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

0:00 Hello, and welcome to Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today we're continuing our series on Holy Chic, the ultimate church attire handbook. In this episode, we'll discuss how to dress for special occasions like weddings, funerals, baptism, and the festive services. So how do we do that properly, right? So we're going to navigate our dress code for these special occasions, these special events with grace and respect. And so weddings are joyous occasions, but it's essential to dress appropriately.

0:45 So you want to opt for elegant, but not overly flashy outfits. You know, so no one's telling you how to dress for a wedding. But, you know, if you watch a lot of YouTube, there's a lot of flesh being shown in the wedding and we're going into a sacred environment where we're honoring God. Save that flesh for your husband, right? I don't think the audience want to see all that. But, you know, so you want to look honorable. You want to look holy. Can we just say holy? We want to say holy. we want to look just a special, right?

1:26 And so I know you got this special dress you want to wear and it's hugging everywhere. You do what you do, right? But make sure that only your husband gets to see those special parts. It's your wedding. You do what you want to do, but you ask yourself, does this wedding honor God? And so a lot of time people are opting, especially the older group, the older audiences, they're opting for maybe a suit or a lovely dress, which is whatever is appropriate for you. But you can find some nice dresses and you can kind of cover up those long slits and that deep V.

2:07 And make your wedding holy and make it look really, really nice. I'm not the wedding police, but we are talking about holy chic, keeping our sacred place holy, really honoring God. You know, and then we're going to jump over here to funerals. You know, funerals require like a more somber approach. So most times you see people do wear more darker colors, more muted colors like a black, a navy, a gray. Those are suitable. And so you're keeping your accessories minimal and respectful. This funeral is not about you, right? And so you're keeping everything kind of like a muted approach.

2:55 People are adding a little color to the wedding. And we don't, funerals, they call it home goings. And so check with the people who are having the home going and see what their color code is for the home going service so that you don't be out of place and draw attention to yourself. They might want it to be muted. They might want it to be celebratory. You know, pretty much go with the scheme of the event. Don't be the odd woman out or the odd man out on these occasions. And like I mentioned before in another episode, that a lot of times it's our heart.

3:35 We talked a lot about that. But also the outfit does say things when you wear the proper foundation underneath it. We talked about maybe putting on nylons, which is crucial for comfort and modesty. Wearing pantyhose, like nylons and pantyhose. putting on the proper bra. Putting on the proper underwear, girdles and spanks and slips. And so even in your wedding, if you can see through your wedding dress, you might want to buy one of those slips. And of course, the slips cost a little bit more, but you're looking elegant on your wedding day.

4:15 And even at the funerals or baptisms or whatever day that you're at the Holy Temple, putting on the proper undergarments is the key to having that nice, crisp look. Let's talk about baptism and confirmation. We want to also have an opportunity to celebrate those milestone events in style. And so how to dress for joyful and reverent occasions like baptism and confirmations, and those are always very celebratory events. So these events are, like I said, celebratory, but also they're deeply spiritual.

4:56 So for baptism, light color clothing is often preferred. So the lighter it goes, I mean, you might need to put on some proper undergarments so that it's not see-through, so that it looks form-fitting, but it's also very professional, but it's also very, you know, nice and tight and right. So you want to dress modestly and respectfully, similar to what you wear to a formal church service. So you want to look good at your baptism and confirmation. Remember, you're expecting God to show up. So he might want to show up and throw you across the room. Are you ready for that?

5:36 And then we're going on to our Easter and Christmas, our festive church fashions. And we usually call it Resurrection Day, but you're still celebrating Easter. Bring out your best for special celebrations, you know, so tip for dressing up while keeping it appropriate. You know, Easter is one of those, you know, that's when the seasons has changed. So spring colors are appropriate. Our whites are coming out. Our pastels are coming out. Christmas is a chance where people are wearing a lot of reds and golds and silvers, you know, So these are opportunities where you take it up a level, where you get an opportunity to dress up in church, in your tabernacle.

6:25 So you bring in on these bright, cheerful colors for Easter and elegant festive attire for Christmas. I like that kind of like a semi-formal for Christmas. And those are great choices. And usually you can look around the decorations that you see around the church is pretty much kind of the colors that are what you can choose from. So you go like, I don't usually dress up for those events. I don't even know what to wear. Well, usually whoever the church hires to decorate the church, those are the colors that are pretty much appropriate. So pick one of those colors and, Go shopping and find you a beautiful dress for those events.

7:09 But just remember, keep it tasteful and respectful. So whoever designing clothes these days, they forget that every outfit that you try it on at the store. And if you need to get an extra article like a slip or a different bra to wear underneath it, you know, make it look right and tight at the store. You know, I think I heard Juanita Bynum say when she's in a dressing room, she's just laying out on the floor. She's doing what she normally do in her attire so that when she get to her event, she knows what that outfit is going to do for her when she gets ready to do her thing. So don't let that outfit surprise you. Right.

