What do you do when it’s the final day on a $10 off a $10 purchase coupon, 50% off clearance prices, AND another 15% off for using the right card? Get shopping! The truly frugal will hope to find something with a final price of just over $10, making it “so cheap it’s almost free” (a favorite phrase of mine).
I thought I had really done it with this tunic top in my best bright and my favorite fabric. Marked down from $46 to $23, half off, plus the extra 15%, I expected it to be just about $10, but the thing rang up like $5 and something! So I had to go back and get more stuff. 🙂
(Last year when I blogged about wearing a dress over shorts, you guys made fun of me. I still like the idea. So this year I’ve been looking for some mid-thigh dresses, but I haven’t found any. While this is way too short to be a dress on me – it’s 30″ long – it’s a similar look.)
What I went back for was this fun top and basic pair of khaki shorts, which coincidentally make an outfit. They weren’t quite as great a deal, HOWEVER, the grand total for all three pieces was – drumroll, please – $13.74 American. Which I can afford (this month and last I have been spending from my “walking around money” for clothing, since I have spent quite a bit already this year).
In filling out what I’ll be wearing to church this August, I found that I can fit into this dress, previously purchased for $1 at Value Village. 
Towards the end of August, it may be cool enough for me to break out my new trouser jeans. That would be good, because I don’t wear jeans with heels all that often. And I’m still shooting for at most 25 cents cost per wear.
What are you wearing to church this August?
Hmmm. I regularly attend the Cathedral, and I work for the Diocese, so people from work often see me at church. So, to me, shorts and jeans are pretty much off-limits for church.
We haven’t had the ‘barbecue summer’ we were promised/threatened with earlier this year–in fact, the Met Office now says they coined the phrase to give journalists help with creating headlines (and probably to create hype about global warming, as though we need that). So it’s been cool, a very wet July, and I wouldn’t wear shorts until it was unbearably hot anyway.
So, probably my standard: interesting skirts with patterns or embroidery, coordinating good quality tees, and cotton fitted blazers over it. If I’m really daring, I’ll wear my floppy linen trousers.
For VERY special services, one of the silk dresses I’ve gotten in the sales (the one shown for the Farm Street reception would be one of them).
To me, worship is an act of joy and celebration, so I do not understand why someone would dress carefully for a party but not for one’s place of worship.
I would wear what I’d wear going to dinner in a good (but not ‘fancy’) restaurant. Love driving by some of the churches here that have many congregants from the Caribbean- women in their glorious hats.
My mother wore her furs and best dresses when I was growing up, but by the time she was in her 90s, living in SW Florida,some people came to church in shorts and t-shirts.
I used to attend a synagogue that had 2 services except when combined for holidays.
The cantor used to quip about the service in the main sanctuary that the seats were always filled but never with the same people, as though people tapped each other and said, “I can’t make it, can you take my place?” These were mainly a core older generation plus whatever guests were invited to that week’s wedding, engagement, bar or bat mitzvah. Dress was very conservative and gussied up: suits for men or at least sports jackets, women in pretty new dresses or silky suits. I guess some women could be in sharp looking pantsuits. Pants were allowed for women.
The service I usually attended was in one of the religious school classrooms. I seem to remember folding chairs, though it makes more sense there would have been desks. Dress was more like whatever people would wear around the house or to run an errand. Jeans year round. Simple skirt and top – not particularly stylish. I probably wore whatever I would have worn to the larger service – something in between the extremes. Though I was in a period of wearing a lot of pants. Nobody would have been thrown out for wearing longish shorts but I don’t recall that anyone of either sex ever did.
I just bought a few things today in a mood similar to what I’d want to wear to services – pleasantly colorful, ladylike, pretty in a casual, breezy way. If I were really wearing them to Jewish religious services I would have to figure out a top layer because traditionally you have to cover your upper arms and the blouses have cap sleeves.
