I dress plain, very plain. I have never been the focus of attention because I dress plainly in a way that fits in. Examble: During the cold winter I wear simple tailored long sleeved dresses in a wool blend of a solid color, slightly below the calf, with black tights and flat well kept loafers or pumps, with no bling of any kind. I work in a law office. My hair is always pulled back into a neat bun, and I do wear colorless lip gloss and keep my brows neat. Good grooming is not counter to plainess. In the warmer weather I wear solid color shifts with a gauzy elbow lenth t shirt underneath or a solid color very plain shift type dress with quarter length sleeves in a summer fabric that has a bit of integrity. One does not have to go about in flour sack type prairie dresses to be plain. All of my dresses have invisible zippers. I do not use buttons in any form as I like to honor those who are gone and eschewed buttons as at that time they were usually expensive and decorative. I also don’t loose a minute of this good life over missing buttons.
Being plain has been noticed, but very rarily. It usually takes the form of being asked why I don’t wear a wedding ring, even though I am married. I can explain in two small sentinces and everyone gets it.
When one is not concerned about picking out clothing from the excessive plethora of mostly idiotic and vulgar design, one has a lot more time for issues that are of useful importance, such as fundraising for worthy causes, which is my case, and being on useful committees. Dignity is another nice benefit of dressing plainly, along with respect.

And I canNOT wrap my brain around a social justice person shopping at Wal-Mart. I know, I HAVE been known to actually SHOP at a WM but ONLY because of something that was a necessity and I had burned up more than 1/2 tank of gas searching for particular item. I even have a tshirt dress that says, “As a Xan, I oppose the labor practices of W‑M; I am here today because I could find it nowhere else and it is important that I get this item NOW.” Like when something plumbing wise breaks at 3AM and WM’s the only thing open and the bathroom and house are going to flood.… or the grandbaby has a fever and a tepid spongebath won’t keep it down and it’s not high enough to go to the doctor and the closest 24 Whatever RX is ten miles away and WM is 4 minutes.

I am not a Quaker ONLY because I love liturgy. And now we’re back in the US and in MS (Mississippi) where the only known and proclaimed Quakers are in Starkville and Oxford (both huge university towns) and no one will respond to my emails because even though I’m a priest, sometimes I really NEED a meeting.

I wear a LOT of plain dress because I find it beautiful. There are patterns. I can make them. And they fit. If my clothing is NOT plain dress specifically, then it’s pretty plain. I’ve always liked a simple look, not simple in a bad way, but simple in a good way. AND dressing plain and simple CHANGES one; especially if one is using a Quaker/Plain/Mennonite pattern. It does good stuff to me spiritually, so that making clothing becomes a sacred meditation, like making vestments. In fact I tweaked a plain pattern for my clerical dress with a collar. I LOVE fabulous fabric and every 3rd year, if I find something on supersale and fabulous, fabric-wise, I buy it and make another plain dress.