Dress to Impress

I got a job installing security systems as a technician for Pinnacle this summer. A couple of months ago I had a training which was meant to detail the installation process and help the technicians get some hands on experience. Without even thinking about it, when I woke up that morning and looked in my closet, I was sure to grab something that looked more like "work clothes." I decided on a regular t-shirt, work pants, and tennis shoes. I put my hair up in a pony tail. I certainly didn't wear earrings and even decided against applying my perfume. And all this I did subconsciously. I already knew that as a girl, I was lacking in the ethos department when it came to installing security systems as that job is mainly seen as a masculine one. Therefore, I recognized that wearing anything that made me appear like a "girly girl" would definitely be the wrong option. I needed to look like the strong, hard-nosed, and determined girl that I am who would have no problem adjusting to the work. This wasn't particularly difficult because I grew up with six brothers (and no sisters) and at heart, this is who I am (even though I do like to dress up in cute clothes). I laugh when I think about going to that training in a skirt and fancy top or even formal jeans, a cute top, and earrings with my hair curled. It simply would not appeal to my audience in a way that would promote the reaction I wanted from them, and even I couldn't imagine myself with a drill in my hand and a tool belt around my waist with that sort of appearance. On the other hand, this might exactly be the sort of outfit I would go for if I was going on a date. My point is that we, as humans, dress to impress, or rather that we exude the message about ourselves (which we want our audience to believe) through the way we dress. I find it particularly important and enabling then, for us to be able to pinpoint exactly what we want our audience in each case to believe about us so that we can choose an appearance that conforms to that desire. I don't think that doing this is cunning or deceptive in any way, but rather just keen in realizing the way that our culture reacts to appearance. We may trick ourselves into believing that this is not important, but at the end of the day, we cannot decide upon the message that are clothing/appearance displays. For instance, we cannot dress in dark, tight clothing with dyed black hair and thick, black makeup and tell those around us that we are exuding the message of a conservative choir girl and not a "gothic." (Please excuse my stereotyping). In other words, the messages that we send are able to be interpreted by others because they are widely accepted by the population--just saying that "this certain style does not say this about me" is not enough (because these messages are dictated by society). We must adhere to these societal codes if we are to understand the message we are sending with our appearance, and then be able to use this knowledge to send the message that we desire. As I ponder upon the importance of dress and appearance in this aspect, it is no wonder to me that the Church stresses modesty to the degree which it does. It is stressed so greatly because appearance exudes a message about the person as well as the church organization which they belong to. We see, as church members, that when one dresses modestly, they send the message that they respect their God-given body, they know that they are sons or daughters of God, and they desire to express that knowledge with their appearance by not even tiptoeing near the line of immodesty. Most often, it is the motivation behind the type of dress that is really important (whether we desire to send a positive message about the respect we have for our body or whether we are focusing on showing off our body). When viewed in this way, dress and appearance does not become something of a superficial nature, but rather a viable means of spreading a positive message and example about the Church to those outside of it. How important it is then, for us to utilize modest dress and appearance in a way that will spark this interest in the minds of non-members so as to spread the good news of the Gospel.