Reflections on Ignorance-Jeans and Boots

     I basically wear the same outfit every day with the exception of Sundays. I wear jeans, the same boots, and often a plain t-shirt. Some would say that I do not have a high sense of fashion. I had not put much consideration into my dress until a couple of years ago. A good friend of mine was talking about how our dress reflects the way we think about ourselves and others. In this post I would like to share some thoughts about the wisdom my friend shared with me. In this way he is vicariously offering a guest post on this blog, so thank you Collin. 

    Humans appear to work in such a way that a lot of what is manifested externally has its origins internally. I think the way we dress is not very different in this regard. Thankfully, not many people choose to walk around without clothing. When we clothe our bodies we pay it the proper respect, for what is underneath is extremely precious and meaningful. So, I would conclude, the way we choose to adorn what is precious must also have some meaning. Here I must confess my hypocrisy. If you were to have seen me my freshman year of college, at just about any particular moment, you would have thought that I was ready to go play video games in my dorm for several hours. My wardrobe was almost exclusively constituted by a sad mixture of sweatpants, tennis shoes, and crew necks. To me, video games are not an especially meaningful hobby. What was I then expressing in my dress? 

    I think my freshman year dress communicated that association with video games; that is: an occupation that is not serious, meaningful, or respectable. I am not trying to dismiss video games entirely here, but there are certain, not entirely unmerited, associations with the hobby. The way I comported myself corresponded with this dress. I was not a properly serious and dedicated individual (not that I am entirely those things now). I became aware of this at the end of my freshman year. First and foremost, I started to dress up for Mass. This is where things really began to change. I tried to have more fitting clothing for the event that I was attending. This communicated a respect that I had for myself and for others. It may have taken more effort, consideration, and discomfort, but that is precisely what goes into giving proper respect to others. 

    When I entered seminary this was only intensified. Visually speaking, priests are set apart from the world by their collar, so the seminary attempts to inculcate this in the seminarians by having a certain dress code, although this is not the exclusive reason for the dress code. I have since discerned out of the seminary, as can be seen through my change in dress. I would like to continue dressing in that way, but I choose not to out of concern for the confusion that may cause. Instead, I wear what I wear now because I think at the very least it communicates a higher level of attentiveness to the events that I attend in such clothing. Some days it looks like I am ready to go to work in my boots and jeans, and in a real way that is what I am trying to do. Attending school is my form of work at this point in my life. I will be graduating this semester, so only time will tell how my clothing choices will change.