CAUTION!!!!! This post is about clothes! If you are offended or put off by this kind of thing, please run for your life until the next post! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! See you later in the week!
Dear Those-of-You-Who-Are-Left,
When you are a bleached blond not only by bottle but somewhat by nature, it is not always easy to explain how your brain comes up with certain concepts but, alas, I am going to try to tell you how this post was conceived. You may need to pour another cup of coffee because it’s rather involved and, not only that, it could not possibly be less important.
Maybe I should say that last part again: It could not POSSIBLY be less important. Proceed from here at your own colossal waste of time.
While many of you have frozen half to death in other parts of the country and world, we have enjoyed a series of near perfect days in a city that, in the summertime, could well be selected as the sweaty armpit of Planet Humanity. Except for a rainy respite here and there, Houston has basked in blue skies and cool breezes with trees budding and birds heralding the in-breaking Spring for such a run of days now that we might well fear that the end is near.
Last Thursday was so utterly gorgeous that, the second I got home from work, I pitched my purse and keys on the counter and headed to the spot where I keep my rubber boots. I couldn’t help but get tickled because all it takes for my two brilliant little canines to rev up for a romp in the woods is for me to start changing shoes. Running amok in these country acres makes them so exuberantly happy that I could honestly swallow gnats from over-smiling as I trudge the path behind them. And I trudge quickly, like my boots are on fire, or they’ll leap and bound themselves to the next county. (Side note: You don’t dare run in these woods if you’re a human or you will break your foot on a big, fat root. And you will miss the poetry in those last 8 words if you do not hear the word “root” as my grandmother would say it: root as would rhyme with foot. Now, try it again: break your foot on a big, fat root. Got it?) So, while I was bringing up the rear (hopefully literally), I was overcome by their imposing enthusiasm and overall cuteness and decided to take a picture of them and tweet about how smart they were. This is the picture.
That is Geli (pronounced “jelly” and short for Angelina) in the front and my own Queen Esther, or Star for short, hanging back a tad closer to her mother. Geli appears headless in every single picture I take of her from behind because she is a bird dog and runs snoot down. I mentioned in the tweet how they know their run is coming just by a changing of the boots. (Kind of like a changing of the guard.) Then, after I got a few fun responses, I thought to my blond self, “If I were on the other side of that tweet, visual soul that I am, I’d be trying to picture the pairs of shoes involved in the person’s exchange.” SO, I did what any red-blooded superficial woman would do. I tweeted a picture of the boots. (Are you on pins and needles by now? Isn’t this post riveting?)
I told the good folks on Twitter that, after I pitched my keys, I exchanged the boots on the right for the boots on the left but, based on the replies, I do believe most of them flipped the order around in their own mind’s eye. I think they assumed I’d had on the rubber boots and changed to the cowboy boots for the walk in country. Au contraire mon ami. Those are gen-u-ine (long “i” on last syllable) Lucchese’s and you don’t wear them in the mud and sticks. Or at least I don’t. I have other cowboy boots I would subject to the ugly elements but not those. Those are the boots I’d worn to work. All said, I switched to the rubber boots for the walk. I can only imagine how intellectually stimulated you must be by now. It’s just that, if we’re going to be visual learners, let’s try to get our visions as accurate as possible. Now I’ll go on if you’re caught up.
So, I’d mentioned in the tweet that those Lucchese’s were a gift to me from the great Texas town of El Paso. Lo and behold, only a few minutes later, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a tweet capturing the momentous reception of those very boots?? The snapshot below was backstage with the most wonderful and gracious handful of women you could imagine at our Living Proof Live Saturday morning before our session began. We seldom do this kind of thing and I also don’t make a practice of receiving lavish gifts but this was arranged in advance and was, quite simply, a matter of heritage. It takes a Texan to know one. That’s all I know to say. Don’t bother entertaining the thought that I did not put the boots on instantly and wear them for the rest of the day to teach. Of course I did. And home on the plane.
