I think I’ll wear my white shirt today. Its hanging in the closet cleaned and pressed and I’ve owned it for more than 20 years. You see, I don’t wear it often. In my work and play I wear dark plaids and stripes, sometimes flannel, once in a while wool. In summer I wear tees and fishing shirts. I wear them until the cuffs and collars are ragged and the fabric is thin.
But my white shirt is still nearly pristine. Even now. I bought it for my first real job interview and spent much more on it than I was accustomed to. It’s finely made and the fabric feels smooth and silky. It’s got a button-downed collar and pleats on the back. I’ve worn it to weddings and one time I danced joyfully in it until it was soaked with sweat and smudged with makeup from a bridal hug. I wore it once to deliver a eulogy and I was wearing it when I held my kids at the baptismal font. I was wearing it under my graduation gown many years ago even though it was visible to no one – it seemed right. I occasionally wear it at Christmas with a festive tie and I wear it every Easter when our church pulls out all the stops. It gets relatively light duty in my life but even so, I am careful when I wash it and I iron it with care and I actually like the odd sensation of a crisp and stiff collar around my neck – when the custom calls for decorum and grace and I want to demonstrate that I understand the importance of the occasion.
People I work with will notice. I’ll look out of place and I expect that I’ll get a bit of ribbing. Even so, I’ll keep it neat. I’ll tuck the tails and button the cuffs. I’ll be extra careful with my coffee. I’ll tell them it’s a special day and that I chose to wear it today for my mom and my wife and my daughter.
It will be a bit wrinkled by evening and I’ll be tempted to switch it out for a weathered and soft flannel. But I think I’ll keep it on as the election returns begin.
For history’s sake.
Photo: By ArnoldReinhold (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons