Sunday best
n
(Clothing & Fashion) one’s best clothes, esp regarded as those most suitable for churchgoing
One of the reasons I created this blog is that I want to give my women readers tips on how to dress up without breaking their bank accounts. I’d like to be able to give tips on which match and where I scored them. I’d like to start with what I wore to church yesterday.
But first a background…
I grew up in the 70s and 80s in the Philippines when there were certain attires that were not allowed inside the church. For instance, women and girls should never wear spaghetti straps, backless or tube tops, mid-riffs or shorts. Men were also prohibited from wearing shorts or basketball jerseys. No slippers, much more, rubber thongs for both genders. There was a time in my youth when we were not even allowed to wear denim jeans.
Some churches in the Philippines still post what attires they allow in their churches and they have not strayed too far from dress codes of the past. And up until recently, when I attended church the last time I was home, I wasn’t aware that now they police you. The women’s brigade go around the church checking on what you are wearing and will not hesitate to call your attention, not allow you to receive communion and even ask you to leave if they find you not following their dress code. Strict.
Honestly, I do cringe when I see women in church with plunging necklines showing their deepest cleavages, or teens wearing very short shorts or bare-backed tops. I do the tilted-head-furrowed-brows thing when I see men in basketball jerseys and/or jersey shorts. But on the other hand I also have to say “at least they’re going to church”. For now, I leave it at that.
For me, going to church with the hubbie is a Sunday event I look forward to. I consider it special because of the spiritual reasons of it. Thus I feel I owe it to my Lord to present my best when I enter His home to pray. (Remember the generation I was in.) Thus, the term “Sunday Best” is a term so very applicable to me. I enjoy dressing up for church.
Having said that, yesterday at church, because of the humidity and heat, I decided to wear a dress made of jersey material. The thing I like about jersey (take note, NOT the basketball jersey I referred to awhile back) is that it doesn’t stick to the skin and it’s stretchy and comfortable. A swing dress made of jersey is very forgiving of a woman’s figure. This particular dress is a Lou & Grey, the relatively new (2014) brand of Ann Taylor. The Lou & Grey brand has pieces of a fusion of active and street wear, or “lifewear” as they’re now calling it. Thus, most of their material would be sporty and lounge-y, very soft pieces. I bought this dress last year from Anne Taylor’s end of season sale on their website for about 60% off. This brought down the price to about $20.
My 2″-heeled pumps is from one of my favorite brands, Cole Haan. I got it from DSW for a steal at $35 since it was on their sale rack, at 50% off. I love snake-skin print. There’s something very exotic about them which makes plain non-printed clothes stand out.
One time I was at Anne Arundel Mills and Ann Taylor was having an accessory sale. They had this one table of accessories, most of them selling for $6.95. I bought a couple of necklaces and earrings. And this was one of them. That was a steal because the original price was $33.90. And people who know me know I refuse to buy an accessory that expensive. Most specially custom fancy ones that might go out of style in a year or two (altho, this one, I think, might last longer than that).
So what have we learned so far?
- NEVER buy full price. There are just a very few things I buy at full price, but clothes will never be one of them. I wait for rock-bottom sales and I compensate that even by buying clothes that won’t go out of style very easily. I call those the classic sale purchases.
- DSW is a good source for classy shoes. They’re a discount store just like TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshall’s. So they’re already selling branded shoes at a discount so another percentage off their prices is good. But don’t buy them at 30% or 40% off either. Not unless they are to-die for brands, the least percentage-discount I will bite on is 50% off. DSW has shoes that they cut the prices off at 60%-70% off (some even at 80%). You just have to have the patience to look for them.
- Yes, I love Ann Taylor 🙂
So here is the complete ensemble I wore:
Didn’t look like the whole thing was just $60 – $62 in total, right? And this is even Sunday best. Not bad, eh?
So what’s your shopping secret?
The once named “godmother of the Philippine Blogosphere”, Gigi Manaloto-Refugia, known by her pen name “Ate Sienna” has been blogging since 2002 in her old pansitan.net community where she housed famous bloggers. She now writes about being 50-something and shares her tips on fashion, makeup, skincare, travel, food and thrift-store diving.
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