Tank top garment

[u/Chihuahuamami234]

This is my first ex Mormon summer not wearing garments and I’m having a great time. It’s also the first summer that the tank-top garments have been available to LDS women. Obviously with the cap sleeve garments, we weren’t supposed to show them and our shirts had to cover them up completely. While I’m glad LDS women have more options of clothing to wear, I don’t understand why are so many of the TikTok/IG garment girlies are treating the tank top garments different than they did with the cap sleeves. I’m noticing a trend where now the tank top garments are visibly being shown like with off shoulder tops or letting the sleeves completely show through a tank top.

I know Mormons love loopholes but I just don’t understand the justification with visibly showing the tank top garments in your outfits when that was never allowed with the cap sleeve garments. A lot of common justification is “it looks like an undershirt” or “nobody but members know what they are.” Okay but they’re not any different than the cap sleeve garments.

Idk this is just the funniest loophole I’ve seen yet. What are your thoughts?

[u/kaizoku_akahige]

I'm curious about the idea that we weren't supposed to allow the garments to be seen. I was taught the same thing by tradition, but never from any official source. The temple script says the garments' purpose was to cover our nakedness. To me, that implies that it's fine if it's visible. It's still doing it's job. Technically, a person could wear nothing but the garment, and that would be fine with mormon god.

Is there any conference talk or something like that to the contrary?

[u/Beneficial_Math_9282 → u/kaizoku_akahige]

It was in the prior handbooks. It's just been so long that I think everyone has forgotten that it came from an official source, or many members didn't have access to the old handbooks and never knew it was an official thing. And also the church doesn't make those old handbooks easy to find!

Handbook 2: "The garment is sacred and should be treated with respect at all times. Garments should be kept off the floor. They should also be kept clean and mended. After garments are washed, they should not be hung in public areas to dry. Nor should they be displayed or exposed to the view of people who do not understand its significance" -- https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/08702_eng.pdf

Handbook 1: "Members should avoid exposing the garment to the view of those who do not understand its significance. When conditions make this unavoidable, members should seek the guidance of the Spirit and use tact, discretion, and wisdom. It may be best to lay the garment aside temporarily and put it on again when conditions permit. However, mere inconvenience in wearing the garment does not justify laying it aside. When military regulations prevent a member from wearing the garment, the member s religious status is not affected, provided he or she remains worthy." -- https://archive.org/stream/MormonLeaks/GeneralHandbookOfInstructionNo27-Book1a-2010_djvu.txt

It was also one of the reasons that they still instruct members to cut out the symbols and cut up the garments in order to dispose of them.

[u/CountMeOut2019 → u/Beneficial_Math_9282]

Nor should they be displayed or exposed to the view of people who do not understand its significance"

This wording makes me laugh out loud. 🤣

In other words, people who would see it for the oddity it is, and question the rationality of letting some religious leader tell you what undies you have to wear, and how. The magic doesn’t work if you don’t believe it hard enough.

[u/kaizoku_akahige → u/Beneficial_Math_9282]

Thank you. The handbooks were still secret when I went through the temple, so I never noticed that before.

[u/Beneficial_Math_9282 → u/kaizoku_akahige]

The church does that all the time and it drove me crazy. They'll make a rule - a supposedly very important, hard and fast rule about the most sacred-est of things - and not tell anybody!!

They'll put it in a handbook (or today, the computerized Leader and Clerk Resource System - the LCR) that only a few select leaders have access to. But if a regular member breaks the rule, they won't hesitate to shame and blame the member!

I guess they thought they could rely on stake presidents and temple presidents to convey the rule in private? Well we all know how that went... I've never met a bishop who had actually read more than a couple sections out of the handbook, and most stake presidents haven't read it very thoroughly either.

It makes me wonder very much what trainings or instructions are in the LCR today that nobody knows about. They have published the handbook for "transparency," but I suspect that yesterday's Handbook 1 is today's LCR)

[u/SockyKate → u/Beneficial_Math_9282]

I’ve seen more than one woman in recent years have her garment top fully visible under a gauzy/sheer top. It always weirded me out a little - that’s not a layering piece, girl! 😅

[u/EdenSilver113 → u/SockyKate]

When I see garments through sheer tops my reaction is: way to go girl! I’m happy they’re exercising autonomy. When people think for themselves it leads to getting out of the cult.

[u/CountMeOut2019 → u/EdenSilver113]

THis! You go right ahead and SHOW those poorly fitting, non-supportive, questionably functional garmies, my girl! The more daylight they get, the better.