Fashion led by Faith

Starting out with an interest in clothes from a young age, junior Gabbie Odister grew her passion as she got older and her mother allowed her to dress the way she wanted. While also working on her relationship with God, Odister is learning to balance her love for clothes with modesty. 

“I feel like fashion has always been one thing that attracted my attention, but in Christianity it’s taught that we’re supposed to be God’s temple, so we have to watch what we wear. I’ve been throwing away a lot of clothes that I know that wouldn’t glorify God, and it’s maybe showing too much or being too revealing,” Odister said.

As a kid, Odister enjoyed dressing up, but throughout elementary school her mother would dress her and her sister alike since they were similar in age. The newfound freedom to dress herself when she got to high school expanded Gabbie’s wardrobe.

“When I was in fourth grade she would let me dress myself. Some outfits were good and some outfits were not, but I think becoming me and developing into myself is what drove me to finding my style,” Odister said. 

Odister’s choice of streetwear style is usually decided based on how she feels each day. Gathering inspiration from her favorite influencers, Odister incorporates their styles into her own unique dress. 

“Teyanna Taylor’s definitely a top one for me. I feel like she is very versatile with her fashion and can switch up from wearing something that shows off her shape but also wears something that’s baggy and streetwear,” Odister said.

Odister gains inspiration from other influencers, and has turned her passion for fashion towards   influencing others as well. Promoting herself and what she wears by doing ‘Get Ready with Me’ videoss and combining them with her love for religion, she reaches others through social media. 

By uploading engaging fashion content that’s also related to religion, Odister is able to attract attention on social media and gain thousands of views. One of her videos has reached an audience of 36,000. 

“I love doing reels to show off my outfit because it really breaks down not only just the outfit itself but the details and accessories as well. I just try to try to be myself and so far it’s been working,” Odister said. 

Odister gets her clothes from affordable places that are inclusive to others. She pays attention to the message conveyed by the brand while also shopping at local, small businesses. Odister wants clothes to be affordable not just for herself but for others who may want to buy what she wears.

“I remember on a post I made, one of the girls wanted a shirt but she wasn’t sure she could afford it so I ended up buying the shirt for her,” Odister said. 

Prior to Covid, Odister began attending Cornerstone Church until she joined Mount Pleasant with her best friend and grandmother during the summer before ultimately switching back to Cornerstone. Odister says it is the atmosphere that she enjoys the most.

“I really love it there. The atmosphere is so wonderful, everybody’s so welcoming and I feel like the pastors are very led by the Spirit,” Odister said. 

Her involvement with religious organizations has allowed her to explore her faith while also combining it with pieces of her outfits. After she was baptized, Odister received a necklace by her best friend’s mom that represents a scripture of the Bible, Matthew 17:20, wearing it as a symbol of her journey.

“It’s a mountain and it has a mustard seed that symbolizes faith as the size of a mustard seed because God can move mountains. Being a light in his world basically means you have the ability, or the privilege to be able to know His word and be able to tell others about it, and show them how to actually live a God led life,” Odister said. 

When she first began to dive deeper into her faith, getting rid of clothes that were too revealing came with difficulties. Feeling inclined to get rid of some of her clothes, Odister replaced them with new ones as she grew her religious beliefs.

“It has really changed for the better, because before I was definitely a mess. But, keeping faith in God and trusting him with my life, surrendering my life to Him, has changed me for the better. I feel like I walk differently, I talk differently and everything about me has changed. So it influenced me and my thinking on what to wear and what not to wear,” Odister said. 

As one of the students who spoke out during the walkout for Apalachee High School on Sept. 20, Odister saw an opportunity to express her beliefs on the situation. Given a jersey by TikTok creator, First Love Apparel, Odister wore the jersey on the day of the walkout expressing, “Praise God” on the front and “God Did” on the back. She thinks that it gave her more motivation to share her beliefs centered around the Apalachee shooting. 

“I feel like it really showed how fashion can express who you are. A lot of times we don’t get to speak to everybody we see, but if I wear something that has something about God on it, or something that shows my faith then maybe somebody just reading off my shirt might strike their interest and make them wonder, ‘What’s her story?’” Odister said. 

Sharing a passion for clothes, junior Jeremy Mango participated alongside Odister during the prayer circle held on Sept. 5 after the Apalachee school shooting to bring awareness to the tragedy and provide a space to those who wanted to pray over the school. 

“I really respect Gabbie. She’s a really genuine person. She’s one of the few people that doesn’t use God for clout, and she’s very passionate about how she does it, and about her beliefs and she’s always really supportive,” Mango said.

Leading Cedar in a student organized prayer circle for the support of Apalachee, Mango and sophomore Anisa Willis participated with Odister, helping guide the group of students.

“At first, when we did it, it was the day that nobody really came (to school), and I saw people in the prayer circle that I didn’t expect to see. It amazed me to see that what Gabbie started now became this huge thing. We got a text every single day, with someone saying, ‘let’s have another prayer circle’,” Willis said. 

When they first began leading prayer circles at Cedar, challenges presented themselves as Odister and Willis tried to get people to realize what they were doing with a shaky atmosphere in the beginning. 

“It was hard to get people to realize what we were trying to do instead of just playing around. Our main goal was to pray for the people around us,” Willis said. 

As students stood together holding hands while Odister led in prayer for the safety of Cedar, fellow students recorded the interaction live, aiming to find a way to provide support for the community and Apalachee High School. 

“We saw the prayer circle that Apalachee did during the whole thing. Gabbie ended up texting me saying ‘let’s do a prayer circle’, and I was ready to support because, I’m never gonna turn down a prayer circle because the light that she has, it’s like she passes it to me,” Willis said. 

Throughout her experience working in the community, Odister noticed a lack of opportunity for girls to get together and worship, which led her to start a group of her own. Forming her organization “God’s Girls,” Odister wants to uplift and motivate other girls just like her.

“We have a bunch of girls that I’ve brought to church with me, and I think we have a few girls from Ogelthorpe as well. I’m trying to get the girls in the group to get to know each other while becoming comfortable with expressing what we go through to make it more of a sisterhood. But we just started, and it’s only gonna continue to grow,” Odister said. 

S’mores and Scriptures was the first event that Odister hosted for God’s Girls, giving members an opportunity to come together and worship while also building sisterly bonds with fellow members of the community. 

“It was the first official event where she got people to come and eat s’mores while reading Bible scriptures and that was fun. The group is like a sisterhood, where we also do religious things,” Willis said. 

As Odister continues to build her relationship with God and her organization, she tries to remain mindful of the messages behind what she buys and wears using discernment before she chooses her clothes. 

“Everything you say, and everything you wear matters. You don’t want anything to rebel against what you believe in,” Odister said.