Op-Ed: Easter Fashion Sunday is a black tradition.

In a few days, my ninety-five-year-old grandmother will be attending an Easter Sunday service at her local Baptist church. In the days leading up to the service, also known as the Easter Sunday service, she is preparing an outfit that ‘catches God’s eyes’, like the first day of school. The expression used by women of her generation is to seek God’s favor to bless not only themselves but also their descendants with God’s great favor and mercy. And what other way to attract God’s attention and favor with tasteful and well-fitting clothes?

My grandmother spent most of her life in the service of God. She says that all problems in life can be solved by God’s favor and prayer. For the women in the church, this can be done in a ritual to praise him with beauty and fashion practices. 1 Corinthians 11:15 says, “But even if a woman has long hair, it is a glory; her hair is given as a covering.” In the south, the verse translates to “the higher the hair, the closer to God” and my grandmother decorated it in a bouffant fashion to attract his good grace and favor.

However, nothing can gather the Lord’s attention on Easter Sunday, faster than a loud hat. Yes, a brightly colored hat, lined with the finest materials, bejeweled or feathered, placed over a spring-centric outfit, was the fastest way to bring God into the mainstream. For generations, black women in the church have used fashion not only as a means of divine communication, but as an outward expression. It was the church’s home and it’s the first fashion week. It was one of the first physical spaces where black women could label themselves through outdoor fashion and design, express their uniqueness, showcase their creativity, and most importantly, introduce younger generations to the principles and standards of black beauty and fashion.

“It was the event of the week,” said fashion designer Sergio Hudson. “Going to church every week was like a fashion show, so it’s a normal thing for us to get ready for. Mom spends the whole week making her dress for Sunday morning.

Easter Sunday is a special service, because it marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which heralds the season of spring. On this day, the choir of the church is decorated with very bright and shiny robes, the women of the church come out wearing very bold and bright colors, and the children wear very itchy pantyhose. In love, it’s the Olympics of church fashion. American fashion designer Patrick Kelly said, “There’s more fashion in a Sunday church in Vicksburg than what was once seen on a runway in Paris.”

Kelly’s sentiments are shared by prominent black fashionistas such as the late fashion editor Andre Leon Talley and stylist Lou Roach. For Talley, Roach, and Hudson, the churchwomen were models for their pursuit of high fashion sophistication and sophistication. As a child, Hudson remembers his mother’s ritual leading up to Easter Sunday. The shopping begins two weeks before the service, when she buys a new pair of shoes, then buys matching clothes to put the outfit together. If she couldn’t find matching items, Hudson’s mother would work to match her items to the dress. “We’ll be a fabric shop, then we’ll buy a pattern,” he tells ESSENCE.It’s been an experience. I think it prepared me for what I’m doing now. Buying fabrics for custom events. I grew up a lot,” says the designer.

Worn by Vice President Kamala Harris, Beyoncé and former First Lady Michelle Obama, the colorful designs are reminiscent of the colors seen at Easter Sunday services. In many ways, the black church served as a blueprint and reference point for modern American fashion. The church was where Talley “learned the meaning of true luxury” and served as Roche’s “first introduction to fashion”. Although younger generations of black Americans are less likely to attend physical services, the influence of the black church is everywhere.

“It’s funny to walk into Bergdorf Goodman and see a shoe and be like, ‘Oh, that’s a church parapet,'” Hudson said. “All the shoes in Prada look like the shoes that people in white stockings wore when I was growing up in the church,” he laughs. One would be remiss not to acknowledge the influence of the black church to a great extent. The Chanel tweed suit, the matching Burberry check suit, and the Gucci loafer are prime examples of luxury fashion’s attempt to replicate the cultural tradition that originated in the black church.

From its emergence as a conduit for African Americans to rally and rally amid slavery and racial violence, to a common hall for civil and human rights organizing, the black church has served as a mecca for black creativity and talent. . Each and every generation has a story to tell about how the black church has influenced them. For better or worse, the black church contributed to the birth and development of the black American tradition. Although I don’t wear what my grandmother’s generation would consider “Sunday best,” on Easter Sunday and the days that follow, I dress myself up to attract God’s attention.