SO (there will be lots of “so’s” in this post because I’m taking you with me on a dizzying journey of the blond psyche and I’m trying to sew/so the pieces together for you) THEN I noticed that I had on the exact same jacket in the picture in El Paso that I’d worn to work THAT VERY DAY. (Did any of you catch your breath??) Some of you regulars even with abbreviated memories may remember because there is a picture in the previous blog of me wearing it. This is not the exact same picture I used in that post but it’s among the handful KMac and I took for it and it gives you a better view of the jacket. I wish it was full length because the same boots would really provide the finishing touch. (And, if there is anything some of you are wanting by now, it’s the finishing touch.)
Now, let’s admit it. There’s absolutely nothing impressive about me having on the same jacket in 2013 that I wore in the picture from Living Proof Live El Paso in 2009. But surely you will quit that slouching in your desk-chair post haste when I tell you that I bought it at a Lord & Taylor department store in Houston, Texas that has been closed for a solid decade and have worn it for 13 years with a devotion that can only come from true smittenness. I have loved it every time I’ve worn it.
Whose boots are stepping in this hay with me now, Sisters? Are you beginning to see the light? Because this post is about those rare and elusive pieces of clothing that we can actually call a good buy. And the best way to tell a good buy is that you…
never can say good-bye. No, no, no, no.
SO (everybody say that word with me now), I marched into my closet when I got home from that walk in the country and commenced to grabbing hangers. The result of that mad hanger-grabbing was 7 of my personal favorites from what I will henceforth call my 5+ Year Club. Each of these jackets have not only been in my closet for five or more years. They are still on the active list, getting plenty of current wear. Drum roll please:
I love this one. It’s got a darling little strip of that beading on the lower back, too. It’s a good choice for a big room. Tailored but not stuffy. Just in case you care to know a fairly reliable dressing guide for female communicators, the smaller the room, the better off you are if your clothing is understated. The larger the room, the larger you might tend to go on the look so that you don’t disappear in it. (Of course, the rub is that “larger” is a highly subjective matter. For instance, small rooms never kept me from large hair.) Addendum: I just heard from one of you on Twitter who said I wore this jacket at LPL Portland in 2003. Boom.
As you can see, the following is the utmost in understated. Clearing throat. So sue me. I’ve totally loved it. I wear it numerous times a year but without fail on Valentine’s. It is even brighter red than it looks in this picture if you can imagine that and I most like to wear it with black slim-legged slacks or jeans.
Melissa gave me the next jacket for Christmas a number of years ago. She and I tried to think exactly how long it’s been but couldn’t quite put a date on it. It makes the 5+ Year Club for certain though. It would have been a little pricier because it came from a rack at Anthropologie. It was a splurge for love of her mother and one not put to waste. I’ve worn it a million times. Because it’s bell shaped, I go with a slimmer leg on this one, too. My usual rule is: blousy top, slimmer bottom. Slimmer top, blousier bottom.
I wish I could remember exactly where I got this next one because it was my favorite kind of buy: super cheap and great fun. (Interjection: Melissa proofread the post and said, “Mom, you got it at Forever 21.” Embarrassingly, I think I did.) It is well beyond the 5 year mark and still not nearing the retirement list. I wore it to teach one Tuesday night during this recent round of women’s Bible study and somehow must have gone so utterly wild that I flung a button. (See fourth spot below) I did, however, find the button up on the third level of the church auditorium where it had put somebody’s eye out (all of that part was a lie). I will soon break out the needle and thread, as much as I hate to, and give it a mending. Or at least before next Fall.
Come on, Western Girls, and give this one a hand! BEST WESTERN COAT I HAVE EVER OWNED. Hands down. I’m going to estimate it at about 8 years old. Its story, however, has taken a recent turn that will color it, I fear, a whole new shade. A few weeks ago a young barista at a Starbucks told me how much she liked it and I was so powerfully jolted by the spirit of giving that I scared the living fire out of her. Wild-eyed and grinning madly, I ripped it off my shoulders and said, “Take off that green apron right this minute! Try this on! I want to give it to you!” To which she responded with horror and said (I wish you could hear the tone of this as I write it) “I don’t WANT your jacket!” And off she went with her lighter and pack of cigarettes like she was running from Freddy Krueger. I think she may have been staring at me from safe cover as I walked with my head down to my car, slinking like one who’d been shamed. For some reason I’m tickled. Let’s move on.
