As the feast of St. Valentine approaches and the themes of enduring love, we thought it would be fitting to interview a few couples in different seasons of marriage to ask them the question: How has your vocation shaped and affected your personal style? Enjoy a little glimpse into their stories and style journeys.
Eliza & Will Monts
Married 8-months and counting
How did you meet?
At summer camp in 2017, became close friends 2019, started dating 2021, and married 2023!
What was your style like when you first met?
Eliza: I wore a lot of clout like Lilly Pultizer!
Will: I never cared about fashion until Eliza. It was a difficult point in my life, lots of anxiety with dressing. I only have brothers. I dressed purely for function. Greatest fear in fashion was wearing blue on blue. Monochromatic was very scary but as we speak right now I'm wearing jeans and blue shirt. The reason is due to the fact that in elementary and middle school, every Wednesdays we would have chapel days and I had to wear an ugly dark blue dress shirt and horrible plaid tie.
How has your vocation affected your style?
Eliza: Marriage has matured me these past 8 months. I’ve given a lot of clothes away to younger friends of mine—they feel more juvenile. Not that I can’t wear those things, but the circumstances of marriage has matured me. They do not feel as representative of me. Will hypes me up more now because he can be more honest. He knows my style and how much the verbal affirmations on specifics of my outfit mean to me and telling me why a dress is really cute on me (like a defined waist.) He is so fun to shop with! He follows me around and talks to me about different things I’m looking at and asks me about it and why I like it or don’t like it.
Will: When we began dating, Eliza started helping me get rid of raggedy t-shirts that held a lot of sentimentality. For our recent trip (our honeymoon) I wanted cute clothes, so we went shopping together and found some quality knit shirts, new jeans, and sweaters. I really have felt like I look nice and that has made me feel a lot better about myself and I am grateful to Eliza for that.
Eliza: I tell him “Trust the vision!” I made him a Pinterest board that is very relaxed European and elevated southern guy –now he sees how it fits together.
Will: I was uncomfortable with how I dressed before but was not motivated to change. I was just on my own. I didn't work in an industry where I needed to dress in business attire as a sailing coach. I only needed to dress functionally. Now I am a captain of a yacht that guest pay to come on so I need to dress nicer. My main motivation for changing my style is that I noticed how happy Eliza would be when I dressed in a way that looked nice—I want to make her happy! This is an easy way to make her happy in the grand scheme of things. I want us to look back on pictures and think about how nice of a time we had and how we were young and cute rather than thinking I look like a slob. It’s for Eliza rather than myself. Truthfully, I do not care that much, but it’s dressing for my vocation.
Allie & Mark Misulia
Married 5-years and counting with their daughters (2yrs and 4yrs old)
How did you meet?
Through friends on a beach trip, talking about teaching theology and his love of philosophy-- the sparks flew!
What was your style like when you first met?
Allie: Before marriage, there was a tendency to dress up a lot more. I wore more flashy jewelry, a full face of makeup and had more focus on keeping up with trends. When single there’s more time to shop and it’s a more common occurrence to go out with friends and shop.
How has your vocation affected your style?
Allie: The function of motherhood caused it to change. Finances are also combined so that also makes a difference in how it is spent (ex: not going to blow a bunch of cash on a giant shopping spree). But more importantly, the security in love and in my vocation means I do not have to put on a persona. I know that I’m loved and I have settled in. I’m not trying to make a fancy impression and booming social life. There is confidence and comfortability along with a change of priority. Once you get married, you have to find yourself again. It’s a new identity, so much changes!
I had to come to terms with the excess of clothing I owned and the distortion of who I was based on how I dressed--a true purification. I minimized my wardrobe and in doing so I found a style that resonated with a deeper part of me. Once I got rid of the excess, I was left with a simple style. I am more drawn to comfortable feminine pieces. There is a balance, I do not wear a full face of make up every day but I am put together.
Mark: I started minimizing my clothes when Allie did and created a capsule wardrobe. We love finding deals thrifting and treasure hunting. I work from home now and this led to a big transition. We started letting ourselves go, so we realized we needed to sharpen up our wardrobe. Instead of just carrying over the years of clothes, I decided what I wanted my style to be. We both tried on various things and figured out our style again.
Leslie & Johnny Bertucci
Married 38 years and counting with five kids and five grandkids
How did you meet?
In 1983, 20-years old, at a young adult Catholic prayer meeting. There was a retreat and we ended up in the same small group.
What was your style like at this time?
Leslie: I loved to be creative. I loved blue jeans, t-shirts, scarves, and hats. Right after graduating high school, I traveled to five countries in Europe with many little old ladies. I bought a black velvet beret in Paris, a tweed motoring cap from London, and a hat similar to Alpine hat from Munich Germany that I stuck buttons and pins all over it (this was the thing to do). In the 80’s, it was a trend to tie a bandana to be really skinny with the knot showing in the front and tuck it into your collar (a preppy look). I had so many bandanas and this morphed into the love of
scarves. Scarves were the rave in the 90’s. I loved wrapping the scarf around the shoulder and using the metal broach to hold it where you wanted it, not a pin but loops through.
Johnny: Working a government job so wearing slacks, belt, button down, tie.
When did you notice a change in your style?
Leslie: The biggest change in my style happened with my re-version into the faith with this young adult group. This was the first time I felt accepted by my peers and this gave me the freedom to grow in my talents, style, gifts such as guitar and singing (leading worship which I do to this day). The good Christian friends encouraged my style, before them I just wanted to be invisible (elementary and high school).
How has your vocation affected your style?
Leslie: I stopped wearing hats when I had babies. Until my fourth child, I wore heels, stockings, form-fitted dresses, lots of patterns all the time. On one of our dates I wore a red and black dress with black stockings and black heels. We already had two kids down the road. My husband still thought I looked GOOD. It was a fabulous date with fabulous memories in the 90’s—I felt so attractive. Johnny still finds me physically attractive and I am grateful.
Johnny: Soft flannel, relaxed blue jeans forever, comfort is key--a simple man. Easy to please. No pressure. More concerned with the things of eternal life vs fashion. The running joke—you can look at a photo of him from college and he is still wearing the same thing: the red plaid shirt and blue jeans. Leslie bought him some new colors and patterns to try, but he knows what he likes, why change it?
Leslie: Now, I like angel-wing sleeves and flowy blouses (tunic in length) that goes over the yoga pants. Comfort trumps all right now, I’m with the grandkids a lot and their pets which means being able to move easily on the floor. I used to only wear burgundy and darker autumn colors but I am currently shifting to teal. I’ve let my hair go grey during COVID which means certain colors I did not like with dark brown hair look good with grey!