THEOLOGY of STYLE

Hi! I’m Lillian Fallon, the author of Theology of Style: Expressing the Unique and Unrepeated You, published by Ascension Press. I’ve been writing and speaking on the intersection of faith and style since 2015. I worked as the Style and Beauty Editor at Verily Magazine for four years before taking my writing freelance!

Mission

The intention of my mission with Theology of Style has always been to explain the theological depths and significance of personal style through the lens of Theology of The Body. My goal is to present the truths of the human person's identity revealed in St. John Paul II's work in a practical, digestible, approachable, everyday way (i.e., through style). Personal style is a tool for understanding one's body/soul unity and how it even extends to being a reflection of man's call to unity, reflecting the trinity and our identity as communion based individuals.

I offer a deep analysis on the relationship between masculinity and femininity and how personal style can be aid in reconstructing/rebuilding our damaged communication between man and woman (after the fall) through personal style. I also take on a critical analysis on how the objectification of the body has impacted not only secular culture, but Catholic culture in the form of hyper-modesty. I offer insights and advice on how to reconstruct this perspective so that it reflects true Church teaching on the goodness of the body -- all backed up by St. John Paul II.

Goals

To help women realize their identity as individuals made in the Image of God through personal style. Embracing your individuality through beauty and self expression is a tangible sign of being made in the Image. God made you one of a kind. Knowing this truth and expressing it can help you understand and remember that you were called by name from the beginning — that you’re not just a face in the crowed to Jesus. But someone He’s seen from the beginning.

Dressing in a way that helps you to remember and affirm your unrepeatability is a way you can learn to see yourself as God sees you, and understand that you are important to Him and loved beyond measure. You are unique to God. Let’s dress in a way that helps us to know that.

My Story

I’ll admit that for years, I didn’t really know how my faith and lifelong interest in fashion coincided. Fashion was my superficial, materialistic, worldly passion, contradicting my traditional Catholic beliefs that encourage detachment from material goods.

So, instead of applying to fashion schools like I had always dreamed of, I applied to Catholic colleges (which I don’t regret at all, btw.) I found myself at Ave Maria University in 2011 with zero clues about what I would major in. It wasn’t until my senior year that I signed up for a Theology of The Body class with Dr. Michael Waldstein and my entire perspective on the human person changed, transforming the way I view fashion and personal style.

St. John Paul II explains that body and soul are inseparable. Today’s American culture is so greatly influenced by Puritanism, making it easy to slip into the belief that the materialism of the human body makes it bad. Without realizing it, I believed the body and all things material must be inherently “bad” as well.

But St. John Paul II wrote, “The structure of [man’s] body is such that it permits him to be the author of genuinely human activity. In this activity, the body expresses the person.” This explanation for the inseparable relationship between the body and soul quite frankly blew my mind. For years, I had viewed the body as somewhat of a burden and distraction from holiness — but I learned that it’s through the body that we recognize how we are created in God’s image.

I’ll never forget when Dr. Waldstein said, “The body manifests the soul.” I honestly felt my life change in that moment. My thought process was and continues to be this: “If the body manifests the soul, why can’t the things we wear aid in this expression of the human person?”