There is a big change coming for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and it has to do with what they wear under their clothes. No, not underwear, exactly. But, Mormons who are faithful wear what are called temple garments underneath their clothes as a reminder of sacred covenants.
Now, LDS women around the world are cheering because they will soon be able to wear them without sleeves. It’s hard to understate how welcome this news is for many Mormon women, and it could point to an attempt by church leadership to get more young people to actually wear the garments.
Jana Riess, a senior columnist for Religion News Service who covers the LDS community, joined The Show to discuss.
Full conversation
JANA RIESS: Temple garments are things that Latter-day Saints receive when they go through the LDS temple for the first time for themselves. Essentially, that means that you go through a ritual called an endowment. And before that you were washed and anointed to prepare for the endowment.
And as part of that experience, you receive new undergarments called temple garments and from then on, you are supposed to wear those temple garments underneath your street clothes. So just on a regular day, every day, you will have those on underneath whatever people can see as your regular clothing.
LAUREN GILGER: What's the significance? Obviously it's supposed to be, there's supposed to be a religious significance here. But does it also have to do with maintaining modesty?
RIESS: Well, officially in the ceremony itself, the idea is that these are a symbol of the clothing that God gave to Adam and Eve when they left the garden. You asked about modesty. And certainly as people have tried to understand it and connect it to daily life, modesty has come up particularly for women.
And that can be a really thorny issue for some women because it does sometimes feel like for some women that the garment has not necessarily reflected their needs, their medical needs, their social needs, their, their needs for clothing that is, that feels good and looks good. And so over the years, there have been some complaints about the garments both quiet and increasingly loud with social media.
GILGER: Yeah. OK. So let's talk about this most recent change, which sounds like a big one and especially for women, as you say. Tell us a little bit about what the announcement of this coming change to the temple garments says and what it will look like for people.
RIESS: So in October, the church first presidency made an announcement that changes would be forthcoming to the garment, particularly for members who live in hot climates such as the Philippines or Africa or possibly islands in the Caribbean. It will be almost a year from now that any of these new styles will be available to members in the United States.
So you know, the initial cheering that greeted the announcement was followed, I think, in this country by some disappointment that it was going to take so long for members here to, to receive that.
One of the things that has been trumpeted and greeted with a lot of enthusiasm is the addition of a sleeveless garment for women. So initially in the 19th century, garments went all the way to the wrist and all the way to the ankle. And then in the early 20th century, it was authorized to have them come to the elbow and down just below the knee.
And so over the decades, we've seen changes to adapt to clothing styles. And this is kind of in that, I mean, you can sort of think of early church leaders possibly turning in their grave at the idea of a sleeveless garment for women.
GILGER: So there's a level of like this is about ease and comfortability for particularly women in hot climates. But there's also a level of style here, right? Like as you said, like changing these garments to reflect the style of the day.
RIESS: Yeah, I mean, certainly younger women have complained that the garments with cap sleeves or for men, even short sleeves that they are not essentially reflecting the times in which we live. And it, it's sometimes difficult for people to find clothing styles that they think are fashionable and that they like, but that will be compatible with garments. So that's kind of an ongoing push and pull.
GILGER: So what has the church leadership had to say about this, Jana? Like, do we know why they kind of finally made this move, which is something that a lot of LDS women, it sounds like thought would literally never happen?
RIESS: It's a great question. They have not revealed the behind the scenes discussions that perhaps led to these changes over the course of the last year or so. It's clear from some of the comments that they have made that there is some concern on the part of church leaders that people may not be wearing their garments as often as church leaders want them to wear their garments.
And there's been a, as I mentioned, push-pull. There's been a bit of a relaxation and then a crackdown on wearing of garments. You know, I also research Latter-day Saints and my research partner, Benjamin Noel, and I, we surveyed in 2022 and 2023 Latter-day Saints and former Latter-day Saints in the United States. And we did actually ask them about garment compliance.
One of the findings was that although there have been some rumblings from church leadership that perhaps women in particular might not be compliant with garment wearing, that they're going to stay in their yoga pants all day long. And we actually found that women were a little bit better at garment compliance than men. But that it was all young people that were essentially not as compliant.
GILGER: There's this big generational gap that you uncovered here. Is there speculation, Jana, that this move from the church could be an effort to sort of make this a little more palatable to younger people so that they will be more willing to abide by this tenant to follow these rules?
RIESS: I think yes and no. I mean the yes part is some of the things that we have heard more regionally in Utah and elsewhere of general authorities, speaking about garments and some of their concerns, particularly about younger people and women wearing garments.
But on the other hand, you know, recall that this new policy is being rolled out abroad first, at least on the surface, it is not being affected or, or galvanized by what's happening in the United States. But if I could add another on the other hand, because this is what researchers do, right.
GILGER: On the other hand.
RIESS: Africa has been hot for a while now, right? And this is, it's great that this is happening, but that doesn't explain why it's happening now.
GILGER: So let me ask you, do you think this will encourage those young people who have sort of fallen by the wayside here in terms of wearing their garments to wear it again? Do you think that this will make it a little bit easier for them?
RIESS: I think only time will tell, you know, in conjunction with our survey research, I've also interviewed more than 100 current and former members of the church in the United States. And I would say that based on those interviews, it's not just a matter of making a garment fit better or making it more palatable. Those are terrific things.
But there is a larger and more systemic question of bodily autonomy, which is something that generationally is a lot more important to people now than it would have been 100 years ago or 150 years ago. That you have the right to decide who touches your body, you have the right to decide what you wear on your body and who gets to tell you what to wear on your body. And that larger question I think is not going to be addressed by just shortening a sleeve length by an inch. You know, that is something that is a, a bigger discussion.
GILGER: Do you think that that discussion will, will start here or continue here because of these changes?
RIESS: I'm not particularly optimistic that church leaders are very interested in those conversations. You know, I think they view garment wearing as a really vital expression of what it means to be a Latter-day Saint, not just for this life when you're concerned about clothing, for this life, but for eternity and when you cast it in those parameters that changes the game. Yeah, I feel like people are talking past each other a little bit.
