I’ve traveled on four continents and everywhere I go I meet women who love interior decorating and fashion. It seems an abiding and passionate interest in our homes and our clothes are common threads that bind us together across the face of the earth and through the long ages of history.
They unite us in our passion for beauty and expression.
A roof over our heads is essential, but we seek more than functionality.
We aim for aesthetics.
We want more than comfort, we want attractive comfort.

And our clothes, even in the third world women make a statement in the way they dress.
Modesty and protection from the elements are the bare bones of fashion, but they don’t hold our interest for long. As soon as we are able to move beyond them and express ourselves we do. The colors and fabrics that speak to us also speak about us. What we choose can cover us from head to toe and still be revealing because it reveals something we want to say about ourselves.

This tapestry is a famous one of Flemish origin.
It’s priceless and no photograph could ever do it justice. It hangs in castle in Italy in an otherwise empty room where tourists walk through with never enough time to study or appreciate the art and expertise that created it.

She makes herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
Proverbs 31:22

Our indomitable Proverbs 31 woman is at it again.
Expressing herself beautifully in her home decorating and personal fashion.

She makes tapestries, probably for cushions and possibly bed hangings or a coverlet. The word can be translated to ‘spread out’.
However they were used, they were works of art.
This isn’t about utility alone.
It goes beyond physical warmth and seeks to satisfy the senses with a visual feast.

Can you recall your first Home Decorating project?
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t enjoy decorating the places and spaces I’ve called home.
Do you remember decoupage? Or ‘antiquing’ furniture? How about wallpaper and faux finish painting? Making draperies and machine quilting bedspreads. I get lost in fabrics and accessories. From art to knick knacks, or brass candlesticks to wicker basket, I’ve tried it all.

One morning in Rome we left the hotel very early in order to be at The Pantheon when it opened.
Gary went into a little coffee bar and I was taking photos of a woman playing with her dog. She began pointing behind me toward the Pantheon and I thought it must be opening early, but when I turned I saw a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in white climbing the steps. I thought it must be a wedding, but then I noticed the film crew. It was a fashion shoot.

The phrase “her clothing” is also rendered ~ her splendid garment. I love that. Her splendid garment.
I wish I felt that about everything in my closet.
Here’s what I want to say about this verse today.
I feel like it gives us as women permission to be women.
To love beautiful things and do what we can to make our homes and ourselves reflect beauty.
Not vain or ostentatious, but tasteful and pleasing.

Tasteful and pleasing.
It can be as simple as a checked cloth and some Sweet William’s like this little table in the Cafe near the Pantheon where we sat after the Film crew and the lady with the Splendid Garment packed up and walked away into the sunny Roman morning.