To My Andover Newton Classmate

Hi, colleague and classmate!

You came into class today and commented on my "fame" and said that your wife thinks you have no fashion sense and maybe we should talk.

You can tell your wife that PeaceBang thinks you look just nifty.

You were wearing a big blue sweater over your clerical collar today. The sweater was a pretty shade of blue and was all nubby and textured and nice. You looked warm. You were wearing some kind of perfectly fine pants and I didn't notice your shoes, but I noticed your very au courant eyeglasses that look great on you, and I think your beard and hair are great -- kind of shaggy and friendly but well-groomed. You've got energy and presence and you just get yourself all snazzed up and out of that collar and take that wife of yours out dancing.

Tell her that if she's worried about "no fashion sense," she's got the wrong guy.

An Impeccable Public Appearance

How many of us have appeared on the local cable show to talk about our ministry? PeaceBang sees lots of hands in the air.

Here, on YouTube, no less, is a wonderful example of how to look while giving a smasheroo articulate and gracious interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmT9eRyZUzM

I know you're thinking, "Well, yes, of course she looks elegant and beautiful -- she's young and gorgeous! How hard could it be?"

This is true. I wouldn't argue with you. She is young and gorgeous. However, she is also a full- time pastor of a thriving congregation who serves on a handful of boards, travels frequently, and is the mother of a four year-old. She didn't get out of bed looking like this.*

In fact, I am guessing that she's wearing foundation, a bit of blush, some eye make-up, and she's spent time on her hair. She chose her outfit carefully, she considered colors and length of skirt and image (the funky necklace says to me, "Yes, I am the parish minister of an historic New England congregation, but I am neither staid nor stuffy, so hey, check us out!"). She's composed and polished, and it doesn't hurt that she has a lovely speaking voice and excellent posture. Everything about her visual look underscores and highlights the tremendous intelligence of what she is saying.

That's how to do it, kids!

A big PeaceBang halo to the Rev. Parisa Parsa! Rock on, dear colleague.




* PeaceBang knows this from firsthand experience, since we have roomed together for many years at General Assembly and beheld each other many times at our bed-headed worst.

A PeaceBang Halo Goes To...

Rev. Kelly Murphy Mason
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

I just found this photo of the lovely Rev.KMM of NYC, taken at a conference.

I think Kelly makes the Snazzy Clergy Babe list here. She's wearing a lovely feminine floral skirt, but she's not drowning in flowers and hearts and sunshine. She's got a bit of fashion-forward edge, which comes from her classic boots and opaque tights. She lives in New York City, and she gets it.

She's wearing a marvelous color for her red hair, and the scarf adds not only warmth, but a bit of drama to her sweater that tells me she's a creative person. She's wearing a little religious symbol around her neck; she's not letting it wear her.

She's hunkering down on the stairs for a photo, so there's no reason she couldn't hunker down with the youth group or a Sunday School class in this outfit, too. Or attend a meeting, make a hospital visit, write a sermon, pray, bake a cake, or go grocery shopping.

There's been a lot of talk among us lately about hunkerable clothing, but I think it's possible to do a lot of active things and still look nice. Unless you're cleaning out a garage or something, you should be able to participate in lots of ministerial activities in a decently put together outfit.

Think about it! Cripes, if Pa Ingalls could work in the field in a shirt and trousers and suspenders and if Ma could replace the straw ticking in the bedding wearing corsets and petticoats and long skirts, I think we can scramble around with the youth group in something a step up from jeans and tees.

Beautiful People, Bonitas Gentes

Hola, mis estimados lindos!

I write to you from the highlands in Guatemala, where I am going about in an batik muu-muu and having drinks by the pool whilst gazing at volcanoes. It' very "Bali Hai."

Seriously, though, PeaceBang must tell you that Guatemalans are extremely beautiful people and that she is humbled and inspired by their use of colorful, gorgeous fabrics to adorn themselves. The men in this region wear embroidered calzones (pants) that come down to the knee, and the women are breathtaking in floral embroidered blouses.

I don't have much time to write, but really I just miss you and wanted to say hello.
I hope you're being beautiful and happy. And moisturizing!

Kiss, kiss,
muchos besos,
PB

His Excellency, Governor Deval Patrick

His Excellency, Governor Deval Patrick
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

I just want to say that I stood a few feet from this lovely man the other morning, and in real life he is more stunning. I know that a lot of Massachusetts residents want to know what Deval is going to do for the commonwealth, but I feel very confident about his policies and his vision. What I really want to know is, what kind of skin care regimen does he use? Because he just GLOWS.

flutter, flutter, crush, crush!

Why Wayne Koestenbaum Dyed His Hair Red

I just found a wonderful article on dressing for academics!!

