When the subject of Plain dress comes up, friends committed to living simply sometimes point out that the simplest thing is to wear quiet sober clothes chosen from among cast-offs, bought at jumble sales and charity shops. Undoubtedly they are right, but there are other factors about the Plain dress witness to be considered, which may be the subject for a blog post another day.
Friends with a witness of simple lifestyle may therefore see Plain dress as the antithesis of simplicity - complicated and expensive!!
Something I didn't realise at first when I began to dress Plain is that the clothes can be - and are meant to be - combined. Not Amish dress perhaps, but the kind of modest clothes that come from places like The Kings Daughters where I get my dresses.
If a lady bought three dresses and three jumpers (UK pinafore dress), she would have far more than six options. She could wear each of the six separately (with a blouse or tee under the jumper), or she could wear any of the jumpers over any of the dresses. So a large wardrobe is created out of relatively few garments.
Obviously wearing two dresses is hotter (er - temperature, not fashion!) than just one, so the layering will take her through the changes of the weather, with the assistance of petticoats, vests and drawers of different fabric weight. Large roomy drawers are cooler in summer and warmer in winter than tight briefs, too.
But today I stumbled upon yet another combination (I can be slow to catch on).
My dresses all have elbow-length sleeves, which I prefer for working in, but they are not really warm enough for Second Month without a cardigan.
This morning I have to conduct a funeral, so will be wearing my best black dress.
I am dreadful at spilling food on my clothes and didn't want to get my black dress dirty.
I don't like to be too late in my nightie in case the postie comes.
It's very cold.
Aha!!! I put my jumper on over my nightie! My nightie is flannel, so it adds a warm, cosy layer - and it has long sleeves. Perfect! And a flannel nightie would do for any cold day, not just like now when I am waiting to get dressed into what I finally intend to be wearing.
This versatility reminds me a little bit of conversations about giving up one's car with friends committed to driving. An important argument advanced is about difficulty of access - such a long way to walk etc. And at first when one gives up one's car, it does seem such a long way to walk everywhere, until the realisation that - aha! - there is no need to walk along the roads where the cars go. Not only is a walk through the park or along a green lane pleasanter, it also opens up the possibility of using the alleyways and footpaths that cut through places where cars cannot go.
It's a question of adjusting to a different way of looking at something familiar.
