Another Take on Dress Code

Today I came back from sports and took a shower. I didn't really want to, but tonight was Evensong (the hour long chapel that nobody really knows what its about), and I had to get dressed up. I don't like getting dressed up. Never have, probably never will. Whenever Seated comes around I stumble about the dorm trying to find an acceptable outfit. Its usually a challenge but I'm still always the first one ready (I don't waste my time and my youth putting on a pound of makeup). But back to Evensong. Today, especially, I was in a mood where I frankly did NOT want to put on a dress and some strappy shoes. What I really wanted to do was take a nice, long, quiet bike ride off campus to collect myself. Well I have a half hour to Evensong..I was seriously considering bagging and taking my much needed ride. Alas, I could not summon the courage.

So, in haste and also to prove a point about getting dressed up, I went to my closet and got out my skinny jeans. And a nice shirt, and some high heels. Needless to say I looked put together. I looked like I had taken my time to prepare for the service. I even put on earrings! All my friends warned me against the choice, but I held my position. I was going to wear those jeans to chapel like it was nobody's business. And you know why?

Two reasons: I don't like getting dressed up, and that I don't believe it matters what somebody is wearing, it only matters their attitude and what they bring to the table. A brief explanation of my first reason: I really just don't like getting dressed up.

But the real reason I made the decision to wear jeans? Its because in my mind it shouldn't matter our dress or our style, but how we participate and how we interact. I could have been the only one singing those hymns and paying attention to the speaker with my eyes wide open, but even so, I am not allowed to wear the outfit of my choice. Our society and community continually express the importance of being a non-judgemental and non-prejudice population. We are told constantly to effectively be blind, using our ears to get to know somebody rather than our eyes. So why should it matter what we wear? I understand that chapel is a place to respect and be respected. It is just a matter of in what form.

Looking around chapel I see close to six hundred individuals wearing the same outfit. Girls clad in floral print dresses and either sandals or pumps and boys in blazers and ties. Does that make them respect the service any more than myself in jeans? (By that time I had already changed). Those same people who had dressed respectively (and therefore conformed) are also the ones asleep in the service. Me? I was wide awake. I was paying attention to the speaker (trying; you see its really hard sitting in the antichapel) and I was reading aloud our school prayer. My clothing virtually had no role in this. I would have acted the same had I been wearing my jeans--probably even better, because I would have been comfortable in the outfit I'd chosen.

So why should it matter the clothing we wear? Respect is something much less material--respect is shown through actions. Whoever fell asleep today was disrespecting the service one thousand times that of somebody wearing jeans. Therefore, us as both students and citizens shouldn't have to waste an hour of our time dressing up for a service, we should spend our time doing what pleases us, and afterwards we'll be in a good mood. I bet you anything a whole lot more people will remember what happened during the service. A whole lot more people will show their respect through things that matter, like uniting our community by singing and praying together. This is a true case of, 'its whats on the inside that counts.'
Thank you.