Check it out, ya'll -- it's from the 1998 archives of The Chronicle of Higher Education,

http://tinyurl.com/y4hepb

PeaceBang feels far less frivolous now.

Discuss.


P.S. If anyone really in true life knows Wayne, please tell him that his book about opera and queer desire is one of my FAVORITES and convinced me that maybe grad school would be FUN and that I want to write the same kind of book someday about BROADWAY MUSICALS and archetypal psychology!! Love you, Wayne! Kiss, kiss!

Gorgeous Clergy Shout-Out

PeaceBang swoons with admiration!!

Props to the Cathedral Church of the Advent of Birmingham for having totally beautiful photos of their clergy, all of whom are absolutely impeccably turned out and have lovely, warm, inviting smiles. Soak in the beauty at:

http://tinyurl.com/yhdxds

Those Episcopalians. They always look so smart, and they make the best g & t's.

The Unstructured Jacket, Triumphant

elizabeth
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

You know why this TOTALLY works for this fabulous, vibrant babe of a lay minister?

Because she has the vavoom, the charisma, the huge hair and the huge smile to balance all that fabric. As an African-American woman, she has an ethnic connection to this look. She and that jacket BELONG together. Wouldn't you just want to come up to her and plop yourself down next to her and confide every deep, dark secret of your heart to her? So would I. The thing is, she works for Sacred Places, whose mission is to "promote the stewardship and active community use of America's older religious properties," so she's not that kind of minister. Still, though, that jacket inspires confidence!

(www.sacredplaces.org)

Too many female clerics don the flowy, unstructured jacket and they just don't have the Endora Majesty (a term I just coined, and feel free to use it!) to move elegantly and commandingly through the world in such garments. On them, it just looks like they're too heavy to wear an actual structured outfit, and that they lack the confidence or know-how to dress professionally.

Could this be you? Have you been stuck in the Mother Earth Flowy Look for too long, relying on huge cotton garments to say to the world, "I am a Deeply Spiritual Woman?" If so, PeaceBang has hard news for you, so let's hold hands and hear it: Big, loose clothes do not communicate "spiritual" so much as they communicate "big, loose clothes." Try on a jacket and a pair of trousers, and see how it changes your outlook and challenges your assumptions about how to project the appropriate image.

Let me know how it goes!!

Right Proportions

DSCN2655
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

This dishy lady attended the REVIVAL conference in NYC and I just had to photograph her. She's a lay woman from England who definitely knows how to put together an outfit *even though she's living out of a suitcase.*

Look how things fit her. Granted, she has a terrific figure, but that's just icing on the cake. The fitted shell, the jacket that falls perfectly at wrist and hip, the skirt that hugs her curves and then falls right below the knee to show terrific boots. We can see a bit of flesh on her upper half, so she isn't entirely shrouded in fabric.

Study, learn, ruminate. If you were wondering how to wear knee-high boots, ladies, this is how: not clomping around under yards and yards of fabric that hits you at the ankle and makes you look as though you're being swallowed by the Big Cloth Monster.

One thing I just love is that she's actually touching her hair in that universal gesture of "how do I look?"

What a Dame!!

nancy pelosi
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

Ladies and gents,
I give you the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, in her red power suit. Congratulations, Madame Speaker!

I don't know when this photo was taken, but this is one terrific broad who knows how to dress to project an image of beauty, power, competency and elegance.
May she rock on mightily, and with God's blessing.

Professor Gary Dorrien: Academic and Fashion Exemplar

DSCN2667
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

Darling and devoted readers, I am back from the Big, Bad Apple. What an inspiration it was! Fashionable people everywhere walking little dogs in plaid sweaters! Autumn splendor and marathon runners sporting spandex! A little trip to Heaven by Amtrak.



Although I was in Manhattan for a most serious religious conference, I did manage to get a little bit of shopping done, including at Sephora and at Boyd's Pharmacy on the Upper West Side. I came away with just armloads of samples, and I've been slathering my face and body with all manner of concoctions just for YOUR edification! Because as you know, PeaceBang will gladly risk eye infections, skin rashes and anything short of permanent scarring to bring the best beauty recommendations to you, my lovelies.

But before we get to product recommendations, let's talk for a moment about the absolutely lovely human being featured in the blurry, dark photo up there. It is none other than the brilliant and prolific Gary Dorrien, preeminent theological historian of our time, whose work you must know if you're at all interested in American liberal theology.

Dr. Dorrien is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and I actually met him this past May in his apartment at my friend Rachel's Ph.D. champagne toast, but I was too shy and intimidated to introduce myself then. Yes, imagine that! PeaceBang shy!
I'm sure you can understand my reticence when you study that photo and realize that not only is Professor Gary Dorrien a hugely important intellectual presence in the study of religion (you've at least read The Remaking of Evangelical Theology, right? Or a few of his articles in the Christian Century, which is where I first became enamored of his work? Not to mention his astounding three volume series on American liberal theology, the third volume of which you can order for Christmas!), he is a dreamboat.

