"Did the way you dress change after you started wearing garments and how did you feel about that change?
This was the first question on the survey that began to assess women's feelings and experiences regarding garments. The results are fairly evenly split between participants feeling negative about the change, neutral about the change, and there being no change. 12% noted that they experienced a positive change when they started wearing garments.
As you can see, 422 women marked the "Other" category so they could use the text box to write further information about this question. The majority of those comments were women expressing that they had parents who enforced garment modesty standards when they were growing up, so clothing styles didn't change. Here is a sample of the replies:
"On my mission it felt less hard because everyone was doing it. But when I was living normally I noticed how restricting it was and it turned into a 'have to' instead of a 'want to' and i was incredibly resentful for time when I was wearing them." (EX, 18-24)
"I didn’t change because I was raised by a convert mother who taught me and my sister from a young age that we needed to dress in garment appropriate attire. I resent this now as I don’t believe I should have been held to a covenant I had not made and often do not wear them." (NP, 25-34)
"I had a positive mindset but was really sad when I had to get rid of many clothes in my closet that I was no longer able to wear. Over time I resented the garments." (EX, 25-34)
"Yes, and my feelings fluctuate. Some days I mourn the clothes I used to wear, some days I am totally content." (NP, 25-34)
"Not much changed but my mom was always wanting me to dress in a way that would prepare me. I was excited to wear them." (TD, 35-44)
"I was raised to basically dress as if I was already wearing them because I would wear them in the future. I am not doing that with my children, and have many regrets that I wasn't able to express myself exactly how I wanted through my dress and outward appearance. I was also the oldest in my family, and that rule didn't continue with my siblings, even my sister who later served a full-time mission." (NP, 25-34)
"My dress changed slightly but did not make me change the way I feel about my body. And it shouldn't if you truly understand your body." (TD, 18-24)
"It did change the way I dressed, but there was confusion from an athlete’s perspective as to how to dress." (NP, 65+)
"The way I dressed didn’t change very much and I still felt positive, and beautiful, and good. I was excited for the blessings of the outward commitment I had made and have experience their divine protection." (TD, 25-34)
"Yes changed- didn’t feel like I COULD feel negative about them or I was sinning. Didn’t like them but loved that it meant I loved God if I wore them faithfully without complaint." (EX, 25-34)
"My hemlines didn’t change. But I was VERY worried about exposing my garments." (NP, 25-34)
"It didn't drastically change my style, but it was frustrating that things that I still would consider really modest didn't work with garments, like wide neck lines or dresses that went past garments but you couldn't really move around a lot." (NP, 18-24)
"Part of how I knew I was ready to go through the temple was a progressing and natural desire to wear longer shorts and to toss out my sleeveless shirts." (TD, 35-44)
"I thought my wardrobe was prepared for garments, but I had to buy even more slips and undershirts to make sure I wouldn't have any garments accidentally show, which was annoying. I was definitely more uncomfortable and hot wearing so many layers. It wasn't until I got garments that I became annoyed I had spent my whole life wearing 'garment' modest clothing when it wasn't actually relevant to do so until I was nearly 30. Garments controlled my life long before they entered my life." (EX, 35-44)
"A little bit but not a lot. I dressed modestly for the most part during my teens. Garments made it more challenging to find modest clothes I could wear, and while it would be nice to not have that challenge certainly, I value my garments and strongly believe in wearing them as a symbol of Christ's atonement covering my sins." (TD, 25-34)
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