This was an unusual purchase for me because I have been going in the direction of that
“look like you accidentally look good and didn’t try” philosophy. But what’s wrong with trying?
Particularly since the not-trying look takes an awful lot of effort and is disingenuous. BTW, I got that book you talked about with the fashion cycles. I really like it. I am definitely a friendly-appearing mixed print kind of gal.
Here’s some links to what I bought. I have the peach and white top in dark navy and white, too.
I also have, bought previously, a navy cotton semi-safari jacket that I want to wear the navy and white top with. It’s from the same line. I wear a lot of Mark Eisen for Walmart stuff as it fits me really well. That jacket is as though tailored specifically for me. No pix of jacket, though.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10790298
The skirt is in reality more a khaki than a camel. I would have liked it either way.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10790277
Looks black but is really navy.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10790219
Love the print. Much nicer in person
I’ve been going back and forth between dressy skirt and crisp blouse with heels, and jeans/heels/pretty button-down (on more rushed mornings). Our church building is always cold, so eating out or church are almost the only times I wear long jeans in summer. I make sure they are dark wash, dressy jeans though (dressy being relative…this is a very casual culture). I’ve worn jeans for a couple weeks, so I’m probably going with black and white polka dot blouse and drapey black skirt tomorrow. I need to do what you do and plan ahead…That way I am not panicking on Saturday night.
I have some odd rules for what to wear to Church, mostly passed on by my mother, Clohtes had to mainly cover the body (no cleavage, too shirt skirts, too tight skirts. etc. etc.); no show of major jewelry; and no leather, suede or fur (shoes ok, but not for an entire suit). Her reasons were: jewelry, that money could have been better spent given to the Church; the strict clothing was that Church was not a beach partyl and, that wearing fur, etc. sort of dishonoured the animals who were, too, creations of the Lord..
She, however, thought it much more important that people go to Church, as do I, than in what they wear to Church.
So, dressing in the summer heat is a challenge! I try to wear dresses, and either carry or wear a light sweater.
One of Mom’s more interesting comments, though was “If you were dressing to meet HRH Queen Elizabeth, you’d dress up; why don’t people then dress for the King of Kings?” (She was a Canadian Monarchist, and actually did meet HRH which is why she used her as an example.)
Christine, I JUST missed out meeting HRH last year (the staff of the office I now work in went to Buckingham Palace to meet her as part of the Lambeth Conference proceedings–I arrived on the scene about 2 weeks too late).
BUT–I do regularly have church with the King of Kings’ number one representative in this country, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Who is sort of technically my boss, as I work for the diocese of Canterbury, and who could come cruising through our offices on any given day.
So, neat, clean, respectful and fairly conservative are the way to go to church for me.
Thanks for all the inspiring ideas!
A couple more thoughts after reading your comments:
one) since I want to include everyone in the conversation, perhaps “worship” would have been a better word choice than “church”?
two) the combination of working for the church and attending church, like Wendy in England does, is a topic that floats around in my brain from time to time, but I haven’t figured out a way to bring it up. Most common in our congregation is to wear the same types of things. To me, that would get boring, unless I was actually working Sunday, but even then I might try to do something more special. If I was a worker during the week and a worshipper on Sunday (I realize a case could be made that there is no real distinction between the two, but you know what I mean), I would be inclined to go tailored during the week and more social/feminine on the weekends.
Sort-of related:
http://beautytipsforministers.com/2009/08/03/still-no-hawaiian-shirts-ever/
More to do with excessively casual dress on the part of ministers, but I do think it carries over into what the ordinary person in the pews wears to church.
I know it’s more important to be there. But I’ve always been amazed at parents whose teenaged daughters want to read the lessons, and encourage that. I encourage it too–but perhaps spaghetti strap leopard print tops, and skirts that give the young ladies more hair to comb and more cheeks to powder, are not the most appropriate attire for proclaiming the word of God?
Okay, I am now officially in Old Fartland.