Why Does My Mormon Friend Dress So Old-Fashioned?

If you’ve looked at the women’s department of any store lately, or have taken notice of how the women and girls around you are dressed, it won’t take long to realize there’s a lot of skin revealed by nearly all styles. If you in turn look at a Mormon girl or woman, you might realize that far less of their skin is showing. In addition, if you’ve ever gone clothes shopping with a Mormon girl or woman, you may have noticed they have a harder time finding clothes than you do. Why is this?

Mormon Teens and ModestyIn the Mormon Church (officially The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) the body is considered sacred. It has even been called a temple, and Mormon temples are the most sacred buildings in their religion. Mormons believe that God has commanded them to treat their bodies with the respect that they would treat temples.

Anyone can attest to the thoughts and feelings that come to mind when they see someone who is dressed inappropriately. Boys and men especially have a hard time controlling their thoughts, and since women have such a great degree of control over that, they should adjust their wardrobes and behavior to help boys and men have chaste thoughts.

We all know that dressing inappropriately attracts the wrong kind of attention, so the Mormon Church teaches that all members should dress modestly both out of respect for how our behavior influences others, as well as for how our own actions portray how we think and feel about ourselves.

If we have high self-esteem and a healthy view of ourselves, we will see that dressing modestly shows the world that we know we are worth waiting for. The Mormon Church teaches that no sexual relations should exist outside of marriage, so we should dress like we mean to wait and share that intimate part of ourselves with only our spouse.

Modesty is about much more than how we dress; it is also about how we act, but these two things are closely related. You may have  heard the adage, “Don’t dress for the job you have; dress for the job you want.” This reflects the truth that our appearance is an outside representation of how we feel about ourselves on the inside. If you have a good image of yourself and have high self-worth, then you will protect your body from strangers and yourself from gossip. How we dress also affects how we behave. Those who tend to dress immodestly also tend to be indiscreet in their behavior to members of the opposite sex. It is a cycle which goes round and round.

Next time you go shopping try and dress the way you really want others to see you and how you want to see yourself. If your Mormon friend is struggling with this issue it could really help to have your support in finding modest outfits together. You can even ask for help from someone who knows how to sew and design your own clothes!

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