| Greetings, dear friends! It is necessary again to have another lesson about feminine clothing. We are small in number, but I think we can create changes in society by the way we dress. To learn more details about the principles of feminine dressing, go to members.tripod.com/~frankysj/fwlsn18.html, where a woman named Sondra has given a lesson and some homework assignments. I would strongly urge you to take this lesson and see if you can pass the assignment tests. We need to get back to having a conscience about our appearance. It does, indeed represent what we believe and how we live. Let us not live a lie. |  |
Ladies, we must not go around looking like we have no Heavenly Father who looks after us. It is a poor testimony to others when we claim Christ but look like He isn't looking after us. What are people to think of a King who doesn't care for His subjects, or a father who cares nothing for his children; a husband who doesn't provide for his wife? The way you dress is evidence of who you claim as your provider and protector. It also has a powerful influence on others for good or for ill. Drab, depressing garments can cause negative reactions in people. Cheerful, tasteful dress can encourage good manners in others.
| You see here a wonderful painting of a veranda. How often have you seen a beautiful layout of a family home in a magazine, portraying rooms such as this, and then are shocked to see the lady of the house in a grungy pair of jeans, a tee shirt and tennis shoes, sitting on a lovely chair in the house? This is supreme inconsistency. So many women of our times admire the Victorian era and the past times of elegance and refinement, yet they reject the very standards that made these times so memorable. The architecture and furnishings--even the gardens, were a result of the propriety of the people of the time. |  |
 | Here you see a woman of perhaps the 18th century carrying water, just like people still do on farms and homesteads today, from the lake. Even the little dock reminds me of the homestead where I grew up. Her clothing is indeed drab and coarse, and perhaps quite ordinary even at the time. The painter evidently saw something worth recording; something worth painting, in the scene. She still looks like a woman. She has a sweet, innocent look. I have mentioned before that one reason we use these paintings at L.A.F. is because they were painted before feminism took hold over women. Before jobs, car pools, daycare, college, jeans and tank tops, credit cards, drugs, and easy divorce, women had a countenance of contentment and hope that we rarely see today. Instead we see the frazzled woman rushing between work and picking up her children from daycare, and perhaps night classes at a university. While society has come a long way in technology, we have slid back a long way in personal peace and happiness. This is also evident by the way people dress. |
| I have just returned from visiting with someone who has been in China. He has suffered the same embarrassment as I, regarding western tourists overseas. He says their appearance is outrageous and they are far too casual. It is a poor testimony to our country. It tells people in China and other countries that we do not care about anything. If we take so little care of our appearance, how will we look after our businesses and our homes, and what kind of teachers are we? (This man is a teacher in China) This is what other people think about us, and it is shameful. I have had the same reaction while overseas. Once while doing missionary work in some tropical islands, my children and I were at the pier where the tourist ships dock, watching the people disembark on their holiday. I couldn't believe my eyes: women in the awful clothes--cut-offs, shorts, terrible looking sandals and skimpy tops--looking like they'd just climbed down from trees in the jungle. The men looked as bad as the women. I was so totally embarrassed, because the people in these islands, though poor, take such great pride in their dress. It is the most important thing to them. They dress up, not down. Although very few of them have fine homes (most had one-room houses without window panes and one peg to hang clothing on.) You will not see a Chinese national dressed as horribly as the majority of women in the west dress. The way people dress shows respect for others. |
My Secret Arbor II Consuelo Gamboa You May Order This Art Print At AllPosters.com |
Women are concentrating so much on their possessions and their activities that they forget about the message their appearance is giving people. Can ambassadors be taken seriously, or with any credibility, if they dress like prostitutes? What kind of message are we giving to people in other countries by our dress? It is no wonder that other nations have no respect for us.
Below, you will read a review of a play from the Loretta Young Show, called "When Queens Ride By." You can read the entire play, and perhaps print it out and use it for a drama in your women's group, by clicking on this link.
WHEN QUEENS RIDE BY Originally aired - 03-12-61 #6021
Teleplay by Pauline Stone & Mike Cosgrove; story by Agnes Sligh Turnbull – Richard Donner, director. Jenny Musgrave spent all her time outside helping her husband on their badly run-down and heavily mortgaged farm, neglecting her own personal appearance and her home. Then one day a smartly dressed woman stops by to purchase a few apples – they sit under a tree as the visitor tells Jenny of her own experiences of the past when she was in similar circumstances. She felt that keeping their home tidy, herself well-groomed and cooking good meals was far more important than the few hours she could work in her husband’s business. That evening, when her husband came in from the fields, he was surprised to find their home very neat, Jenny looking years younger in a neat dress – and sitting at the table in a very friendly mood was the man who held their mortgage. Jenny had persuaded him to extend time on payment of their mortgage.
If you ever see this film, you will never forget it. Your clothing has an effect on society and your family for good or ill and even plays a part in your own mood and attitudes toward life. Although there are deep reasons for depression, you will feel like you are coming out of darkness into the sunlight if you will begin with your appearance. Make it a priority to begin your day looking presentable to God and your family. A child who is dirty and ragged from playing in the mud will run to his mother for a hug, but she will want him to be clean and smell nice before taking him up on her lap. That is the way people react to us. Although they still like us, they respond more warmly and listen to us without distraction if we are presentable. We must not let our appearance detract from our message.
To get a feeling for dressing appropriately, be sensitive to the weather, the season and the occasion. Look at the paintings and imagine them in a modern updated style, minus the heavy sleeves, bustles and long trains. Then look in catalogs and stores and pattern books for the styles which most closely represent the ones you like. The world is going around in faded clothing these days, flaunting backwardness by wearing casual clothing to formal events such as teas and weddings. If you are confused about what to wear to weddings and anniversary parties, read the article on wedding attire. It is easy to be "different from the world." Just dress appropriately. Dressing up will also become a ministry, as you give encouragement to men and women in stressful times. The compliments you receive can be considered a report card on your progress.
Time for Roses
Charles Haigh-Wood
You May Order This Art Print At AllPosters.com
As you look at this picture, imagine how you can create modern clothing for the home, church, shopping and other events, that are functional and beautiful. There are dressmakers available and many sources for beautiful yet practical clothing.
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