7:51 So if it's too short in the dressing room, you know, it's going to be too short when you get to the sanctuary. And if it's too form-fitting in the room, you know, if it's hugging the wrong way there, I don't think the dresses that we buy or the outfits we buy really change once we get to the sanctuary. Sometimes it feels like it gets a little too tighter if you ate breakfast on the way to the event or anything can change. So just make sure it's appropriate, it's respectful, it's modest that you have on the right gear underneath it. OK, so let's go over some scripture. Philippians four or five, it says, let your gentleness be evident to all.

8:35 The Lord is near. I like that the Lord is giving you the wink or he's giving you that Lord look, you know, like what you got on, girl? The decrees for this is I decree that my gentleness will be evident to everyone I meet. I decree that I will live with awareness that the Lord is near. Wouldn't that change the way we dress if we knew that the Lord was close by? Just something. I decree that my demeanor will reflect the nearness of God. You know, sometimes we put on an outfit, it changes us, maybe to a positive, sometimes to a negative. And the final decree is, I decree that my life will be a testament to God's gentle presence.

9:24 In Proverbs 11, 22, it's like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. I'm going to read that again. And it says, like a gold ring in a pig snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. Dang. Proverbs was written by Solomon. So Solomon, you'd probably, you know, he had a lot of wives and cocklebones running around. So he pretty much knew what he was talking about. So that felt like a slap upside the head. Smack. And so we don't want to, we want to use a little discretion in our dressing.

10:10 We want to use a little discretion in our dressing. And the decrease for this one is I decree that I will use discretion in all areas of my life. Number two, I decree that my beauty will match the wisdom, be matched with wisdom and discernment. Number three, I decree that I will honor God with my choices and actions. Number four, I decree that I will seek to reflect God's wisdom in my life. These are powerful here. They're all powerful, of course. But when you just say rewind here and you go back to Proverbs 11, 22, and we think of what this looks like, like a gold ring in a pig's snout.

11:02 What's a pig doing with a gold ring in his snout? He eats garbage and he doesn't need to have a gold ring in his snout. So he's out of place. And so is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. It doesn't match. And so we want to look good on the outside. Our voice doesn't have to be loud. Our dress doesn't have to be loud. We are seen when we walk in the room, whether we say something or not. And so our discretion should match all areas of our life.

11:43 Wisdom and discernment should match every area of our life. Our choices should be what God would choose for us. I mean, we're seeking him first, even in our dress attire. And then what we look like is a reflection of God's wisdom in our life. That's good. That's good. Let's go to Ephesians 6, 11. It says, put on the full arm of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. And what the devil's schemes would tell you is that it don't take all of that. Sometimes I probably lost a few, my, you know, listener, because dressing don't really take all that.

12:28 But if it don't take all that, why did God put that in the Bible when he says like a gold ring and a pix? Now, I mean, everything matters to God. And so put on your armor so that you make wise choices to dress appropriately, not for the world. Not even for your friends, but you do it unto the Lord. I decree, I will put on the full armor of God every day. I'm dressing for the Lord every day. I'm putting on God's wisdom every day. I decree that I will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy, that this enemy will not talk me into walking out the house without discretion, without God's wisdom, without a reflection of his glory upon me without my slip, without the proper bra, without my spanks, without my nylons.

13:23 Come on now. He won't trick me. I'm going to walk out crispy, looking like honorable, looking and feeling honorable unto God. People might say that's too much, but it's not too much for God. Number three, I decree that God's truth and righteousness will protect me. That's who we're trying to impress. And number four, I decree that I will live boldly in the strength of God's armor. When we put God first, he's going to make us look good. So the key takeaways from this is how to dress appropriately for all occasions is that you dress appropriately, even for those special occasions, you show respect for the significance of the event.

14:07 Sometimes you got to remember it's not about you. It's about the events, about honoring God. Each type of occasion may require a different approach to attire, to what you wear. It doesn't change your heart, right? It might change the outfit. Always honorable and respectful to God using discretion. An offensive event allows for more expressive expression while maintaining reverence. And it's okay to put some color on. It's okay to just be you, be you, be you, be you. Dress how you would dress. Use discretion, use wisdom, dress for Jesus, right?

14:52 But don't be like this pig wearing his gold nose ring out of place without discretion. So thank you for joining me on this journey. Holy chic, holy chic can be kind of rough sometimes, but holy chic, holy chic, holy chic. Here we go. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Stay tuned for each episode as we bring holy back to our church attire. This is your host, Connie Morris with Diary of a Black Woman Podcast. Don't forget at the end of this series, I think it's available now on the website, you get a copy of the Ultimate Church Attire Handbook.

15:35 I think you should read the handbook and listen to the podcast with it because it just adds a little bit more flair and it's available for you. It's a free resource that you can use to keep you tight, keep you right, and keep holy, keep you holy, bring holy back to your attire. So until next time, God bless you.