TORONTO -- When her church moved services online at the start of the pandemic, La Verne Ford Wimberly didn鈥檛 let that prevent her from looking and feeling her best.
鈥淲e were in the midst of a lockdown because of the pandemic and I did not want to get despondent over it, not being able to still socialize with my friends, family, and congregants,鈥� she told CTVNews.ca during a telephone interview from her home in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday.
鈥淪o I just decided I would do something different and just kind of keep my spirits up, as well as keep the spirits up with my other friends and family.鈥�
Wimberly did this by continuing on with her usual Sunday routine of dressing up in her finest clothes for worship at the Metropolitan Baptist Church.
And even though she was attending virtually, her fellow parishioners were still treated to her well thought-out ensembles because she always posted a selfie and a Bible passage on her Facebook page after the service.
鈥淚 just sent it [the first selfie] to Facebook and received such favourable responses to it so I just kept it up for 52 Sundays,鈥� Wimberly explained.
As evidenced by her selfies, the 82-year-old retired educator鈥檚 wardrobe is a sight to behold.
On Feb. 14, for example, Wimberly shared a photo of her very coordinated and very blue outfit, which included a large hat with a bow, matching blue cardigan, and gold necklace with a pendant in the same blue hue.
Hats appear to be a staple in Wimberly鈥檚 Sunday attire, but just don鈥檛 ask her how many of them she owns.
鈥淚 have never stopped to count them yet,鈥� she said with a laugh. 鈥淏ut I will just say 52鈥� at least.鈥�
Wimberly鈥檚 clothes, too, take up three closets in her house and are 鈥渧ery full,鈥� she said, which explains how she鈥檚 managed to dress up for 52 Sundays without repeating a single outfit.
While the rest of the world is only being introduced to Wimberly and her fashion now, the devout churchgoer has been dressing up long before the pandemic struck.
鈥淲hen we were children, our parents had us have our Sunday best, so they were called, and we would dress up on Sundays and those clothes were only worn on Sunday because we couldn鈥檛 wear them during the week,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚t was a way of going to church and showing reverence to God.鈥�
Even later in life when she worked as a teacher, Wimberly said she kept up the habit of looking her best when she taught her Grade 1 classes.
鈥淏ecause when I was in junior high school, there were several teachers that just looked fashionably dressed every day and I admired their clothes and the colours that they wore,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thought, well, 鈥榃hen I grow up, I wanted to be just like them.鈥欌��
Wimberly said she figured that if those teachers had that effect on her when she was a teenager, she might be able to have a similar effect on future generations.
鈥淲hether they wanted to have a goal to be successful in life and that kind of thing. So it鈥檚 primarily to motivate the youngsters to shoot for the stars,鈥� she said.
And Wimberly鈥檚 efforts continue to be appreciated by her pastor and fellow congregants as evidenced by the flood of supportive messages on her Facebook page.
鈥淧roud pastor moment!鈥� Ray Owens, the pastor for the Metropolitan Baptist Church, wrote in a post in March. 鈥淓ach Sunday many of us have looked forward to seeing what Dr. Wimberly was wearing (like we did when she was in her Met Church seat in section 2, last row) and to what word [sic] of encouragement she had to share.鈥�
For Wimberly, however, all of the recent attention on her outfits has come as surprise.
鈥淚 never would have suspected that, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just cannot believe it.鈥�
