Paying A Price for Uniqueness

 
Over the holidays I overheard a group of young folks engaged in a feisty conversation regarding any and all things fashionable.  They tossed around the names of designers and labels and cuts and fits that for the most part were unrecognizable to an old codger like myself.
The whole designer/brand deal is a phenomenon to which I've never connected.  The only tag on a garment that increases my pulse is the red and yellow one that advertises "90% off." 
I'll pay extra for mushrooms on a steak or a hard copy Max Lucado book, but I won't fork over one extra dollar for a certain brand or cut of denim.
I proudly wear "<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Kirkland" jeans most of the time, purchased at Costco for $14.
The notion of paying $250 for Justin Timberlake's "Star Maker" jeans flips my sensibility switch.  Something deep inside screams, "insanity on the loose!"  If I wanted to wear Justin, I'd buy boots – on sale. 
As I started paying closer attention to the verbal banter going down between the designer connoisseurs, I took note of the different pants that earlier in the day they had all put on one leg at a time.  Honestly, had I not heard the conversation, I would not have been able to distinguish special from common.
What I did find of interest was the fact that they all wore $9 t-shirts with their triple figure jeans.  I wondered to myself why they overspent on only half their body.  Why not balance the outfit with a designer top?  Why is it okay to shop at WalMart above the waist and not below?  Why premium cotton on one set of limbs and budget conscious cotton on the other?  Do you really want one pair of appendages feeling neglected?
I may wear irregular jeans, but at least I'm consistent.  I wear irregular t-shirts, as well.
After a week of processing this new data, it's pretty clear that I'm not as anatomically – conscious as many other folks.  Never one time have I considered how my butt looks in a pair of Kirkland's.
Had I not been recently educated on the design of Paige Adams-Geller's body parts, I would have never figured out on my own that her jeans could change someone else's anatomical reality for a mere $169.  Go figure.
Why is it that we attempt to establish our identity by what we wear?  Is material status all that important in the final analysis?  Does anyone outside the insider network really notice?
If I paid two bills for a pair of pants, I would carry an info sheet and hand it out to everyone I met.  I think I would want them to know that I was a denim aficionado concerned with proper highlighting of important body parts.  I don't think I could take the chance of other folks not noticing the subtle stitching on the pockets.  I would feel compelled to explain it.  I couldn't wait for others to decode the symbols on their own.  I would want to be noticed.
I'm perplexed why the differences that separate $14 jeans from $249 jeans are subtle.  I can see why a clothes horse might pay extra for wide-leg plaid jeans with four-inch cuffs, but for orange stitching over yellow stitching… I don't get it.
Obviously, communication takes place at many levels.  We send and receive signals constantly.  Long before AOL emerged, we were instant messaging, often through creative and diverse channels – like the stitching on the back pockets of our pants.
Though much of our communication is irregular, inconsistent, and accidental, many of our messages are direct and intentional.
We pay outrageous prices for basic staples because we believe they communicate a certain message powerfully and with impact.  "If $200 jeans can persuade my peer group I'm cool and win me acceptance and give me status, then up my credit limit!"  Designer clothes make a statement.
To me, the statement is you're crazy to overpay, but to others it is quite likely more positive.
Anyway, I've come away from my fashion adventure reminded that we communicate distinction in a variety of ways, some more effective and economical than others.  It also reminds me that we pay a price for uniqueness. 
These considerations should be of great importance to those of us representing The Great Designer.  Keep in mind that God is very interested in His disciples maintaining a sacred uniqueness.  The Bible, in fact, boldly admonishes us to be "holy like He is holy."
The meaning of holy conveys the uniqueness of being "set apart."  We are to be different in a good way.
Here is where it gets personal.  Does your life communicate a dedicated faith, boundless hope, deep joy, humble love, and commitment to a moral standard advocated in scripture?  Are you a connoisseur of all that is good, pure, noble and right?  Do you define your status by the world's acceptance or by God's favor?
Who are you, really?

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