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What people choose to wear has a lot do do with what they are trying to tell other people about themselves. People wear suits to project professionalism, wealth, or power. But what do any of these have to do with church? I think God has instructed us to avoid these things. In the scriptures, prophets don’t dress or act like professional businessmen. They don’t act like successful worldly men. Rather, they are looked down on by such. Normal dress for me is jeans, tennis shoes and a plain black t-shirt. I would describe it as conservative. But when I dress this way at church, people seem to get the wrong idea about me. Church leaders tend to be really concerned about me, and to think I’ve gone astray and am unhappy. A worse downside is that I attract entirely the wrong kind of girls. In short, when I dress how I want to at church, I am misrepresenting myself, and it makes things difficult for everyone. So for now I just go with the flow–white shirt and tie. It is what it is.
Fwiw, I will be wearing a suit to my meetings from now on as a result of my new calling and the request of my Priesthood leader. If you want to know how I feel about it, although not addressed directly, read my latest post on charity (“Charity: Disputing Over Unsettled Doctrine is Unseemly” – http://forum.staylds.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1404 I am bumping up this thread, Shawn. Please read the comments and add anything you’d like to say. Brian Johnston wrote:My dream is to wear loose-fitting, comfortable Middle Eastern or African robes and sandles all the time some day
I want to go into church wearing lederhosen one day…
SamBee wrote:Brian Johnston wrote:My dream is to wear loose-fitting, comfortable Middle Eastern or African robes and sandles all the time some day
I want to go into church wearing lederhosen one day…
Do it!Sam, please warn me first, so I can make sure I’m not there that week. 
Nephite wrote:SamBee wrote:Brian Johnston wrote:My dream is to wear loose-fitting, comfortable Middle Eastern or African robes and sandles all the time some day
I want to go into church wearing lederhosen one day…
Do it!Got to buy some first!!!
Today, the temperature is going to be in the triple digits. I don’t think I will consider the suit for a change.
Mike from Milton.
I’d like to show up with a pair of slacks and a mandarin collar shirt, and some hip shoes. I just lost a lot of weight and I look totally different. It would be a nice change. How do people in other Christian churches dress? Anyone know?
My son wants to wear a full kilt outfit his last week in church here. I love my son.
😆 I think this is a really interesting perspective that really puts things in a different light. At one point, I thought that maybe missionaries should adopt a business casual look in order to be less intimidating. When people see suits, they think of top executives, corporate sales reps, lawyers, finance guys, etc… and put up a barrier because most of these kinds of people are not to be trusted. I think it was good when the dress code was “relaxed” in mid-2013 (Elders can now wear khakis with their white shirts, but backpacks were banned), as it makes them less intimidating. I guess when you consider that missionaries and GAs are actual representatives of the church, I can see why dressing appropriately for that matters. Then again, I’ve seen plenty of sales reps who dress business casual, so I don’t see the problem there.
I think it’s an unnecessary tradition that the suit is the uniform of the priesthood. I have never felt the need to be dressed up for home teaching (but I go along with it if my comp insists), I see no problem with officiating the sacrament in a plaid shirt and no tie, and I have probably given more blessings in casual wear than I have in a white shirt and tie. One of these days, I’ll give up the white shirt and tie at church and show up business casual just to show I’m done with the tradition, but like one of the posts here mentioned, I don’t exactly want to send the wrong message about my commitment to the gospel.
I do think there is value in dressing differently for church/Sunday, but I don’t think that needs to be a suit.
When I was more orthodox I really struggled with maintaining a sense of identity. What part of my personality did I need to change? What parts were okay to keep? Wrong or right I felt a pull to conform to a cultural standard, some refer to it as the “Morg”. The Mormon Borg. The closer I got to “perfection” the closer I got to becoming a clone. Something that wasn’t me. I think there are several elements of the culture that can steer people in this direction. Uniformity in beliefs. Uniformity in dress. Uniformity in behavior. The goal of becoming perfect and tying the concept of perfection to one cultural standard. I feel the “uniform of the priesthood” plays it’s part in this phenomenon that some experience.
Typical general conference priesthood session:
[img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/84/1a/2a/841a2a92b333bc9f5664cc62afc0b225.jpg [/img] Every once in a while I’ll attend other church services for the sake of diversity. When I visit other churches I try to err on the side of being overdressed so I show up in what I would ordinarily show up to church in (the uniform of the priesthood sans suit coat, sometimes a colored shirt) except I drop the tie. I find that most of the time showing up in dress pants and a button down long sleeved shirt is overkill. The wider world culture dress code has really relaxed in the last several decades.
Honestly, I think church leadership views relaxed cultural standards as proof that they’ve successfully held the line while the wicked world has deteriorated around them. Meanwhile I feel that aspect of our culture comes across as very Rameumptom-like.
I don’t wear suit coats at church. I’ve been harassed a few times for not wearing one, legitimately harassed by leadership. It didn’t bother me. I know many members have the expectation that priesthood holders should emulate the leaders, even in matters of attire and grooming.
I guess I am fortunate to live where I do. While we have our fair share of old guards, scribes and Pharisees, we also have a good number of more moderate and progressive folks. On any given Sunday around a third of our men and boys are dressed in a shirt other than white. Men and boys are not passed over for administering the sacrament based on shirt color. There are usually a handful of men who don’t wear ties as well. Most men in the congregation don’t wear suit coats in the summer. I only wear a suit when I am on official business and in my own ward I usually wear a colored shirt (because I’m a rebel The “uniform of the Priesthood” is a made-up, cultural concept – and it isn’t followed world-wide. That last fact alone is instructive.
My wife and I are going to the temple in a couple of hours. I will show up in dress pants and a white shirt. No suit coat and no tie. I have shown up in a colored dress shirt – and once, while traveling, in jeans and a polo shirt. A few months ago, a couple who were traveling were hesitant to do a session because they were dressed casually (the wife was wearing jean shorts). I was the coordinator that day, was at the front desk at the time, saw them, and invited them in – and the Temple President assured them how they were dressed was “just fine”.
Ray, your tie-less temple attire and story of the casual couple have given me courage to begin to change things. I am moving into a new ward in a week. Maybe I’ll use that as an opportunity to start something new. Perhaps I’ll start with something simple such as ditching the tie. I’ve done it on accident before and nobody seems to care when I do. Doesn’t change the fact that I was very self-conscious about it.
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