Denim skirt

When my commute to church was 15 minutes, 20 on a snowy day, I could dress any way I want. I would go outside and scrape off the snow from the truck in my jammies and boots and then quickly change into my Sunday best complete with heels and earrings.

It’s just not the same here.

My commute to church is 1 hour and 20 minutes and I have to dress for every occasion; sub-zero temps, the bus stop, the metro, the walk to and from the building, and of course, the service itself. So what this means for me is that someone who used to like to wear nylons and fancy jewelry every week has turned to wearing jeans, a nice sweater, and a bun for church. Suffice it to say, it’s a bit of a downer.

I know this is an individual preference because I have plenty of friends who would love to wear jeans every week to church, but not me. For me, Sundays are special occasions, equally important as date nights or social events.

Disclaimer: to all my homeschooling friends out there, the following is a flagrant generalization.

When people hear that you’re a homeschooler, they picture one of two things. First are the ones in a classic denim skirt, white tennis shoes, long straggly hair and a parade of children in stair step height walking behind. They picture a family pulling water from the well and using a wood stove for cooking. It’s primitive, but true.

The second is a hippie style version of a family with parents who don't have traditional jobs, kids who paint on the dining room walls and make up words to foster creativity. They have chosen to avoid traditional schools because they’re afraid it will put their kids in a box.

I am neither one of these, but definitely somewhere in between. A friend who was a missionary in Africa warned my sister and me before I left that when I returned, I would dress weird. I can already see this happening. You wouldn’t have caught me anywhere in the states wearing tapered jeans, but guess what, they fit inside knee-high boots and just make sense. I also sometimes wear leggings---in five degrees, because they don’t let in the breeze like jeans do.

That being said, I was insistent on wearing a skirt to church this week. I found a denim one that goes to my ankles and tried it out. It was great because I wore my purple boots underneath and no one could tell.

I was warmer this Sunday than I’ve been in a while. I had to laugh at myself as I saw the very stereotype I’ve tried to avoid walking down the streets of Moscow. I'm certainly not a fashion queen, but there's a lot to be said for feeling like you look nice and being warm a the same time. Cheers to those who invented the denim skirt.