Images of beautiful women have been depicted in art since the beginning of time. They can be seen in paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Glamor girls of ancient history include Nefertiti, Helen of Troy, Bathsheba, and Salome. The practice has continued into modern times with the addition of other types of print media and even billboards. Newsstands are filled with women’s magazines that feature beautiful women on the covers. A glance inside the magazines will show pages and pages of makeup and clothing ads featuring beautiful models. These ladies are often referred to as cover girls.
A recently published list of the 30 most beautiful women in the world included Tyra Banks, Scarlett Johansson, Aishwarya Rai, Gabrielle Union, and Claudia Lynx. Bar Refaeli, Pippa Middleton, Leona Lewis, and Selita Ebanks top the list of 2011 cover girls.
When I think of the most beautiful women of my lifetime I think about another less-publicized group; the “church ladies” of the 50’s and 60’s. They were the glamour girls of my childhood. My mother and her friends stepped out every Sunday, dressed in finery from head to toe. They wore dresses or suits, hats, gloves, beautiful jewelry, silk stockings and high-heeled shoes that always matched their purses. And depending on the weather, these ensembles were often topped with a mink stole, jacket or full-length coat. These ladies adorned the church pews like so many flowers in bloom. Honey, those “dignified divas” had it going on! As little girls we looked up to them with admiration, anticipating the day when we could dress up like that. As a matter of fact, playing “dress up” was one of our favorite games. Our mothers would give us some of their older pieces to play with and we were quite a spectacle stumbling around on high heels that were much too big, necklaces that hung to our knees and of course, hats.
In 1998, North Carolina photographer Michael Cunningham began taking pictures of women in their hats. His friend, journalist Craig Marberry, thought they should put together a book of the photos and the stories behind them. Marberry was curious why so many African-American women wear flamboyant hats to church. “I think it’s because it’s rooted in the African tradition that says that when one presents oneself before God… that you should be at your best –- that you should present excellence before the Almighty,” Marberry says. “And that tradition of adorning the head for worship is a very African tradition.” Their book, “Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats” was adapted into a musical stage play by Regina Taylor. The characters use the hats to tell stories concerning everything from the etiquette of hats to their historical and contemporary social functioning.
In many churches the tradition of dressing up continues to this day. And although styles have changed, those “dignified divas” are still resplendent in their Sunday finery. Does it really matter what you wear to church? Of course not, God loves each one of us the same no matter how we’re dressed. It is all a matter of personal preference. However, I prefer to dress up and yes, I’ve been known to wear a hat from time to time. I proudly wear my “crown” as I join the dignified divas of the 21st century.
