I was solo sightseeing in Salt Lake City's Temple Square area last month. Strangers came up to me on two different occasions and asked if I worked at Nightingale College. Turns out it's a nursing school that was having its graduation that day. I just said no to the first woman; I asked the second woman why she thought I did. "It's your dress," she said, the one on the left in the photo. "That's how women at Nightingale dress."
OK, I said, and moved on, a bit puzzled why a nursing school would adopt a JJill dress as a uniform.
A couple days later, I was out for a solo dinner and struck up a conversation with two women at the next table. They noted they were librarians and had said to each other that I must be a librarian too. I asked why they thought that. "It's your dress," one of them said, the one on the right in the photo. (It may be a JJill dress too; I don't remember.)
It all made me chuckle--I've never had the science aptitude to be a nurse, and my only time as a librarian was in seventh grade.
Then I started thinking about the way I dress. I gave up dressing for success or to impress about 10 years ago--not that there's anything wrong with either, I just decided I was happy with where I was on the day job and wouldn't be looking for a promotion. I started dressing for ease and for comfort, and both these dresses fit those requirements.
I thought about priests who always wear a collar and women religious who wear habits. The thinking in part at least is that if someone needs assistance, they're identifiable.
I'm not sure if a midlist Catholic writer can be of much assistance to a stranger but if you ever need one, maybe look for someone with a dress like mine!
