What I Wish I Would Have Known (Part I)

My dental school ward was made up of some super stylish and stupendous looking women. Every Sunday I felt like we needed to roll out the red carpet for the weekly fashion show.

If it was in style, you can bet every girl had one in each color. The heels, the bags, the ruffle tees, the flower and feather head bands. You name it, they had it and they made sure to show it off on Sunday.

I'm no fashionista, but I can't say even I didn't get caught up in it from time to time. I mean, we were surrounded by clothing outlets in all directions and a major metropolis just up the freeway. Plus, a lot of these girls came straight from Utah/BYU-land and well, enough said.

And then B. started his residency and we moved to Tennessee.

The bubble burst.

All I could think was "Whoa. What just happened?"

It was like moving from Hollywood to the backwoods of Hickville. Dresses worn with tennis shoes isn't considered a fashion faux pas here. In fact, no dress at all is also quite common. I'm no longer shocked to see women wearing pants to church.

The bottom line is the women in my new ward simply do not care one iota about being fashionably acceptable. It's not in their realm of priorities.

I have to admit, it was a major shock to my system at first. I wouldn't be surprised if the ladies here don't even know what J-crew is. But that's okay.

Because what was so foreign to me when we first arrived in Tennessee has actually become quite refreshing. The aisles of church are no longer a fashion runway. It feels awesome to be able to concentrate on spiritual matters rather than other, ahem, matters of a more worldly nature. Really awesome.

So instead of trying to keep up with the Joneses, just remember to be yourself. I'm not saying wearing jeans to church is the best idea, and I'm certainly not condoning the whole tennis shoe/dress combo.

But it's okay not to be the queen fashion bee wherever your world is, whether that be Hollywood or Hickville.