Clothes was a simple subject when I was a kid. Basically in the summer I wore a swimsuit, a towel, and if I had to wear clothes, all of them fit into one small hamper (and I mean ALL of them). I owned the same one coat for 7 years. I wore one dress from age 5-10 to church (and have pictures to prove it!). I mean my mom was really on to something! Then when I got to college and actually had to think about looking nice some of the time, I accumulated enough for 3 loads of laundry every two weeks. And even that was too much for me.
And now look at me! This week is going to be sorting, more sorting, pitching, labeling in totes, and listing potential new items I need so my family can be deemed 'appropriately dressed.' And I do this two or three times a year at the rate my kids are growing. Really, I think Laura Ingalls' life is looking more angelic to me the older I get. I remember her describing the ONE dress they had for winter, how they made it last for years by letting out the hem, changing its look by a ribbon here or some lace there, and how she had TWO dresses for summer (a work dress and a play dress). And some undergarments. And a few socks that I'm sure were worn, darned, worn, and then darned again. They had one day a week devoted to laundry...although the fact that it took one whole day to hand-wash, air-dry, and hand- iron 10 items would also dishearten me. But seriously, the amount of clothes we Americans have, the amount of time we spend looking for them, the amount of money we spend purchasing them, the frustration we have cleaning and mending them, it's really overwhelming to me!
In the midst of my woes today an old poem came to mind that I just had to look up in an old English journal I kept from high school, and I believe this old Isaac Watts guy was onto something:
Against Pride in Clothes
Why should garments made to hide
Our parents' shame, provoke our pride?
The art of dress did ne'er begin
Till Eve, our mother, learned to sin.
When first she put the covering on,
Her robe of innocence was gone;
And yet her children vainly boast
In the sad marks of glory lost.
How proud we are, how fond to show
Our clothes, and call them rich and new;
When the poor sheep and silkworm wore
That very clothing long before:
The tulip and the butterfly
Appear in gayer coats than I;
Let me be dressed fine as I will,
Flies, worms, and flow'rs exceed me still.
Then will I set my heart to find
Inward adornings of the mind
Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace,
These are the robes of richest dress.
No more shall worms with me compare,
This is the raiment angels wear;
The Son of God, when here below,
Put on this blessed apparel, too.
It never fades, it never grows old,
Nor fears the rain, nor moth, nor mold;
It takes no spot, but still refines,
The more 'tis worn, the more it shines/
In this on earth would I appear,
Then go to heaven and wear it there;
God will approve it in his sight,
'Tis his own work and his delight.
That being said, autumn is my second favorite season and I adore walking outside with my kids in our sweatshirts and hoodies...thankful that He has provided for our simple temporal needs as well as our eternal ones~
