Great essay. Yes, indeed, growing up in a white Polish family as a Baptist (yes, they exist), we embraced the idea of Church clothes. My mother, too, until the day she died, would complain about people wearing jeans — or even pants — to church .There were three hierarchies of clothes: Church Clothes (which were never worn to school or play), School Clothes (which were never worn to church or play), and House Clothes. Between Church and School Clothes, there were Going to Visit my Parents' Friends' Clothes, aka Visiting Clothes. We didn't get spanked for wearing Church or Visiting Clothes outside of those activities but boy did we know that there was no mixing them up or there would be Consequences.