Did you have to dress up for meeting? (page 3)

rose petal

Wow, big flashback moment, this topic! Yes, pantyhose for me, even in Queensland's hot summers. My ex used to wear a safari suit with short sleeves but long pants (it was the 70s). Even recently I got a shock when a friend told me that she went to church in shorts. My jaw must have hit the floor. She said to me, "well, God doesn't care what you wear". I couldn't believe it. It never inspired me enough to go, but wow. rose petal

tijkmo

the only thing i miss about meetings is dressing up.

i rarely have occasions to do it now...

i love wearing an expensive suit etc.....now sometimes i wear one to college cos i miss it.

blondie

Interestingly enough, in hotter climates without air conditioning galore, men wear suitcoats only on stage or at the podium, not even in field service. I saw pictures of several European/American COs assigned to those climes who wore shorts, sandals and short sleeve shirts when "engaging in the field ministry." Nylon requirement is only a unwritten rule in certain areas driven by the idiosyncrasies of the last visiting CO or DO or a strong-minded PO. I told the CO that I would wear nylons in "service" when he did................

MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN
From the musical revue "The Third Little Show" (1924)
(Noel Coward)
Noe Coward

In Tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire to take their clothes off and perspire
It's one of those rules the greatest fools obey
Because the Sun is far too sultry and one must avoid its ultry-violet
rays

The natives grieve when the White Men leave their huts
Because they're obviously....definitely....Nuts!

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The Japanese don't care to, the Chinese wouldn't dare to
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve till one
But Englishmen detest-a siesta

In the Philipines they have lovely screens to protect you from the
glare
In the Malay States there are hats like plates which the Britishers
won't wear
At twelve noon the natives swoon and no further work is done
But mad dogs and Englismen go out in the midday sun

It's such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see
That though the English are effete, they're quite impervious to heat
When the White Man rides, every native hides in glee
Because the simple creatures hope he will impale his solar topi on a
tree

It seems such a shame when the English claim the Earth
That they give rise to such hilarity and mirth
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Ho=ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
He-he-he-he-he-he-he
Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The toughest Burmese bandit can never understand it
In Rangoon the heat of noon is just what the natives shun
They put their Scotch or Rye down and lie down

In a jungle town where the Sun beats down to the rage of man and beast
The English garb of the English Sahib merely gets a bit more creased
In Bangkok at twelve o'clock they foam at the mouth and run
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun

Mad dogs and Englshmen go out in the midday sun
The smallest Malay rabbit deplores this foolish habit
In Hong Kong they strike a gong and fire off a noonday gun
To reprimand each inmate, who's in late

In the mangorve swamps where the python romps there is peace from
twelve till two
Even caribous lie around and snooze for there's nothing else to do
In Bengal to move at all is seldom if ever done
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday sun

lisavegas420

I read I think on page one someone else had the same experience.

But yes...we had to dress up for every meeting. Even when the book study was in our house.

We had to pull the metal folding chairs out of the closet and set them up in mini rows. We, my sister, mother and I also had to sit on the metal folding chairs. The guests, um..early guests, got to sit on the good livingroom furniture, late people got metal chairs too, my dad, of course got to sit in "his seat". As soon as the meeting was over, we had to start folding up chairs, as soon as everyone left, we ran to our rooms and changed to pj's.

We rarely if ever had snacks or drinks after the bookstudy at our house like I've read of others doing.

I know this was about dressing up...but it's all seems so stupid now.

lisa

brinjen

Yup, every meeting as well as field service. Had to wear dresses/skirts and pantyhose, no matter how hot it was. Nowadays, I rarely wear dresses or skirts and I've never once worn pantyhose, hate them.

DJK

Tuesday book study a dress shirt and pants were required. Meetings, service, assemblies and conventions, a jacket and clip on tie.

I learned how to tie a tie from my father-inlaw when I was in my twenties.

I dont enjoy dressing up. I do maintain a wardrobe just in case I have to. Last November I spent a thousand dollars for two suits, shirts and shoes. I guess I should expect to attend many funerals at my age.