We are now nearing the end of Beth’s personal favorites in her 5+ Year Club. This next selection gets honorable mention because it is without a doubt the one I’ve worn the most. It is multipurpose and can be dressed up or dressed down. I’ve spoken or taught in it more times than I could count, worn it to dinner with Keith (when we used to actually go to restaurants because we lived in an actual city), worn it to church, and to numerous funerals and it is still a long way from worn out and nowhere near retirement. If I were quizzing you, I’d ask this: Based on my rule of pairing earlier stated, would I wear slimmer pant-legs or blousier pant-legs with this?
Blousies win.
I saved this one for last because it is the jacket of my life. Yep. My all-time favorite. I could almost pause for a moment of silence. Melissa got it for me for Mother’s Day while she was in college and that was a minimum of eight years ago so it’s at least that old. Amanda and I do a lot of gift-giving as well, needless to say. It’s just that Melissa has been more prone to jacket-buying somehow. It’s the neatest fabric ever and such a pretty blend colors. It’s truly my favorite thing in the closet. I don’t wear it as much as I used to but I just can’t seem to say good bye. I want to retire it like a basketball jersey and have it hung in one of my daughter’s homes after I’ve passed. Addendum: Amanda has now added that a theme has emerged here today: my best jackets have clearly come from Melissa. For this reason, I am leaving instructions in my will for this jacket to be hung in Amanda’s home for time immemorial.
This final selection is meant to serve as a warning not to buy things when you are hormonal. It is the most hideous thing in my closet. It looks and feels like something a deep sea diver would wear and you sweat in it like you’re wearing a tall kitchen trash bag. It’s so orange, cars yield to it and pumpkins bow. I am ashamed to show it to you but, to be fair, I feel that I must. We make it a practice to air some of our dirty laundry here on this blog. I still own it, not because it was a good buy, but because it wasn’t and because I am trying to punish myself by making myself wear it. I put it on from time to time and think something to the tune of, “This is what you get.” I have to challenge myself when I wear it not to try to explain it to people I’m with. I have this feeling that most would not fully grasp that I am trying to punish myself. I need to give it away but really. Who wants it?
SO, that’s it. Let me just go ahead and say that I am sorry for this post. I have a feeling that some of you read all the way to this point because you, too, are in a self-punishing mood. I’d like to thank you.
You make me smile. That’s all =) Love you so!!!
I’ve learned that I’m definitely lacking in the jacket department! Love those jackets, but never buy them for myself. Maybe because I’m hot-natured and live in SC which is probably as humid as Houston on a good day. Anyway, I love that you have old stand bys in your closet, especially after the lesson we just finished in James. 😉
Dear Beth-
Thanks so much for a light hearted post on a very dark and grey day in O-hi-O. Really needed it- my best friend is moving to your great state, and I will miss her terribly.
As for my closet, and the ‘old friends’ who hang in it, some things are just for keeping, no matter how old. They bring a little comfort with familiarity, and everything comes back around in fashion eventually!
BETH MOORE,we may have been separated at birth! Reading is never a waste of time and reading about clothes (or shoes), I’d give it at least an 8. I am proud to say that I am a 5+,10+,and 2 items from ’84 and’87, respectively. Some clothes are timeless, like your ability to share your heart. Thanks for always sharing. Loved it! Printed it out!
GJ – I want you to know that I actually NOTICED that the jackets in the pictures matched and thought that was extra special.
And it also just tickles me that I’ve been around so long that I actually RECOGNIZE some of these jackets. That is extra special too.
Now…I would never be able to wear your clothes because you are so teeny-tiny petite; however, I have a small foot…
And I love cowboy boots so much – they are so comfortable. Gary gave me a pair of black lizard skin boots when I turned 50.
Blessings sweet friend!
PS: Are your daylilies coming up in the JOYFUL waiting of Spring? Mine are!
