Service Meets Vanity

There was a time when clothing was made to enter sacred spaces.

The role of clothing in religious rituals and practices fascinates me. In the Old Testament there is a segment all about the making of the Priests’ and High Priest’s garments, required to enter the Sacred space of the Ark of the Covenant and perform the service. The description is incredibly detailed—nothing short of what you might expect from today’s most meticulous designer—and I found myself fascinated by both its precision and its intention.

Precious stones had to be placed in exact patterns and secured against the High Priest’s heart. Specific inscriptions were required so that, together, they contained all the letters of the alphabet, allowing every letter to be brought before the Highest Light as the High Priest walked into the Tabernacle.

Why so much emphasis on clothing? Isn’t spirituality an inner matter?

Today, we increasingly think of clothing as an expression of vanity—whether we enjoy that vanity or quietly dislike it. Excessive attention to appearance is often labeled superficial. So it is striking that the Bible gives clothing such extraordinary relevance.

We discussed this during Shabbat lunch. The answer that resonated most around the table was that there is a difference between dressing for oneself and dressing to represent others. One is self-expression, the other service.

When someone holds a role that represents many people in a community, their appearance becomes part of the responsibility. It is not primarily about personal taste. It is about aligning one’s presentation with the dignity of the role so that others—who may not know you personally—understand the role you embody.

This is not so different from what we do in our professional lives. We dress in ways that fit our roles so that people can immediately place us within a context—doctor, lawyer, chef, architect, host.

So, what is the role of the designer today, when even casualness has become a status symbol indicating that one can afford not to care, and that’s power?

Giving life to pieces that are worth making, worth buying, and can carry some sense of sacredness requires quality, quality, quality. We can not astray from caring for all stages of a garment's creation, be that a red carpet dress, a wedding gown, a business attire or a t-shirt. The fabric is important, all details are important, our attitude is important.

Of course, quality is less and less sought after nowadays, particularly by the younger generations who enjoy the immediacy and affordability of fash fashion. Never mind that they protest against climate change. Every effort to decrease fast fashion's footprint is appreciated indeed. Furthermore, it makes no sense to buy the same type of garment for one hundred times the price you pay on Temu.

Therefore, a garment's sacredness comes into play, the intention in the designer's offer comes into play, the precision in execution comes into play if one aims to allow the meeting of vanity and service.