STYLISH AND SPIRITUAL?

A PERSPECTIVE ON FASHION

BY HILARY WISE

I adore shoes (especially heels), and I love rings (particularly large vintage rings)! But I could also happily go a day with bare fingers and some flat soles.

I used to wonder how my love for fashion fit in with my love for Christian Science and my spiritual growth. At times, fixation on shifting trends and styles left me appearance-obsessed. On the other hand, there were times when I gave up on my appearance altogether. But neither state of mind seemed very spiritual at all.

There's often a lot of pressure in our culture to dress a certain way. Clothing stores, and their marketing teams, can be aggressive in defining a certain image they would like us to adopt. At school or at work, pressure to conform to a specific style of dress can seem overwhelming. Expensive sneakers, designer jeans, and the sleekest new phones and MP3 players seem like must-haves. Without them, it would appear to be hard to fit in or be accepted.