Please let me assure you that I did get permission from Dr. Dorrien to post his photo here, and I am trying to be very respectful in my gushing about his intellectual prowess and handsomeness. Since you're undoubtedly already familiar with his academic contributions, I'd like to review a few details of his appearance, which is just flawless and which you should definitely consider emulating, fellas.

1. First of all, and it has to be said: Gary Dorrien has fantastic hair. You probably can't see the details in the terrible photo, but he has beautiful chestnut brown hair cut beautifully to enhance its natural curliness-- and I hope this isn't too irreverent -- he's wearing some kind of hair product that makes it shiny and defines the curls. Boys, take note. This should convert, for once and for all, any hold-outs to the scraggly look. I'm not saying you have to get a perm, I'm just saying that a little pomade and a decent cut won't kill you. Investigate.

2. Secondly, this man is blessed with perfect, glowing skin. Which I know I shouldn't have noticed, rapt as I was over his wonderful lecture, but how could I not? Which simply begs the question, "Dr. Dorrien, what's your secret?" Union seminarians, could you work this question into your next session with the good professor? I'm not sure how one would accomplish this, but perhaps working in a reference to Clinique in a discussion on the crisis in the liberal church would provoke a response about skin care in academia. I don't know, but I have faith that you can figure it out.

3. Little spectacles, pristine, clean and clear, not smudgy and hanging off one ear. De rigeur for academic royalty, and they're perfect on him.

3. What a beautiful outfit. Note the whimsical pink tie, the interesting shirt, the dark jacket pulling it all together. Impeccable, comfortable, communicates respect for himself, respect for his work, respect for his image, respect for the people he's come to address. This man exudes respect and respectability. He is a gentleman and a scholar, and I don't care how cliched that is.

And I don't even care if you've figured out that I have an enormous crush on him.
If I was Gary Dorrien and had people asking me very serious questions about liberal theology and empire and ethics all the time, I think it would be nice to know that someone was appreciating me not only for my scholarly genius, but for my gracious spirit and extreme handsomeness.

I wish him every happiness.

Crack WAS Wack

whitney
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

Could you just CRY?

Remember when Whitney was just looking so hideously used up and broken down and dried out and had horrific skin and her hair was all sticking up crazy and she looked like death?

Look at her now. By God, there's hope for her after all.

That is a pretty bad hair color but hey, that's the beauty of wigs: you can change your color as often as you like.

What works here: great lip color, glowing skin, nicely lined eyes, and a HUGE smile. Teeth whiteners are a former drug addict's best friend.

Blessings on you, Whit. Stay clean, baby. And stay away from that man. He is POISON for you.

61 and FAB

bette1
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

I'm sure she's had work and whatnot, but it's a great haircut, great make-up, and you can see why you have to use sun protection on your CHEST as well as your face, pumpkins.

Love you, Miss Midler! Worship you! Adore you!

The DVF Woman

La Diane
Originally uploaded by Peacebang.

PeaceBang ADORES Diane von Furstenburg. She adores her looks, she adores her glamour, her style, her life story, her unapologetically voracious sexuality, her moxie.

Imagine PeaceBang's absolute delight when she discovered the latest issue of The New Yorker on the newstands featuring an article about DVF. It's truly wonderful and chock full of spiritually meaningful insights, and I'm truly not joking about that.

Plus, in addition to the spiritual insights, you get DVF arguing with FAB shoe designer Christian Louboutin about the evils of the wedge heel. Apparently DVF considers them an outrage against the female leg, so I'm sure she would express complete horror over my little hoof-like Steve Madden knock-offs. DVF, you complete me.

(Here are some Louboutins for you to drool over)

Did He Just Have A Facial, Do You Think?

Jesus is looking really good here, and I even think that center part is working for him:


His skin is glowing, his brows and hair are perfectly groomed (and no frizzies at all, which is really hard to manage in the Galilean climate), and I'm not sure but I think he's been using whitening strips on his teeth.

I hope this isn't sacreligious, but do you think He waxed his chest?

Just Plain Cute

I was googling some images when I ran across this image of this lovely pastor from Pennsylvania:



It's so simple. He has a beautiful smile, warm eyes, beautiful skin, a really nice, ordinary-guy shirt that looks like he ironed it. He has a really nice haircut, it's not aging him even though it's almost white, and he just looks really nicely groomed and very welcoming. No errant eyebrows or anything.

I hope I haven't embarrassed the lovely Rev. Winter from Langhorne, PA, but I just want to say that without needing a suit jacket or tie or anything cutting edge in terms of fashion, he's just handsome and pastoral as can be. I kind of have a crush on him, in fact.