This tickled me good this morning! And I loved getting to walk down memory lane with you via your very CUTE jackets! I was there in El Paso at Living Proof Live when you received the boots, there was never a happier Texas woman than you at that moment! No I have had the pleasure to attend LPL 6 times in 5 different cities and El Paso was a memorable trip for me. I had always made it a woman’s weekend and coordinated all my friends to attend along with me, but this time it was different…. I had flown out from AZ by myself to be alone with the Lord,He had drawn me there for a very specific reason as I had just walked through a very difficult time, and did HE meet me there! Little did I know I was about to walk through something far more difficult about one year later…a Diagnosis of Breast Cancer changed my world forever and the teaching that weekend in El Paso proved crucial for me, words I held tightly to during Chemo and Radiation. I have it underlined and Highlighted in my Bible… “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36.
I am just a little over 2 years out of treatment and today have no detectable BC, PRAISE JESUS! And you sweet Beth will be in AZ in just a few short weeks, I have once again been drawn to LPL by myself, it will be my 7th time and I just couldn’t be more anxious to see what the LORD has in store for me this time! I will be volunteering at the event for the first time as well, a very fantastic thing I get honor to do and serve the beautiful women that come to LPL!! So I couldn’t thank you more for this mornings post, each jacket brought back such wonderful memories of when I saw you in that particular jacket teaching the Word of the LORD, weather live or on Life Today or in a particular Bible Study. Your teaching’s have been a constant for me for many years, and your wardrobe is some really fun Cuteness! Love you Beth, Mary
Well, now I feel a confession just waiting to bust out of me. I own no less than 30 jackets.
I live in Fort Worth TX where I’m likely to wear said jackets once a year (each, not at the same time!) because I’m a hot-blooded Texas woman and rarely need said jackets. Most of them are 5+ years, yet every winter when we get those 5 days of 30 degree days I find myself lusting after yet ANOTHER jacket. And, yes, I sometimes succumb to said lusting.
And, therein lies my dirty little confession. Sigh.
I must remember this confession next winter when there is a coat drive. Enough said.
Literally laughing my head off at the orange scuba-diver jacket!! I love this post. And I love your jackets!
What a fun post!! Thanks for sharing your closet and tidbits about other things.
Love the post, Beth! The red jacket is my favorite!
I love, love, love this post and the pix. I am a total clothes horse and have lots of 5+ members of the club in my closet. My wonderful husband understands me :> and always asks what you were wearing at Tuesday bible study. I think you and your entire team have great fashion sense!
I do love you BMoore. And I love that we can love Jesus and minister in the deep AND the shallow. Carry on looking cute.
I LOVE this post!! Thank you for starting my Monday with a smile and giggles! I love how real you are, which is silly because of course you are real…but you know what I mean. Thank you for being real with all of us. <3
Seriously. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, but this post… makes me love you even more and finding your blog thrills my soul!
Sometimes (and this is quite possibly the greatest compliment I could give someone) reading what you write or hearing you speak or doing one of your studies is like sitting down with my Mom (who passed away in 2008, at just 50 years of age). She was actually diagnosed with cancer one month after she and I attended one of your conferences together.
Anyway, thank you so much for being such a significant part of my life (mostly via your studies)!
Great Monday Morning Post! Thanks so much – I spent all day and evening in the ER with my darling husband yesterday (still unresolved issue of chest pains) so it was a fantastic distraction from the all to realness of life – THANK YOU!
P.S. I am pretty sure you wore the yellow jacket with the white flowers to the LPL in Springfield, IL in 2009. 🙂 I was there – 1000 months pregnant (actually 8 months) and I remember thinking – I do love that jacket, but I would look like the side of a very bright, yellow barn if I tried to sport something like that right now. 🙂
Love ya, Siesta Mama!
April
Beth, you are a hoot-an’-a-holler! When I watch your videos I have to reign my thoughts in ’cause I’m always so enamored with your clothes! Thanks for sharing, sweet sister. 🙂
LOVED this post! And is that black jacket the one you wore when you spoke at Passion 2013? Love it!! (:
Hilarious! Such a good laugh. And yes, the last one is just plain orange insanity. As a diver, if I were to wear that in the ocean, every fish would swim away for dear life.
Thanks so much for the post. I love these wanderings through your closet and your mind. They are such fun.
I’ve been thinking about cleaning out my own closet, maybe I’ll rethink that….
I say go for it and get rid of the orange, God has created so many kinds there is someone who would wear it.
