What They're Wearing

Fall means a new year of Bible Study Fellowship. This year, my oldest daughter is going to her own BSF class, one for young adults. I'm very excited that both of my daughters are involved in this study now. BSF has been very meaningful for me when I've been able to participate in it over the years.

Last night, while I was sitting at the piano waiting for our opening session to begin (I accompany the songs we sing as a group before we start), I was noticing our teaching leader's dress. It was a long, sleeveless blue and white thing under which she wore a white t-shirt. Very cute. The kind of thing I wish I could find to wear to school. She always has cute outfits on -- not over-the-top fashion plate stuff, but simple and attractive.

Not only that, she always has different outfits on. After thirty-some weeks of class last year, I don't recall seeing her in an outfit that I remembered her wearing before. I have often wondered at the size of her closet. This has particularly struck me this year now that I'm back in the work world and have to dress professionally three days a week. I have only a handful of outfits that qualify as "professional" -- I'm going to be wearing the same thing over and over.

I've also wondered if our teaching leader intentionally keeps track of what she wears every week so she's always wearing something different. From what I know of her, I doubt it. She doesn't strike me as one to focus that much on her clothes. Yet I've noticed . . .

And now I'm not wondering about her anymore -- I'm wondering about me. Why in the world have I been paying such close attention to what she's wearing?

Such behavior might not be unusual for some women, but I am SOOO not into clothes. I hate shopping. I hate trying to dress myself and make myself look appropriate for whatever situation I'm going into because I stink at it. I don't like having to care about what I put on my body before I leave the house. And most of the time, I pay no attention whatsoever to what others are wearing. If my daughter had disappeared in the middle of a school day, I couldn't for the life of me have been able to tell you what she was wearing that morning. (Well, not when we were living in Sioux City. Here in San Antonio, she would have been wearing her school uniform. But that's beside the point.)

There are two people whose clothes I find myself paying a great deal of attention to these days: my BSF teaching leader and my principal. I have no earthly idea why what they're wearing jumps out at me. They're not flashy dressers -- like I said, simple and attractive. But it seems like every time I see them, my eyes end up scanning their outfit of the day and thinking, "Oh! That's so cute! I need a scarf like that . . . or a skirt like that . . . or shoes like that . . . "

I have never done this before. Is it weird that I suddenly notice how these two particular people in my life are dressing? Even more -- is it weird that I'm sitting here thinking about how weird it is that I suddenly notice how these two particular people in my life are dressing?

Even more weird: I apparently think you all are interested in reading about how weird it is that I suddenly notice how these two particular people in my life are dressing. Hmph.