COVERINGS’ Covergirl: Darlene Bishop

When Darlene Bishop speaks, thousands of women listen. As one of the most sought after Women’s Conference speakers, she Co-Pastors Solid Rock Church in Ohio with her husband Lawrence Bishop, but still finds time to talk fashion and faith with COVERINGS.

COVERINGS: Baby Boomers are still ruling the fashion scene. May I assume you are a Baby Boomer?
Darlene Bishop: Yes, I am. I am 64 years old. I do not mind telling my age. By the time this interview is printed, I will be 65.

COVERINGS: Wow! You look great. But then, that is why we want women ministers like you talking to our readers about fashion, health and beauty.
Darlene Bishop: Thank you.

COVERINGS: I must ask you this. You were Saved as a teen, at the age of 14 to be exact. What was that like?
Darlene Bishop: Well things were really different back then. I was from a Pentecostal background. No jewelry. No makeup. You couldn’t cut your hair. But I didn’t mind. I would give it all up for Jesus. . .Any and everything. I never went to ball games or the movies. There were a lot of rules back then. I followed all of the rules and regulations. I just wanted to please God. I didn’t mind.
I married when I was 17. My husband was a businessman. He was traveling all of the time; seeing pretty women all the time…airline stewardesses and women like that who really looked good. I [became conscious] of the way I looked [with] no makeup and all, when I knew he was coming in contact with other women who were ‘fixed up’. I decided to do something about it. My husband was from another church background, so by this time I had changed churches. I decided to fix myself up. My mother and others were still Pentecostal and I didn’t want them to think I was no longer saved. I decided to try mascara first because no one would really be able to tell I was wearing it. When my husband came home he brought a friend with him. His friend, the first to notice said, “Gosh Darlene you look really good.” That compliment was all I needed. Somebody said I looked good! When I heard that, [to my new look.] Finally, I got up enough nerve to cut my hair! It took me a lo-o-o-ng time to get up enough nerve to do that, because there was still a lot of the other teaching down in me, but I Absolutely loved it! When a woman doesn’t fix herself up…

COVERINGS:(She doesn’t finish the sentence, but from her tone, I sense the thought.)
Darlene Bishop: Everyday…I don’t go without makeup. It’s what you think about yourself that really matters. When I look good, I feel good. Fix [yourself] up everyday, whether your husband is home or not. If he comes home and he sees you looking good, he will treat you good!
I never dress according to my age. I wear stilettos when I preach. I’m short so they make me taller and I like the way they make me look. I’ve always worn high heel shoes.

COVERINGS: That’s amazing. Most women your age haven’t worn heels in years. It seems they stopped after having their babies. You know how the stomach muscles are still weak then. So they never get back “up there.” How do you still manage?
Darlene Bishop: I never stopped. I have four children, so that’s no excuse. You just can’t be lazy about the way you want your body to look. You have to tell it what you want it to do, not it tell you. First of all when I was pregnant I didn’t allow myself to gain a lot of weight. I didn’t use that as an excuse. I gained about 30 lbs. Within a month I would be back to my original size. Even now…what I have always done is weigh myself everyday. I know that they say you shouldn’t do that, but I do. I watch very closely. That way I know that when I gain 2 or 3 lbs, and can cut back. You have to get to it right then. That day. I watch what I eat.

COVERINGS: What about obesity?
Darlene Bishop: When I see someone who is obese I think, “food did that to them 1 lb at a time.” That’s how it happens. One pound at a time. That’s why you have to pay attention and not let that 1 lb stay on…soon it will turn into 5 lbs and then 10 lbs.. Then, you start wearing a larger size…Adjusting to the weight gain. Before you know it you are seriously overweight.

COVERINGS: Talk to us about shopping.
Darlene Bishop: I have always liked to shop. I used to shop and just give it away, even with the tags still on. By the bags!
When I say I don’t dress my age, I don’t mean that I try to look like a youngster. This is what I do: My oldest daughter is 45. When I shop for clothes I ask myself, “will Janna wear this?” If the answer is yes I buy it for myself. Not that I am trying to be my daughter, but I do not want to look like a Granny either. Maybe when I am 80 or 90 it will be okay. Maybe not. (Chuckle) The secret is to dress about 20 years younger than you are. That works.
Target has a lot of really cute stuff. You can find almost anything there. It’s really okay to shop at Target! Clothes say a great deal about our self image. I like that word ‘cute.’ A woman my not be what we call a beauty, but she can always be cute, which is better than beautiful. I’m sure you have friends like some of mine who are so full of life and vibrant. They are constantly doing cute things to make you laugh. It is in the way they express themselves. They are always doing the little things that matter…so full of life. Positive. It makes them look so much better than some of those we call beautiful. Yes, I think cute is best.

COVERINGS: Then would you say that we make the clothes, the clothes don’t make us?
Darlene Bishop: (Thoughtful Pause)
Yes. Exactly. Women need to take care of themselves. That is our job. It’s up to us. If you get up in the morning and just wash your face…I mean some women never, ever put on cologne or makeup or do the little extra things.

COVERINGS: You wrote the book YOUR VALUE. Do you address this topic.
Darlene Bishop: Yes. You have to value yourself before others will. When you value something, you take good care of it. You treat it with respect. You have to learn to respect your self.

COVERINGS: Do you realize that when you stand up before thousands, even tens of thousands of women, they first look at how you are dressed? Before you even say a word they are subconsciously checking out your lipstick color.
Darlene Bishop: Certainly. But it has to be the whole package…head to toe. The main thing is your head. Your hair has to look right. Without that the rest of it falls apart. I always advise women to magnify their best feature. Work around that. Take your best feature and build the rest of your look around it, so it is more prominent. The main attraction is usually the head. Make it look its best.

COVERINGS: Many of our readers are going through Mid-life Crisis. What advice to you have for them?
Darlene Bishop: Mid- life Crisis? I don’t know that much about it. I have been moving so fast, I haven’t had time for a setback and wouldn’t allow it to come to me. I never went through it! What most women do is take this time to talk about their ills and pills. That is one reason they get on their husbands last nerve. In my teaching series Your Life Follows Your Words, I talk about “as a man thinketh, so is he.” Constantly giving voice to all that you are going trough should not be your conversation. Stay active. I still see myself as the vibrant woman my husband married. I know I ‘m older, but I haven’t changed. I just refused to give voice to all of that and I breezed right through menopause. I know I must have had a couple of hot flashes but I seriously don’t recall it being an issue. I never focused on it long enough to for it to be an issue. Those Women must learn to rewind what they say. You have whatsoever you say. I remember when I was a girl we were poor but my daddy said, “one day Darlene, you will be a mighty woman of God.” That was always in my heart, because my daddy said that about me. I did not ever see myself as being in poverty. I always saw myself as prosperous, because my daddy said so. Parents speak over their children constantly. Sometimes not aware of the power it has over the them, but it does affect them greatly. Their words carry a lot of weight. They must be aware of that. The power of life or death is in the words.

Contact Darlene Bishop through: Solid Rock Church (513) 423-7040. By mail: Darlene Bishop Ministries, P.O. Box 350, Monroe, OH 45050