I always got a kick out of the Witness fashion sense, or lack there of. I would see these old men wearing light blue and burgundy suits, in the 1990's. When people said something, like "that is an out of date or fashion suit," they would act like it does not matter. I remember once when I was in field service, we were in a college student part of town and I was with this man in a light blue polyester suit. We went to this door and the guy asked to buy the suit from the older man I was with. The man asked why he wanted it, and he said that his friend and him were going as the characters from "dumb and dumber" and his suit looked just like the one worn and he could not find it any where. I nearly started cracking up, and the man with me laughed it off. We got back in to the car and the man asked the group, "what is the movie dumb and dumber?" and everyone started laughing and explained it to him. He never wore that suit again, but I know he missed it. I think it is just the whole, how can people of such low income afford new suits all the time and when your wearing one a minimum of 3-4 times a week, they wear out. I just wonder if this was a Northwest thing, or did others notice this where they lived too.
If you wear that suit long enough, it might come back into fashion
by free2beme 8 Replies latest jw friends
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stillajwexelder
Yes neck ties too. Paisley ties were in during the early 70s - then they came back in fashion for a while in the mid 90s
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Spectre
Oh, what a classic.
I always had the problem of not being able to afford a closet full of $300 suits. And I noticed other people having that same problem when I would see suits from the 60's or early 70's being worn.
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serendipity
I think there are some light blue and burgundy suits still to be seen down in rural parts of Texas.
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free2beme
Second hand clothing stores were huge with Witnesses in my area. When one had a grand opening in the early 1990's, I went and it was like a district convention of local Witnesses. Everyone there, but maybe a few, were Witnesses and that suit rack was something we were all over.
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kristyann
Oh, for sure. It seems to be a requirement for Jehovah's Witnesses to shop at thrift stores. At least, this was the case among all the JWs I knew. One time, my boyfriend's JW mom bragged to me about how many clothes her kids had... yeah, they each had about 40 shirts that cost 1 dollar apiece at the thrift store (or gasp! The Salvation Army! Seems that this organization of "Christendom" was okay as long as they offered cheap clothes). Anyway, ALL of their clothes looked like they were from the 70s. I am not kidding. They all wore like leisure suits that they complained about paying 3 DOLLARS for. They also frequented garage sales... but when they really wanted to go all out for something, they got it at Walmart. Why are JWs in general so unfashionable? Is it because they can't afford anything else cause they're all rug cleaners and janitors? Are they just clueless? Does it just not interest them? Do they actually like the hideous 60s and 70s clothes they wear?
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free2beme
I think it is a two part reason why ...
1. They are often in very low paying jobs
2. They are often lacking in education, so often they are very simple people
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Super_Becka
Why are JWs in general so unfashionable? Is it because they can't afford anything else cause they're all rug cleaners and janitors? Are they just clueless? Does it just not interest them?
My JW boyfriend hasn't gone to a meeting in forever, not in at least a year, so I can't comment on his meeting attire. He says he owns a suit, but I have yet to see it, so I have to take his word on that.
I do, however, know that all he ever wears everywhere else is blue jeans and a white t-shirt. I'm not kidding, he has a drawer filled with plain white t-shirts!! And he's so thin that he had a hard trouble finding them in his size, but he doesn't like going out to shop, so he buys all of his white t-shirts on the Internet. And blue jeans, he has so many pairs of plain, faded blue jeans, I've never seen anyone with so many jeans before!! Sure, he has some long-sleeved shirts, but they're generally black or grey. I saw him in a red one once and I nearly died of shock - he never wears colour!!
Is it because he doesn't have a good job and can't afford nice clothes?? Nope, he has a BS in Electronics and works for Intel, he lives alone and has no extraneous expenses, so he has cash to spare. Is he clueless?? Yup, completely and utterly. Does nice clothes just not interest him?? Probably not - I tell him that he looks really good in some colours - I've seen him in red once, and once in navy blue, and he looked incredible!! - but he doesn't care, he likes his t-shirts and jeans and he's not interested in changing.
The lack of colour in his wardrobe (and his apartment in general - the whole place is white!!) is so dire that his JW mother has begged me to take him shopping for something more colourful!!
-Becka :)
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just2sheep
if i want to look really nice i let my wife choose my clothes. otherwise i don't care as long as the legal bits are covered. i hate suits...in my family the only people who came to our house in a suit were bankers, lawyers, preachers, or cops. i thought suits were dumb then, i think suits are dumb now...the feminine side of our flock disagree.