Saturday, February 06, 2010

Bonus: A Winter Week in Feminine Dress, Day 8

Today's schedule: 8:00am Mass, accompanied flutist and bass player for their school contest, met with friends from Iowa to celebrate their baby's baptism, and after hitting "post" I must be off to catch up on deskwork and cleanup for a few solid hours. There's talk of a family movie for tonight. :)

Today's outfit #1... I wanted to post the "bonus" Day 8 to highlight a casual feminine outfit: a dark denim gored skirt with cotton tights, snowflake/snowman-print turtleneck, and sky blue zip-up sweatshirt. A combination ideal for housecleaning, chores, or "loungewear".


Today's outfit #2... For the baptism celebration and student contests, a more dressy ensemble: floral polyester skirt by "Southern Lady" (from a boutique), dark purple turtleneck, and lavender zip-up suede jacket.


I do want to share a picture of my necklace today because it's very special...my dear sister Sarah, who is a freshman at Christendom college, gave one to both Veronica and I (as well as herself) before going from Christmas break. The back reads, The best thing about having a sister is that I always have a friend. It's nice having the reminder close by even though she's 12 hours away. Love and miss you, Sarah!


Veronica's outfit... Black stretch-lace skirt — it also has a touch of velvet — from Burlington Coat Factory (as you can tell by the number of times I've mentioned them, there is more there than just coats!), wool sweater, and black dress ankle boots from Famous Footwear. Her spandex turtleneck shell was ordered from Boscov's: she has blue and black and really likes them for layering under sweaters and other tops. They fill in low necklines perfectly, as well as add warmth and style.


This snapshot offers a nice view of her miraculous medal from The Catholic Company (my Confirmation gift as her sponsor), as well as the way her turtleneck is gathered across the front, and her chastity ring.



Today's femininity quote:
“The power that women can wield over men is great indeed. If they pursue their own selfish aims, women are Satan’s slaves. If they put their charm at God’s service, they are God’s great allies.”
~Dr. Alice von Hildebrand

Today's feminine website: www.catholicmodesty.com


One last fun picture...my 12-year-old brother can be sweet when he decides to be! Yes, this was his own initiative. Never mind that he took the opportunity to try and tickle my face with his smack. ;)


And that, my friends, officially concludes our Winter Week in Feminine Dress. The comment boxes have been rather quiet... if you have been encouraged or inspired this week, please let me know! I really appreciate your thoughts and feedback. My purpose in hosting this is not to see my own face in print, but hopefully to offer a glimpse of how skirts and dresses can be implemented effectively into daily life.

Gentlemen, if you are grateful for the girls in your life who make the effort and priority to dress with dignity, let them know! After all, the wisdom of the world tells us modesty is unattractive...even though we know better, it's helpful and encouraging to hear the the truth from our brothers in Christ.

Ladies, I've heard one Catholic author descibe modesty as "a ministry of beauty". Our goal must be to offer in our dress and presentation a mirror of the perfect beauty of God, and a reflection of His presence in our hearts. The virtue of modesty is an important weapon to defeat the culture of death and transform it into a culture of life. As Colleen Hammond so wisely says...

"We can change the world: one outfit at a time!"

9 comments:

Sylvia said...

I loved seeing your pictures, Claire! Your schedule looks busy, but it sounds like you're doing what you love doing. :)

Anonymous said...

All of your outfits are really pretty Claire!

Malori said...

Once again, an excellent series! I throughly enjoyed it. :) Thanks for inspiring me to finally do a series of my own, and I'm sure you inspired many others to either reconsider how they are dressing or to encourage those of us who do dress modestly!

Your bosom friend,

Malori :)

Anonymous said...

Excellent work Clair! Very beautiful! It’s encouraging that there are still young woman like you in the world! God bless!
-Robert K.

Victoria Rose said...

Claire! Claire! Claire! I have that skirt!!! The denim one! We have two...or was it three? I forget, but I thought that was neat. :) And you know I love you doing this. You always inspire me. :)

~Vicki

Anonymous said...

Thank you Claire for taking the time to do your week in feminine dress. I look forward to your week of hair styles! :)

~Kathryn

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading through this mini series of fashion, and look forward to the hair series! All of the outfits you showcased in your week of dress are lovely and enhance your natural beauty. I also enjoyed your guest spotlights as well! You and your sisters are beautiful and pick out such cute outfits and are adept at quick and lovely hair styles! :) <3

-Gabrielle F.

Ivy said...

I loved all your outfits, Claire - very inspiring! I'm hoping to do this myself soon, after we replace the USB cable for the camera. I also really loved the quotes...they were all great.

Oh, and by the way...I'd like to "follow" your blog, but I can't find the button for it. I'm probably missing something in plain view. ;)

God bless, and have a lovely day!

Claire said...

Sylvia: Yes, busy is an understatement sometimes, but I do love the apostolates our Lord has given me! Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

Kathleen: Thanks for following! I hope you get lots of visitors for your current Week in Feminine Dress; you're doing a good job.

Malori: I'm delighted that you're doing your own series! This is a fun way to take a peek into each other's daily lives. :)

Robert: Thanks so much for visiting, and for your encouragement. I'm blessed to know you!

Vicki: You have the same denim skirt? I'm not sure I get what you mean with the numbers...? :) Anyway, thanks for being a faithful visitor, commenter, and friend!

Kathryn: You are one of the people for whom I included hair pictures. :) It's great to hear from you!

Gabrielle: SO nice to have you visit!! Thanks for the really sweet feedback. I'm really hoping you can visit this summer for some R&R and cousinly catch-up! :)

Lady Blanche Rose: Thanks for commenting and for wanting to follow my blog. I must be inept that that particular thing because I didn't realize that I needed to do anything to allow this...I'm not sure if there is a button right now or not! (Probably not if you couldn't find one). If any of you can explain this to me, please do! :)