Gearing up the wardrobe for Fall

Even though thinking about wearing a sweater makes me feel like melting on the inside, it is about that time to transition ye ole’ wardrobes from summer to fall.  If you live in a warm climate like we do, this may not be as big a deal as it is in the cooler climated areas.  In fact, I’ve found that most of my staples have stayed in my closet all year long.  These days, it’s mostly the accent pieces and the shoes that change from season to season.  Last year, I decided not to put away my white jeans, and enjoyed wearing them all winter, and I’m doing it again this year.  Yes… I live like a rebel! 😉

Glamour Online Magazine lists  some important fashion “Do’s and Dont’s” for Fall of 2012.  And, they have a super article on how to make some of your summer pieces work for fall as you transition your wardrobe.  Just a little Fall Fashion FYI: Detachable statement collars and TURTLENECKS are back in style!  Almost all things 80’s, leggings, tights, and updated “grandma” sweaters are also really in.  Hmmm… I wonder if Belle France, Leslie Lucks, and Laura Ashley dresses will make a return???

Did you wear these in the 80’s and early 90’s?  My mom is a wonderful seamstress, and I had a few “store bought” dresses of these brands, then she handmade the rest.  No one ever knew the difference. 😉

Anyway… back to fashion and Fall 2012.  The Lord and I have a ritual we go through each Spring and Fall during the wardrobe switch-out.  And I always post a reminder of it here on SmellingCoffee –  Because I so strongly believe that if we invite Him, Jesus will become an integral part of every tiny detail of our lives – even of what is hanging in our closets.  Of course, the most important wardrobe we are to wear on a daily basis is the Armor of God – which is Jesus Himself.  Jesus will clothe both the inner self and the outer self if we’ll but ask Him to.

So… for Fall 2012, this is my most important fashion tip I could ever pass along to anyone: prayer. Yep. I’m serious. Prayer.

I truly believe that whatever is on our minds, we need to invite God to be a part of it, and let Him help guide us as we mentally process whatever it is. For me and this time of year, especially since I’ve wandered into the perspiratory “waters” of hot-flashes, I’ve got light-weight fall-type clothing on a portion of my brain. If you do too, I offer to you the way the Lord helps me dress and stay “current” for each season of weather, and of life.

1. I look through fashion magazines in waiting rooms, the library, or wherever I find them, and try to get a feel for the common denominators in the clothing and accessories trends. I’ll often invest in one fashion magazine – September is the big Fall issue of most fashion magazines. I try to find the most “modest” one if I’m going to bring it into our home.

2. I check the internet fashion websites to see what was on the runway for the season.

3. Realizing that what is in the magazines and on the runways is not what will look “normal” in my middle-class-suburban-stay-at-home-wife-mom-Bible-teacher-life, I classify the trends in categories of clothing I would actually wear.

And these days, everything must fit into all three of these “C categories”: Cool – as in the combatant for hot-flashes, Cute – because no matter how old I am, I still want to be cute for God’s glory, and Comfortable – as in life is too short to spend it in clothes that are too tight! A men???

While I’m doing this, I’m doing it with the Lord, often talking through these things out-loud to Him, as if He’s sitting with me (which actually… He is right there with me).

4. Then WE (He and I) go through my clothes for the new season. He totally does this with me. We pull out the clothes and I try them on. This ritual is most often accompanied by a renewed commitment to exercise and tone up the sagging muscles. grin.

5. Remembering the trend categories, I’ll pray for wisdom to make “new” outfits out of old clothes. I don’t audibly hear this, but the Lord will put ideas in my mind, and I’ll try them on, with shoes and accessories.

6. Usually, I’ll “need” {disclaimer: “need” in the lightest sense of the word – in the true scope of things, I know that I have more than I’ll ever “need”} a few pieces to update my wardrobe from the previous year. I’ll write down what I “need” in my prayer journal on a page called “Requests and Wish Lists”. Then I let it go. I give it to the Lord, and ask Him to provide those pieces of clothing / shoes / accessories IF He will be glorified through them. Sometimes I feel led to write a price beside the item. It’s so much fun to see the Lord provide in such specific ways. Sometimes He’ll provide what I’ve asked for, and sometimes He doesn’t. When He doesn’t provide, I find that I really didn’t “need” it anyway.

7. I don’t go out and spend lots of money on clothing. I give the needs to the Lord, and then I wait to see how He leads me to find the items I need. Often, I can pick something up at Target or Wal Mart, or Ross’ or Khols on sale or clearance. One piece at a time, the Lord builds my “current” wardrobe. Sometimes I’ll be drawn to go to Goodwill and look around. When I obey and go when the Lord leads me to, I find just what was on the list. Occasionally someone will share their “hand me overs” with me, and something I’ve prayed for will be among those clothes. Our God is creative with His provisions!

8. Everyday (or night), I stand at my closet and ask the Lord to help me know what to wear. He guides my eyes and hands and helps me choose the outfit de jour.

I may not look “perfect” to everyone else, but when the Lord has helped me dress and fix my hair, the responsibility for how I look is up to Him, and I don’t have to worry over it anymore. I can leave my house knowing that He has dressed me spiritually (in my quiet time with Him), and physically.

After I get ready with His help, having done the best I can with what I’ve been given, I say Psalm 90:17 to the Lord: “Let Your beauty be upon me, and establish the work of my hands.”

I’m then free to go about my day, confident of His handiwork in and upon my life.

No matter how big or little it seems, God can take care of it. Our job is to seek Him first, and all these other things will fall into place. Seeking Him first – even for our fall wardrobes – takes all of the worry out of it. We can trust Him to dress us in the way where He receives the glory – and we’ll be current and beautiful like the lilies.

Matthew 6:28-34

If you’ve never thought that God cared about these things before, or you never wanted to “bother” Him with the little stuff, I challenge you to try it. You’re not bothering Him. Ask Him to help you in the little things, and you’ll see Him being involved in your life in a big way!  His ways are always “in style”!