From no tight pants to Amish dress....how long?

by Diogenesister 11 Replies latest social humour

• 

  Diogenesister

  Xanthippe What's this thing with really long dresses? Sometimes I see them on FS and I can't believe how long their dresses are now, almost down to the ground.

  So I was reading some of Xanthippe and Phizzy's posts on the strangeness of JW dress and how much they stand out and I got to thinking. So... at one point the Amish dress code was current, right? I guess it's taken around 200 years of sartorial stagnation to get the disparity between modern dress and Amish dress and Chassidic dress. So I was wondering how long it will take of GB meddling and control in personal grooming before that disparity shows between JWs and the clothing of your average western person. I suppose it depends how rapidly contemporary fashions evolve from the mid-late twentieth century wear the GB seem stuck on, or rather believe are essential in order to be a good Christian. It's possible as people leave and numbers nosedive they may lighten up. Personally I think once a cult always a cult. Either some scandal will finish wtbts completely, or they will tighten the reigns further and become focused on one or more small geographical area as most other 'successful' cults such as Mormon HQ/cults, Chassidic cults and the Amish themselves. In which case the baggy pants, no beards and little House on the Prarie dresses are here to stay!*

  *Didn't know what section to put this in...I think we should have a "speculating" section - otherwise known as drivel!
  
• 

  StarryNight9

  Hmmm.... my guess would be the dress code will just stagnate to whatever the oldest JWs (and therefore the highest ranking) view as proper. The JW dress code is currently stuck in "Leave It To Beaver" land (1950s-1960s). That's where I think the GB get their fond childhood memories of a "perfect" world (well... Hollywood's portrayal of it at the time). Take a look at 1950s magazines if you want to see current JW fashion (minus the hats). I don't think we'll see Amish-level differences in clothing unless JWs move into segregated communities. Then it would be a cascading effect of what the oldest JWs see as "normal" having been mostly surrounded by old-fashioned JW dress as a young person.
  
  
  
• 

  Diogenesister

  • Starrynight9 The JW dress code is currently stuck in "Leave It To Beaver" land (1950s-1960s). That's where I think the GB get their fond childhood memories of a "perfect" world.

  I like that!Very good point !So in 40 years will GB 5.0 be wearing bright tracksuits, Ali G style jewellery ( no..wait..they do that now!) and VW insignia around their necks?!!
• 

  Diogenesister

  Take a look at 1950s magazines if you want to see current JW fashion (minus the hats).

  I was thinking the hats were the best bit of that era for me! I looove hats...yet its funny, this is yet ANOTHER way jws just HAVE to be different to regular churchgoing dress code which is aallll about the hats ( apart from hippy lovvey churches, I guess).

  You hardly ever see jws in hats....apart from the odd older sister or perhaps the odd fascinator at a convention But even that's rare.
  
• 

  StarryNight9

  Diogenesister: So in 40 years will GB 5.0 be wearing bright tracksuits, Ali G style jewellery ( no..wait..they do that now!) and VW insignia around their necks?
  

  
  It would be funny, but business fashion changes really slowly for men. We might see a suit jacket paired with jeans. However, women's fashion moves like lightening. There's no way to know what a modern reinterpretation of 90s women's fashion will look like in 40 years (new fabrics, tech, etc...), but it's fun to imagine.
  
• 

  FedUpJW

  Xanthippe What's this thing with really long dresses? Sometimes I see them on FS and I can't believe how long their dresses are now, almost down to the ground.

  I've noticed that too. At he risk of being thumbed down for refusing to be PC I have noticed that 99% of the JW females with the reeaally long dresses are pretty much in the morbidly obese range, and have very poor style sense or personal cleanliness/grooming. Just sayin'....
  
• 

  StarryNight9

  Xanthippe - Commercial clothes made for larger women can be limited as far as style goes. The prevailing motto (among cheaper clothing brands or secondhand clothing - which JWs are likely limited to) is "cover them from head to toe". It's starting to slowly change, but it takes the cheaper brands a while to catch up to the latest trends.
  
  I have no response to the grooming part of your comment except that I've seen a lot of the new JW recruits who aren't mentally all there to start with. I've personally seen plenty of larger JW females who wouldn't be caught dead with a single hair out of place or without their makeup fully done.
  
• 

  JeffT

  I've noticed at work (a 28-day residential recovery center in a Seattle suburb) that a majority of the women, of all ages, are wearing dresses that come to at least mid-calf. Combined with bright colors and some nice jewelry, it gives them a San Francisco in 1967 look. Frankly I find it VERY attractive.

  I think the problem with JW style clothing is not the clothing per se, it is the fact that they are frumps on the inside. The last two to show up at my door looked like their faces would break if they smiled. Their attitude and bearing would have been unattractive no matter what you did with their apparel.
  
• 

  StarryNight9

  JeffT:
  "a majority of the women, of all ages, are wearing dresses that come to at least mid-calf."
  "I think the problem with JW style clothing is not the clothing per se, it is the fact that they are frumps on the inside."

  Anything ranging from just below the knee to mid-thigh is the norm where I am. Good point about appearances! As much as I like to talk about fashion, it's not really what counts.
• 

  Diogenesister

  jeffI've noticed at work (a 28-day residential recovery center in a Seattle suburb) that a majority of the women, of all ages, are wearing dresses that come to at least mid-calf. Combined with bright colors and some nice jewelry, it gives them a San Francisco in 1967 look. Frankly I find it VERY attractive.

  yes early 70s dresses are very "in" this season and i love that look...lots of muted autumnal colours and suede...mmmm!
  As to their demenor i do find many of them (jws)to be quite defensive if anything. Theyve come under a lot of fire in the press lately so it could be that!!