Yes, What You Really Wear Does Matter !

The wanderer

Yes, Your Clothing Really Does Matter

Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses always made
the individual conscious of the clothes you were
wearing.

The men had to wear suits and the women
dresses; in order to to keep up appearances
and not "stumble" anyone in the "truth."

Attending the meeting wearing a pullover

On a cold blustery day, I had decided to wear a pullover
or for our American audience a sweater. You see at that
time, I was a baptized brother and that was a Watchtower
no, no.

The Elders started the counseling

It seems in order to get me in line with the program
I was counseled about not wearing a suit. My reaction
was," I just did not feeling like wearing one today."

The elder strongly counseled me about wearing a
suit and how the Society follows a corporate structure
and we should all follow "suit." (pun intended)

Going Overboard

In the 1970s, there were some elders who would not
allow the visiting public speaker to deliver a talk un-
less he wore a white shirt.

Your Personal Experiences

Did anyone on this board ever have a groom-
ing or attire issue at the Kingdom Hall?

Did anyone get "counseled" or criticized for wearing
or not wearing a certain piece of clothing?

Please post your comments so that we
can all benefit from this discussion.

Respectfully,

The Wanderer

OUTLAW

How was your Vacation?..LOL!!...OUTLAW

megsmomma

When I was younger, I remember my sister (about10)and an Elders daughter from another hall got the same fancy dresses for the memorial. It was a silky peach one with an semi-open back. Well.....an elder told us that it was innappropriate and basically called my little sister a tramp.....I get mad thinking about this.....and the elders daughter had no issues in her hall. It is typical.

What-A-Coincidence

not in bethel

one bethel elder would wear boots and jeans to work...dark colored jeans of course

he was freakin awesome...he would always be slammin bethel policy... like i said though ... leaving the comforts is a hard thing to do

wac xElder xBethelite

Amazing

Hi Wanderer,

I am surprised that the Elders counseled you about wearing a sweater when it was cold. Of course, if you were giving a talk, then a suit is (or was) required. But, what we would do is dress in slacks, a shirt and tie, then put on a wool sweater and then the suit jacket over the sweater. Some, including me, would simply remove the jacket or sweater as we went up for our talks. I was never counseled for that scenario. I do recall the "white" shirt issue in the very early 1970s ... but by 1974, colored shirts not only were accepted, but almost the norm.

I think it was around 1975, I grew a mustache ... and it was the talk of the congregation ... and yes, I was counseled. I then showed the Elder counseling me a picture in a recent publication at the time of a JW sporting a mustache. He then tried a lame argument about the ethnicity of the person so depicted. But the picture did not really call for such a distinction ... so, I won the debate, and no action was taken to remove me. My talk of growing a beard, however, brought many frowns and scolding looks.

I recall that "bell-bottom" pants were a no-no ... until a few Elders bought new suits with slight bell-bottom design ... and then they were acceptable. I am glad they went out of style, because they tended to catch on things and get dirty and worn faster.

Jim Whitney

Leolaia

I had an outfit that I would sometimes wear that was color-coordinated with white, red, and blue colors. I wore that one to a meeting on Election Day and once on the Fourth of July. I was not counseled per se, but I was embarassed when reminded that these are "patriotic" colors.

brutusmaximus

Told off for goaty beard but showed them verse about not shaving the bad boy, they hit back with a farticle about not having them. I showed them something about tatoos in the same verse Lev I think it is so they let it lie, I said one rule for that another for this make your minds up. I think my card was marked though

Also told off for pink shirt and tie being too thin, I mean come on!!

BM

daystar

Odd that. My old cong. never seemed to have a problem with sweaters in the wintertime. We didn't always have to wear complete suits either. We could wear slacks with shirts (long or short-sleeved) and ties, without having to wear a suit-coat. But then again, this is Texas and it gets pretty damn hot.

OUTLAW

I`ve been all over..Cowboy boots,no cowboy boots..leather jackets,no leather jackets..White shirts,colored shirts,no coloured shirts...It all depended on the whims of the Demi-God that ran the congragation...OUTLAW

Finally-Free

I was counseled when I wore a bright tie. It pissed me off, so I bought a new, fluorescent tie for the next meeting. No one said a word to me about ties after that. I knew a MS who was counseled for wearing a tie that had pictures of golfers on it. The elder said he was "glorifying recreation". Next meeting I noticed the elder who counseled the MS was wearing a tie with sailboats on it, so I used the opportunity to give a little "counsel" of my own, and told him to stop "glorifying sailboats".

I was also counseled many times for having a moustache, and once for wearing prescription glasses with tinted lenses. They said I shouldn't be trying to "look cool" at the kingdom hall.

W