdom, without a reflection of his glory upon me without my slip, without the proper bra,

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without my spanks, without my nylons.

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Come on now. He won't trick me. I'm going to walk out crispy,

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looking like honorable, looking and feeling honorable unto God.

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People might say that's too much, but it's not too much for God.

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Number three, I decree that God's truth and righteousness will protect me.

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That's who we're trying to impress. And number four, I decree that I will live

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boldly in the strength of God's armor.

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When we put God first, he's going to make us look good.

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So the key takeaways from this is how to dress appropriately for all occasions

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is that you dress appropriately, even for those special occasions,

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you show respect for the significance of the event.

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Sometimes you got to remember it's not about you.

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It's about the events, about honoring God.

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Each type of occasion may require a different approach to attire, to what you wear.

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It doesn't change your heart, right? It might change the outfit.

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Always honorable and respectful to God using discretion.

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An offensive event allows for more expressive expression while maintaining reverence.

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And it's okay to put some color on.

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It's okay to just be you, be you, be you, be you.

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Dress how you would dress.

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Use discretion, use wisdom, dress for Jesus, right?

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But don't be like this pig wearing his gold nose ring out of place without discretion.

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So thank you for joining me on this journey.

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Holy chic, holy chic can be kind of rough sometimes, but holy chic, holy chic, holy chic.

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Here we go. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Stay tuned for each episode

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as we bring holy back to our church attire.

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This is your host, Connie Morris with Diary of a Black Woman Podcast.

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Don't forget at the end of this series, I think it's available now on the website,

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you get a copy of the Ultimate Church Attire Handbook.

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I think you should read the handbook and listen to the podcast with it because

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it just adds a little bit more flair and it's available for you.

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It's a free resource that you can use to keep you tight, keep you right,

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and keep holy, keep you holy, bring holy back to your attire.

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So until next time, God bless you.