Re: the stupid skirt issue. In the August 1 Watchtower (I think that's the one) there's a paragraph that mentions that now we can't even use the guidelines of what would be considered proper business attire when dressing for meetings or service! I guess the "business casual" trend got the GB spooked. God forbid we should show up for book study in khakis and a polo shirt. As for beards, I had a friend who had a skin condition that made shaving excruciatingly painful, but he did it for years because the elders gave him grief if he didn't. And remember how many years of illustrations showed Jesus clean-shaven with a short haircut? Though my personal favorite growing up was the picture of Babylon the Great in the old, thick Revelation book. She looked like my Barbie doll and I thought she was pretty gorgeous! It amused me that the illustration in the NEXT Revelation book showed her looking rather fat and frowzy.