Why I Learned to Play Organ in a Skirt

A funny thing happened the other Sunday. I was on vacation with my family, and we went to church (no, not the one where I work!).

I decided to wear a long skirt, and my toddler was like, “What are you wearing, Mama?????”

Lol.

Seriously though, I basically never wear long skirts, so of course he was perplexed!

But it reminded me of how I used to wear them all. the. time.

I grew up in a religiously conservative family and wore skirts (or sometimes culottes) exclusively in middle school and high school. So when I started learning organ, I learned to negotiate the pedals wearing a long, loose skirt that fell past my knees.

Then in college, I started wearing pencil skirts (still past my knees), and when I was home from college, I sometimes wore pants when I practiced.

So yes, I wore dresses or skirts for all my high school and college recitals!

I remember having this jokey conversation with an organ teacher occasionally – I’d mention something about the silliness of wearing dresses while playing the organ, he’d mention some famous teacher whose female students all wore dresses back in the day, and I’d respond with, “Sure, but that was the 70s so I bet it was all mini skirts.”

Here’s the weird thing though:

Even though I’ve worn pants regularly for years, I didn’t really stop wearing dresses/skirts to play the organ until about a year and a half ago.

It took a lightening bolt realization to make the change. I was futzing with a Sunday Best kind of dress and thought “I don’t have to do this.”

Obviously it’s easier to pedal in pants, but I hadn’t quite realized I didn’t need to “dress up” for church! (Where’s the eye roll emoji when you need it?)

Since my lightening bolt realization, I’ve taken to wearing stretchy pants under my robe on Sundays.

Last winter, I gave a recital wearing leggings and a tunic top (see the photo above). And then this month, I wore these sneaky stretch pants that look like work slacks (not an ad – I just like them!).

I was talking with an organist friend about my changing attire, and he pointed out that there’s more to it than just clothes. In changing my attire, I’ve signaled my identity change from “church goer who happens to play organ on Sundays,” to being a professional “minister of music.”

Funny how a pair of pants can mean so much!