I was raised with a really weird view on fashion and the whole works. Being in a Christian home, I was taught not to care about clothes, which is fair enough. I don't believe that it's okay to be obsessing over my appearance, putting my focus off of others and on to myself. However, I was not taught that fashion could be a form of art. Nobody told me that I could express myself with what I wore or how I did my hair and makeup. I always heard in church that God wanted us to use our gifts, no matter what they were, yet fashion never made the list of examples. Why not? Why can't I use fashion to make the world a little bit less cold? Why shouldn't I become a fashion photographer or a cosmetician, and use that as my ministry? Does God not want Christians in that industry? Do models and magazine editors not need Christian coworkers? Do they not need to find God as much as anyone else does?
I'm not saying I'm all for over-glorifying humans, because I'm not. I don't want my life to be just about making people "more beautiful". But the industry doesn't have to be about that. I owned my first lip stick when I was five, and I could apply eye liner when I was seven. Was I over-glorifying myself, or was I my own art project?
Contrary to popular belief, the fashion industry doesn't replace character. Nobody trades compassion for curled hair, or kindness for longer eyelashes. Seeing life as an art doesn't make anyone shallow. If anything, it's shallow to refuse to understand a way of life that's different than your own.
So there's my rant, and there's my reasons why I believe fashion is so misunderstood by the Christian community.
It is a rant, but it is personal and passionate and refreshing. You ask valid questions and are shaping your view of the world. Have you done any reading on the intersection of faith and fashion? I'm thinking there has to be some great blogs or publications that share your interests.
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