What I Wore Sunday: Like Déjà Vu All Over Again

Last Sunday I saw that a few participants in What I Wore Sunday posted about the fact that they do not have excessive amounts of clothing and thus do not have enough variation to allow for infinite interesting posts about what they wear each Sunday.

I tried to not go all Crazy-Catholic on them, but I sort-of-kind-of wanted to cheer for joy.

The truth is that unless you are one of a very select few who must live a very particular sort of life (Ms. Middleton, I’m looking at you!) having excessive amounts of clothing is a potential source of scandal. It is one thing to look presentable in whatever way happens to count as appropriate for the present situation. It is another thing entirely to give the appearance of spending significant time and money on one’s appearance when there are always people around the Church who desperately need our attention.

I am not quite stupid enough to criticize those who take great pleasure in clothing. We all waste time on something and most of us squander crazy amounts of money on lots of things. I probably spend far more time on stupid blog posts than the best-dressed people spend on their clothing.

But the fact remains that clothing will never be the better part.

So here’s to you, if you are one of those who frequently repeat the same Sunday clothing.

As it happens, I own a grand total of one pair of jeans and just about everything else in my closet is business casual. So if this were real life, you might see a whole lot more repetition in my What I Wore Saturday than on Sundays.

But just for today I am going to pretend that I am part of the cool Saintly club that repeats Sunday outfits out of necessity.

My dress is the same as the one shown here two weeks ago. I don’t consider myself hip enough to get away with silver shoes and a black hemline/tights, but today was one of those blonde days. I slipped on the silver shoes before walking out to the kitchen, and then somehow woke up in church to realize that I had forgotten to change shoes. Oops!

The blood at my feet is from the sister who made fun of my boring outfit paint dropped by a previous tenant.

For Smirks , , ,

9 comments


  1. This is a great link-up. I think it’s really getting the dialogue going on what “dressing for Mass” means.

    While I was still in college, an acquaintance of mine came up to me after Mass and exclaimed, “You always looks so nice at Mass- and you NEVER wear the same thing! It’s crazy!”

    Well, I admit, I was a little embarrassed. Not because I “never” wore the same things- in fact, I usually wore one of the same 2 skirts on rotation, and the same 2 pairs of heels.

    Yet, my closet was bigger than it needed to be, but luxurious; no. Frankly, most of it was garbage. I’ve come to realize now that it was awfully covetous of me to wastefully buy one garbage piece after the other from the clearance-poo-poo-made-in-China rack only to throw it out a year later. I’m finally learning to reduce a bit, make repairs when necessary, and invest in some decent labor practices (hoorah, fair trade!). It seems to be paying off.

    Another good habit I’ve found is helpful is to keep a basket/box in my closet. When I find myself looking at a piece of clothing and thinking, “Hm… I wonder when the last time was I wore that?”- it goes in the box. When the box is full, I take it to the second-hand store.

    You may not see many repeats on my blog, but hopefully, that’s because I’m hanging onto pieces for a long time and getting creative with my combinations!

    Happy Sunday!

  2. Amen! Thank you for bringing it Home, Rae! It’s so important. Which.. by the way, you look very professional. I thought the blood at your feet was some stigmata of yours… LOL. Totally kidding.

  3. I used to dream of having a closet with rooms in my younger days. Then came a hubby still in Graduate school and two little ones to boot. I ended up realizing that those days are not realistic nor necessary. I learned to reuse what I have in “infinite varions” just switching out the shoes or scarf or hairstyle or makeup look. I also discovered thrifting so I would not feel guilty about buying another pair of shoes or Tee. Almost all my clothing is thrifted and I try not to pay more than $5 or $6 for a shirt (though it is frequently $3) and more than $10 for pants or $8-12 for a really nice dress. As for those loves of my life called shoe- I try to stick to $5 or $6 but occassionaly will splurge at $27!! Haha. My hubby says I am such a cheap skate now.

  4. Great point on the excess of clothing. We are always purging here. I DO appreciate the fact that so many of the ladies frequently point out their thrift store clothing finds and the re-working of same pieces—because I sure rework them, of course, it’s only week 3 for me…so I can still look original for another week….maybe 2. ;-)

  5. No shame in wearing the same thing. I do like this outfit though :) Thanks for joining us!

  6. Repeating/ remixing is a great thing! I’m trying to get in the habit of re-using my current wardrobe more instead of buying something new.

  7. I definitely agree with this! Part of the reason we do this linkup is to give a different perspective from the traditional fashion blogs where repeating an outfit seems to be a mortal sin. Real women don’t have unlimited budgets, unlimited time (to shop or organize), or a personal assistant. We dress well with thrifting, consignment, sales and clearances, and by using staple items in our closet (and repeating them often). Always love to read your thoughts, Rae :-)

  8. “Martha not Mary, YO!” is one of the best tags I’ve ever come across. (still laughing)

  9. “having excessive amounts of clothing is a potential source of scandal.”
    This premise is one of the reasons I keep coming back to read you! I have found few bloggers who say this openly, and I need as many reminders as I can get. Too often, I run across the opposite: that we, who strive to be devout and responsible Christians, ought to know better than to look “sloppy.” And apparently there is general cultural consensus that sloppiness is equivalent to the wearing of old clothing. Yikes.
    Lord have mercy.

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