“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” – Audrey Hepburn
I enjoyed watching the royal wedding on TV last month. I was glued to the beautiful bride in her Cinderella dress standing beside her handsome Prince Charming groom on that Saturday morning.
Meghan and Harry’s stunning ceremony had all the regal traditions I expected – with one thing added.
The globally televised union gave me a reminder of the meaning of love. Not just the love between husband and wife, but the unconditional love God has for all his children.
It’s a love Thomas Aquinas called agape love: willing good for all others regardless of circumstance or class.
This agape love permeated the ceremony. Every carefully selected piece of music, accentuated by Bishop Curry’s challenging words, underscored this unconditional love message. Clearly, this was the couple’s wish for the world.
Meghan and Harry’s wedding presented a new Style – and one I hope catches on.
A few days later, almost ironically, the royal family appeared on the balcony at Buckingham Palace and Fashion took over.
As I scanned the familiar scene, I imagined how each piece of clothing had been laid out days before, placed in their rooms along with choreographed instructions on just where to stand.
There was Queen Elizabeth with her usual suit and matching hat, four uniformed men, each with their assortment of ribbons, and Kate with the perfect rake for her hat. And then there was Meghan, our storybook princess, finding her rightful place.
Meghan’s role in this girl meets boy fable will be the most important of all. She matters most because of her sparkling heart, different culture, and this new kind of love she brings to the other members of the celebrated family. She may be unschooled in royal tradition but she is firmly based in Aquinas’ agape love.
Every family has responsibilities and the royal family has more than most, setting the tone for their people to follow. That’s why I’m looking for Meghan’s Style to start a new way of caring for others with the hope that this will benefit us all – with love.
Maybe Harry saw some of his mother’s Style in Meghan. I don’t know, only time will tell. But it’s this mix of different cultures in a sparkling heart that gives me hope.
What are the differences you think of when you hear the words fashion and style? Are there some, and does it even matter? I think there are and I think it does.
Fashion comes from our head, it’s a subject that can be taught in school. Style is different, it’s as homegrown as a faded chambray work-shirt. Fashion may hold correctness, but style steals my heart. Style is about energy and that’s what pulls me in close. Style is saying, “You may soon forget what I was wearing, but you’ll always remember the energy of my heart.”
Now, when it’s time to choose what to wear for the evening or a day at work, don’t look in a magazine – look in your heart. That’s what Ms. Hepburn was telling us, and I don’t know anyone who didn’t love her, and her Style.
What about you? How do you make your choices of what to wear?
It matters and it’s needed in our divided world today, more than ever before. That’s why this wedding put Style in the spotlight and asked Fashion to step aside.
As always the conversation starts here.
“In the ordinary choices of every day we begin to change the direction of our lives.” – Eknath Easwaran
Epilogue
Is Aubrey Hepburn about Fashion or Style when she says …
