Fashion and Dress – From a Shell and From Holiness

Q: What is the root of fashion, jewelry and cosmetics?

A: Like all our actions, man’s desire to have an attractive appearance is dictated by the inner urge. Kabbalah states that all clothing is, in fact, corrections. This alludes to Adam who, upon sinning, discovered his nakedness and the lack of correction in his egoism, whereas previously he had felt no shame before the Creator, since his egoism had been concealed from him.

In our world, the urge to be covered stems from a different form of egoism, since it comes not from the feeling of the Creator but from our aspirations to power and fame. As a result, dress and jewelry do not come from the desire to be corrected, but contrary to that, as with all shells that aspire for the external and add more outside covers.

Those who seek the innermost revelation are ready to give up everything external, pay no heed to medals or citations, and can walk around in rags. It happens because they increasingly discover their inner depths. Hence, what was felt as the inner yesterday, becomes external and destined to be shed today.