I have to admit I was rather skeptical when my best friend texted me this morning to tell me I HAD to read this blog NOW and then you said, “Proceed from here at your own colossal waste of time.” As I sipped my coffee and ignored the variety of toddler toys that make noise in the background I couldn’t help but to be laughing.
Your orange jacket is hysterical and I think we all have that one thing in our closet that we bought when we were hormonal that we just can’t bare to give away, because who would want it?! For me, I bought a pair of baby blue corduroy overalls. These things were hidious, but I was fresh to the hormonal world when I bought them and couldn’t control myself. I hated to even look at them most time, but usually (around once a month) I would look at them and HAVE to wear them. My mother hated them and they “went missing” after laundry one day. I have to say she did the world a favor!!!
I loved this post! You are so much fun! It tickles me to imagine you all by yourself in your room pulling out clothes and taking pictures.
I live in Southern California and all my best buys would be so boring to share–all black:). And some jeans thrown in for good measure. I am not letting myself buy any more black! I need to branch out…maybe next an orange jacket:)
Yep, that’s exactly what you get when you cross a construction barrel with a wet suit… 🙂
Loved the “What not to Wear” Christian style. Such a great start to my day!
When facilitating Bible Studies, I write a description of your outfit at the top of my listener guide to make sure I play the correct lesson for the group. (Just as blonde as I pay to be)
I can’t help but think maybe you could cut the sleeves off of the orange one and use it to go hunting with Keith…
I was giggling all the way to the end. So funny.
After getting up from the computer, continuing to think about how funny this post was, I began to think about what I was reading in my quiet time this morning.
“It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'” Matthew4:8
In my commentary it says ” The devil offered the whole world to Jesus and to us he still offers the world through materialism.”
From such a harlious post, it yelled out DISCIPLINE.
I can’t imagine the attacks you must face because the devil KNOWS how highly favored you are in God’s eyes.
You encourage me so much!
For not everyone has faith. But God is FAITHFUL. Love you.
Your faithfulness and discipline encourages me.
Beth I hope you will laugh with me (I would never laugh at you!) As I was reading I was anticipating that you were going to say you hunt with Keith in that last one. See you tonight at The Patriachs. Eileen
Loved it…love you… when I wear my favorite jacket my daughter says “You’ve got your Neth Moore jacket on!”
That should have read BETH, I don’t own a Neth Moore jacket, yet.
I have seen one or two or three or more. So cute. Wow. Guess I’ve followed you long an hard, holding fast to Jesus through your teaching. Love long ones—hard to find. If one of u was the barista, we would have been floored!!!
Beth, honey, I love you. You have made my morning, and I needed that giggle. Being a six foot tall Texan, who can never find anything in a store that fits, my rule is that, if it’s long enough, I just have to get it. I have some ridiculous things that I cannot get rid of just because they are long enough (including some orange pants that would put your jacket to shame)
I LOVE this post!!! My best friend is a shopaholic and I get all of her hand me downs!! And most of her hand me downs are practically new!!! Some still even have the tags on them!! But I love to pass on the “Look at me!” ones!!! I would say that Orange jacket is definetly a “Look at me!” Jacket!!!
But I think that you can wear whatever you want!! We love you no matter what!! 🙂
Oh yes, Beth, for those women around the country who cannot figure out why Houston women need jackets, you might explain the fact that all of our restaurants & stores are WAY over-air conditioned & we freeze to death without a sweater or jacket.
I love every minute of your post and also loved laughing my head off because I can so identify with you!! I think anyone who is a University of Texas fan or an Oklahoma State fan or a University of Tennessee fan would love the orange jacket!! Probably some others out there too!
Thanks for a little bit of light-heartedness in my day!!! Would have LOVED to see you wearing each jacket for the post!! Especially the orange job!
Oh Dear Beth, I do L-O-V-E a cute jacket!!! So this post is wonderful!
I remember you wore a cute cute cute (did I say Very Cute?) jacket in one of the Esther sessions – a dark red patterned coat, if I remember it correctly, and I wanted one like it so much. I spent a lot of time looking for one like it, but alas, I never did find it. I think I drove Melana (MooseMama) slightly crazy with my obsession to track down the source of that coat….
