JW's unwritten dress code and personal appearance standards-FROM WHERE?

by Thechickennest 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Thechickennest

  One thing that always use to puzzle me was the personal appearance standards, espessially for meetings and service. The men always were expected to where a tie, suit, jacket, etc. No beards were allowed-mustaches were ok! The women were confined to wearing dresses, hose and really uncomfortable looking shoes!

  I used to have a nasty skin condition on my neck that was made worse with shaving. Finally, I grew a beard for a time....wrong thing to do! It help heal my skin however, I was about tarred and feathered over it by the elders. I discovered comfortable shoes that were casual looking. I just decided to heck with being so damn uncomfortable all the time and I went with the idea of comfort and hell with the unwritten standards!

  Where for crying out loud did the dress code come from anyway? Was there any basis to it at all?

  What were the standards at your Kingdom Hall?
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  zeroday

  I use to show up at the meetings in a toto and pink hair...don't know why I was never made MS...
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  VM44

  The JW dress code is no longer "unwritten". The Watchtower has published a brochure on "appropriate dress" when visiting Bethel!
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  PrimateDave

  I don't know where they got the dress code. It's a cultural thing, because it isn't in the Bible. Before I left for good, I felt like going to the hall in sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. I didn't, but I wanted to.
  
  Dave
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  asilentone

  Thechickennest, one of my elders in my old congregation about 15 years ago had a beard because of his skin condition. The elders did not treat you right, that is for sure.
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  Hope4Others

  I dressed my hubby with a light pink shirt and a burgundy sports jacket.....when colors were

  a no no and he was a servant...lol....no one ever said a thing.. ..lol

  hope4others
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  gaiagirl

  It seems that at one times, brothers were allowed to wear shirts other than white, and jackets did not absolutely have to match pants. I recall seeing many brothers give talks wearing, for example, a courderoy or wool tweed jacket, some nice but non-matching slacks, and a shirt and tie. Sometimes the shirt would be a complimentary color to the pants.
  I tended to dress in styles not approved even then, and was "counseled" more than once because some brothers were, "distracted". I'm sure I would not have been allowed to tour bethel.
  In recent years, there appears to have been a movement toward a conformist dress code, in that the "rules" have been tightened up, hence, now brothers are expected to wear matching coat and pants, white shirt only, etc.
  I believe this is their response to what they see as "gay influence" in popular culture. Because "the world" is so "evil", any blurring of gender identities is an indication of Satans influence. Therefore, they work to maintain very distinct gender identification by means of stricter dress codes, i.e. no slacks on women, no bright colors on men, etc.
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  Homerovah the Almighty

  The dress code should be considered a type of image control, very much like a business implements a dress code on

  its workers to represent the company, after all the meetings are mostly about being cloned publishers for the literature
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  Witness 007

  Today you wear a colorful tie.....tommorow a Sister turns up dressed like Cyndi Luper....this individuality must be stopped.
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  blondie

  I will say this, the dress codes were more stringent for speakers at the circuit assembly and even more for the district convention. Elders tended to take those codes and apply them to the local congregation.

  I remember when the CO used to sit on the platform at a small desk off to the side and give counsel for the talks on the school. Suddenly, school overseers all over the circuit were setting up tables on the platform in the congregation and giving counsel that way. Finally, the CO had to counsel these brothers that this was not meant to be enacted at the congregation level.

  Also, each body of elders is allowed to be its own selector of dress & grooming codes. The congregation that shares the same building even could have totally different rules. I knew a case where one allowed mustaches and the other did not. One allowed colored shirt and the other did not. It caused friction between those 2 congregations as brothers were switching to the congregation with the less stringent "rules."

  Blondie