DJK

OnTheWayOut

If it were a proper religion, I don't see a big problem with proper dress being encouraged,
but not forced. I would see a problem with the religion dictating what "proper" is- how
tight, how short, how much of a dip, with a shirt and tie (not a sweater). I hate the flip flops
and cut-off jeans I see going into churches, but still- it's the individuals' choices.

As I was fading, I stopped wearing suits, but didn't want undue attention, so I wore dockers
and casual button-up shirts with a tie- usually a loud shirt with a solid tie or a loud tie with a
solid shirt. Never a suit-jacket, but maybe a vinyl coat with a NIKE emblem or something of the
sort. Occassionally, I would wear a very nice sweater that came up to my neck so there was
no need for a tie. This was never commented on by anyone, including my wife. Try it.

B_Deserter

I remember that even when we would go out to eat after the meeting, brothers would not take their ties, or even their suitcoats off. I remember the looks I would get from my sisters for doing so, like I had just commited fornication.

I did this all the time, too! In fact, I would start removing the tie as soon as I left the hall. No one gave it a second look. I guess they're really strict across the pond in Wisconsin huh?

WTWizard

At our Hell, we had to dress up to the full nine yards all the time, at least if the weather was not "excessively hot". If the temperature was higher than about 90, they might let people ditch the coat for meetings and while going out in service (at least it was that way during the 1980s and 1990s--the hounder-hounder could have put a stop to that concession by showing up in winter and making a rule that everyone has to have the suit coat on at all times regardless of the weather, and I would have missed that.

We were supposed to have dress shirts on, always white, and with the collar button done up no matter how hot it got. Then we were supposed to have a suit on, preferably dark (and again the hounder-hounder could have issued an order mandating dark colors and I would have missed it). The tie was mandatory, too, and could not be ditched in hot weather. Also, we had to wear a T-shirt under the regular shirt if wearing just the shirt without the coat for heat.

The shoes were another matter. For men, oxford dress shoes were required. They didn't accept anything that looked anything like a sneaker or loafer. Anything that was "too comfortable" was banned. And they had to be a dark color (lighter colors would get you that "look") for men; sisters had more latitude with the colors of shoes. They had to be polished--with all the meetings and service, who has time to constantly polish shoes!.

undercover

I remember that even when we would go out to eat after the meeting, brothers would not take their ties, or even their suitcoats off. I remember the looks I would get from my sisters for doing so, like I had just commited fornication.
I did this all the time, too! In fact, I would start removing the tie as soon as I left the hall. No one gave it a second look. I guess they're really strict across the pond in Wisconsin huh?

As soon as I got in the parking lot, I'd start loosening my tie, undoing the top two buttons of my shirt and by the time I was in the car, my tie was off and thrown in the back seat. I found ties in the trunk of the car, in the floorboards, folded up in suit jackets, wadded up in my book bag. I hated ties...still do. I avoid wearing them if at all possible.

I've noticed that dress/grooming "laws" were more strict in rural areas with the more metropolitan areas getting away with being more stylish and not so buttoned down. I grew up in a rural area and I remember when "flared" pants were not allowed on stage...nor colored dress shirts. But as time went on and our rural area became more urban as the area grew (and more out-of-towners moved in) the code relaxed a bit. Colored dress shirts weren't frowned on anymore. Other styles that weren't considered "conservative" wasn't as much of a problem. The biggest problem was the flashy, gaudy ties that some of us brothers took to wearing, just to add a little pizzazz to an otherwise boring uniform. I got counseled more than once for my ties.

Whenever I visited big cities and saw JWs basically dressing as what we would have considered "worldly" back in BFE, I realized that our "unity" wasn't as unified as I was led to believe. Every city, state, region, country had it's own customs and ways. What was allowed in Miami or LA would call for a Judicial Committee meeting in a small, rural, Southern town. People in the small towns talked down about the "brothers" in big cities and their flirting with the "world", while the JWs in the cities would snicker and make fun of our backwood ways.

Did you have to dress up for meeting?

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