How much do you dress up for church? (or whatever.)

The older ladies at my church wear pastel suits and shoes and carry matching purses. Some go for more serious colors. I remember that once one of my dad's sisters mentioned wearing pants to church - on a Wednesday night - on a really cold, miserable evening - and she felt AWFUL about it. I wear a dress, or a skirt and blouse, and try to match my shoes to some degree, but I carry the same purse everywhere I go until it wears out so sometimes it doesn't match at all. Some women wear nice pants outfits, and more and more I see blue jeans. I have a problem with that, and I have a problem with the fact that I have a problem.

During the week, I wear jeans and a t-shirt every day. You don't dress up in a lab, if you have any sense. If we have visitors I might switch to khaki pants. It's true that when I get home from church I switch back over to the jeans and t-shirt right away. But I don't WANT to wear jeans to church. It's partly about being respectful, and partly about trying to look like you know how to act, and partly about keeping up some kind of standard, and partly about keeping some nice clothes in the closet in case of weddings and funerals, and partly about not wearing the same clothes and having the same look ALL the time. So I don't like to see those jeans at church, especially when I know the people involved can afford different clothes. (If they can't afford anything else, of course I want them to attend church in their jeans rather than think they are not welcome.)

I honestly don't think God cares what we wear to church. That's why it bothers me that it bothers me.