Unless you’re part of the small, marginalized segment of Western society that does otherwise, you probably get up and put clothes on before leaving your place of residence in the morning. At Calvin, that we wear clothes is a given. The real consideration is, of course, what clothes we decide to put on. This weekend’s student fashion show, aptly titled “What to Wear” aims to help students do just that.

Senior Martinus Geleynse thinks that there ought to be a connection between who we are and how we dress. He’s not thrilled that there are many Calvin students who don’t seem to give much thought to the attire they wear to class.

“People walk around wearing hoodies and PJ pants to class,” he said. “I mean, we’re supposed to be university students, in many ways the upper crust, the cutting edge of society and we’re walking around looking like Carebears.”

While students organizing “What to Wear” are certainly not instigating a boycott of casual wear in the classroom, they are hoping that the Calvin community will start talking about why clothing choices are important. Does it really matter whether you wear mall-bought clothing or create your own ensembles from the Goodwill sales rack? Is there any value in experimenting with different kinds of fabrics, colors and textures in clothing? Why is it that guys who care about fashion are often stereotyped in hurtful ways?

When people in a Christian community begin talking about clothing choices, the topic that generally surfaces first is one of modesty. In fact, a discussion on the staff and faculty online forum Calvin Matters last fall probed just this topic. Many faculty members were concerned about female students who were donning what was deemed to be provocative clothing. When over 100 threads were added to the discussion by faculty members over a five-day period, it became clear that the issue of modesty is one of great concern for many in the community.

It’s not surprising that when posters began to surface on campus advertising a student fashion show put on by the Student Activities Office entitled “What to Wear,” many were misled into thinking that the show was going to be about “appropriate” clothing choices. In other words, it was going to be a clever way for the college to mandate modesty without actually enforcing a dress code. It didn’t help that the show was also included in a list of activities part of the Sexuality Series.

Vice President for Student Life Shirley Hoogstra sees a student fashion show as an opportunity to talk about clothing choices as ways that we communicate messages that may be either covertly or overtly sexual.

“How we present ourselves is about our sexuality, so let’s talk about it. Does it matter that everyone can see my cleavage? Does it matter that my pants show my underwear? What does it mean when I buy push-up bras? What am I trying to say to people? Maybe nothing, but maybe you are saying something.”

In fact, the student fashion show on Saturday night is not primarily about promoting appropriate clothing choices, though it may be a part of the discussion it ignites. When new Coordinator of Student Activities Rachael Koeson came to Calvin in October, she already had it in her mind to try to organize something for students in regards to fashion. The mid-October hubbub about modesty on Calvin Matters may have provided some impetus for getting a student fashion show going, but for Koeson the show has always been about giving students a platform upon which they can express their creativity through fashion.

Sophomore Ruth Ribeiro has been dreaming of a career in fashion design for a long time, but as a child growing up in the reformed tradition, she hasn’t heard many affirming words for that kind of vocation. This fashion show that she is helping to plan is like a dream come true for her.

“For me, this is taking what I love and what God intended me to do – to be a designer – taking that and saying that just because society and family tells me I can’t do it, God intended this for me to be my calling. This is what God has called me to do – to redeem fashion. I think in the past that’s been neglected [by the Christian community].”

Ruth is finding that there are scores of others who share her zeal for fabrics and colors and textures, but for reasons similar to hers, or for other reasons, have not been able to express it.

“It’s awesome to see girls and even guys who haven’t been able to express that passion, seeing their eyes light up, realizing that they can do this, what they love,” Ribeiro said.

It’s no secret that there are many people who aren’t convinced that fashion is an important part of life, much less the Christian life. There is even a tendency in a community with vested spiritual interests to look down upon those who get excited about their new Mary Janes or embroidered velvet jacket. Concern about fashion is often equated with materialism and all of the negative connotations that go along with that. Koeson, a self-admitted fashion enthusiast, hopes to change the way people at Calvin perceive others who put a lot of energy into what they wear.

“People think about fashion and think it’s a waste of time or stupid or frivolous, but there’s a lot more to it. It can be an art form, if you’re paying attention. I think that there are a lot of students here who do pay attention, who are keyed into how to put things together – fabrics and colors and combinations. All these things are really an amazing creative outlet – it’s very tangible, very visible, very immediate way of presenting yourself to the world. I think that rather than saying that they’re weird or ridiculing them for wasting time, whether it be looking at fashion magazines or sorting through things at Goodwill, it’s time to start recognizing that as a legitimate interest, reclaiming that, and talking about what that implies.”

Students participating in the fashion show are designing their own outfits, many of them simply drawing on things from their own closets. Not every participant is running to Hobby Lobby and buying yards and yards of raw silk, but some are sewing their own clothing. Freshman Annalies Boonstra will be presenting a line of evening gowns that she designed and sewed, and sophomore Cheryl Brown will be presenting as many as 16 outfits that she has personally designed and sewed. At least four male designers are participating in the show, hoping to break stereotypes about men who care about fashion.

When the idea for hosting a fashion show at Calvin was still in fledgling form, organizers were hoping to create ideas that designers would explore in-depth in their design. Designers might put together ensembles that explored the idea of constriction versus liberation in both male and female attire. As the show actually developed, organizers like Koeson and Ribeiro realized that creating design categories might discourage people from participating.

“We ended up feeling like that might intimidate people and that it’s more important to get as many people involved as are interested than have it focused on particular topics,” said Koeson.

Having as many students involved as possible in the show helps to raise popular awareness on campus for the issues involved in the clothing choices that we make every day. While Koeson’s vision for the show begins with providing interested students with a place to express their creativity in fashion design, it broadens to ignite discussion on a wealth of topics related to fashion.

“There are a lot of issues at play here, including gender issues, sexuality things, and it’s important to think and talk about those things too,” said Koesen. “[The show] is an attempt to ignite a discussion through an experience, and the experience is giving these students a legitimate platform to express themselves.”

Koeson and the organizers of the show know that what they are doing has the power to get a lot of people thinking. Already, some of their advertisements have sparked debate. The highly stylized, ironic use of what philosophy Professor Ruth Groenhout on Calvin Matters called a “cheesecake nymphet” in their first ad for the show has led some to wonder whether the fashion show may be playing with the idea of the objectification of women. In some ways, the debate is just what the image intended to start. Clearly the show is not about reducing the value of women (or men, for that matter) to what they are wearing; rather the show is encouraging thoughtful discussion about how a renewed concept of fashion can move beyond that malady and many others.

Koeson is convinced that as a community we need to start thinking about fashion in a different way than Christians have typically approached the topic.

“Historically, the Christian community at large has not been terribly inviting to free expression in this way and it is important for us to discuss it and to say that this, like every other part of life – everything – has the potential for being renewed and redeemed. Why would this be different from anything else?”