Corona Daily 135: Her Vogue Outfits

For La Verne Ford Wimberley, the coming Sunday will be the second Easter Sunday when she will attend the church service virtually.

La Verne from Oklahoma is 82, a widow living on her own since 2009. She is formally referred to as Dr Wimberley. Holding a doctorate in education, she was a school principal for many years.

For more than twenty years, she has been going to the Metropolitan Baptist Church on Sunday mornings. She had picked up a little routine from her mother. On Saturday evening, she would choose a nice outfit and a matching church hat and lay it out. She wanted to be prepared and presentable before going to the church. She always sat in the last row, section two, dressed to the nines.

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On 29 March 2020, Le Verne learnt that the Sunday mass would be streamed online due to the coronavirus threat. She couldn’t imagine herself wearing her gown and slippers to attend the service on screen. ‘Oh my goodness’, she said to herself, ‘I can’t sit here looking slouchy in my robe.’ That Sunday, she woke up early as always to style her hair, put on some lipstick and wore a favorite white dress trimmed with eyelets, a pure white ruffled hat, matching shoes and a beaded turquoise and gold necklace.

On a whim, after the service, she took a selfie and posted it on Facebook.

The following Sunday she was all blue, and on Easter Sunday last year, she chose a pink skirt, a beaded sweater jacket, and a hat decorated with pink and yellow lilies.

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She started dressing up every Sunday, and posting her selfies. She kept a calendar so as to never repeat an outfit. (Clever, because in photos it is easier to notice someone repeating an attire). On the previous fifty-three Sundays, she has worn fifty-three different outfits, all coordinated down to the smallest detail. Her fashion includes a variety of hats with huge bows and ribbons, statement jewelry, matching shoes, pearl necklaces, lipstick, tidy hair.

Le Verne is no Princess Diana, but her outfits are tasteful and diverse. On social media, her outfits started receiving hundreds of comments, positive. The photos made them smile. She said she wanted people to focus not on the selfies but on the message that her fellow churchgoers should keep faith. She wished to inspire people and make them feel good. On her facebook page, so many strangers wrote their spirits were boosted seeing her enthusiasm and optimism.

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Recently, she was interviewed by the media. People notice she hasn’t repeated an outfit for an entire year.

Le Verne said being 82 years old had its advantages. She has been buying clothes for many years, and she has kept most of them because they are of good quality. She has three wardrobes and a collection of church hats, neatly placed in hatboxes.

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I have a group of international friends covering the global map all the way from America to Australia. All of us studied Russian language together at a Moscow university. On one Sunday every month, despite awkward timings for some, we gather on Zoom and spend a delightful couple of hours.

After reading the story of Le Verne, I have decided to wear a suit, tie and shoes for the next meeting. If I make this suggestion to my friends, I think most of them will be tempted to dress up as well. It is time to come out of the wretched sweatpants and t-shirts. The theatre comes alive only with the right costumes.

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Ravi