Glad you are having such glorious Spring weather. Here in TN is has been grey and rainy, but this weekend was perfect! It was so nice to get out and enjoy some sunshine, but we are back to grey and rain today.
Much love and hugs,
Adrienne
Please don’t even donate the orange jacket at then end — it belongs in Stacy’s and Clinton’s metal garbage can HA! Love all the 5+ year club and have quite a collection of jackets myself. Please tell me you receive Boden catalog — it’s from the UK and looks just like somewhere the favorite jumbo polka dot might have come.
from your pal at Jacket Wearers Anonomyous, Jill
I got a brownie AND a cup of coffee, and I am so thankful for this hilarious post. There is a girl at my local Tijuana Flats who always pets my purse, and I have often wondered what would happen if I cleaned it out and gave it to her. Oh, goodness sakes, how I laughed at that part…I spit brownie on my computer screen. Thank you, Siesta Mama. As owner of several pumpkin colored items, I bow to the Queen!!!
Thanks Beth for a fun post on this Monday! I needed a laugh this morning.
As a die hard Tennessee fan, I love the orange color! It could be just the item you need on a cold, rainy day in Neyland Stadium.
Much love to you!
Pam
Oh how this tickled me this morning! Going through your closet & the workings of you this morning made me smile. The orange one & your comments made me laugh out loud! The best part was recognizing the jacket from either a LPLive event or a video! Great memories!! Thanks
What a great way to start the week! Perked up our very grey day here in NC.
Thanks for sharing—I’m still giggling over the ORANGE jacket:)
Much love,
Pam
I’m so glad we’re friends. I feel like you just had me over for coffee and we raided your closet together. Love you. –joyce (i’m a vest person myself)
Loved every bit of that! Happy Monday to you, too! Lol!
Ok ~ sometimes we alll need a REAL lol!!! Perfect 🙂
Beth,
I just posted a picture on my blog of you in a red jacket (with my daughter and me). Is it the same favorite red jacket? Or is this a different one? Looks like it may only have three buttons instead of four. Not sure?
Love you so much! And I like these blog posts, too!
Oh! That was tres fun!! It made me think: The Lord Our Tailor — instead of Lord and Taylor
Thank you for making me laugh – and on a Monday morning at that!!
That was fun! Anthropologie jacket really cute
I LOVE the post. I love when people I admire become “real” to me. As in, we share the same sense of humor and the same black polka-dot boots! And your relationship with your daughters reminds me or my relationship with my own daughter, as well as mother.
I loved reading this and knowing the effort you put into it! So fun! I’ve always loved your style sense and you never fail to look adorable whenever I’ve seen you so this was a blast. Thank you for some Monday fun-day reading. You are too much and so loved by all of us! xo
Miss Beth…Oh my, what fun. You edify me in ways you will never know (well, that is until The Good Lord reveals it to you in heaven — and won’t you be in for a treat!)
Love ya’
Orange Jacket or no.
Debbie
I love your jackets, and my daughter will be sad to know that you’ve just spurred me on in the “keep everything” mode in my closet. She lives in New York, and occasionally, when she comes home, she’ll march into my closet and ask, “what is this?!”. What can I say? She isn’t here to save me from myself! My friends like my clothes and might even think I’m stylish but said daughter
thinks I need help, and I miss her help. She needs to come and currate my closet and then shop with me. Time is the problem. So, here I am, daughter-less in town and
left to my own devices. The problem with my closet is that I may take something I haven’t worn in 10-15 years and get tons of compliments on it, that adds to my inability to get rid of anything. And then of course, theres that boiled wool jacket that my mom splurged on when I couldn’t have afforded it, yadda, yadda.
And they don’t make things as well now…yadda, yadda, yadda. Beth, thanks for a fun entry. Now I must go, to clean out my closet….if I can! 🙂
Luved this post!!!! Exactly what I needed this monday. I tend to hold onto my shoes alot longer than my clothes. I clean my closet out at least 2 times a year. However my shoes…don’t touch them. I am a huge addict of shoes and 30 pair is not enough. I do however have one jacket that has been with me for about 10 years. I love this jacket and wear it all the time. It’s great being a woman….