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Monday, April 17, 2017

New Spring Dress

Mother's Easter Dress 1955
When I was growing up new clothes only came at prescribed times. I was taken to get new jeans and shoes to start the school year; I had grown out of the old. I would get winter clothes for Christmas and then new spring "church" pants, shirt and bow tie for Easter. 

I remember fondly seeing my mother and grandmother in their new Easter dresses.  This was their designated spring dress and always was so pretty.  I remember chiffon material and it always seem to flow over their body.  Thank you mom, for you beautiful fashion sense.  You always looked beautiful. 

Having new clothes for Easter had deep roots in European customs. Sacred times called for special forms of dress—material markers of holiness and celebration. (Source Wikipedia) So, where did the tradition of dressing up for Easter get started? Evidently, it’s roots go all the way back to Rome in 300 A.D.  according to "Why We Wear New Clothes on Easter - By Lily McCallister"


Although we associate wearing new clothes in spring with the Easter holiday, the tradition dates back to ancient times. Pagan worshipers celebrated the vernal equinox with a festival in honor of Ostera, the Germanic Goddess of Spring, and believed that wearing new clothes brought good luck. The Iranian new year, celebrated on the first day of Spring, has traditions rooted in the ancient pre-Islamic past.

These traditions include spring cleaning and wearing new clothes to signify renewal and optimism. Similarly, the Chinese have celebrated its spring festival, also known as Lunar New Year, by wearing new clothes. It symbolized not only new beginnings, but the idea that people have more than they possibly need.

Christian beginnings. In the early days of Christianity, newly baptized Christians wore white linen robes at Easter to symbolize rebirth and new life. But it was not until 300 A.D. that wearing new clothes became an official decree, as the Roman emperor Constantine declared that his court must wear the finest new clothing on Easter. Eventually, the tradition came to mark the end of Lent, when after wearing weeks of the same clothes, worshipers discarded the old frocks for new ones.
Easter 1955

It's interesting to see where the tradition of wearing new clothes on Easter began, and how it's evolved through the years. Even with changing times, however, the custom will surely continue in some form. After all, fashionistas love a reason to shop.

So are you going to reward yourself with a new spring dress?  Send photos.  


My Easter Fashions

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