I always dressed pretty well but there were still two pieces of clothing that brought a little heat on me more than once.
Back around 1991-92, I was in the El Cajon, CA Valley congo. My bookstudy was held in a home that didn't have air conditioning. So during the hotter summer months, I ditched the jacket and substituted a long sleeve dress shirt instead. To me, in my mind, I was dressed appropriately for the heat and the type of meeting(bk study in a home) and didn't think anything of it. Well, I was recently baptized and so the lone elder in our bk study group(does JD Johnst__ ring a bell to any SDiegans?) finally had another brother(me) to help out with prayer and reading. There was only one other bro in the group and he rarely attended. To my surprise, the first time I came dressed like this, JD opened with prayer AND read the paragraphs as well. I thought I was in deep doodoo for something seeing as my privileges were just stripped in front of me without explanation. I had no clue it was due to my "non-jacket" appearance. Afterwards, he told me that I had to wear a jacket to say prayer or read for the group. I did it like a good little jw for a little while. But there were times that I just forgot(I was probably thinking about the heat and sweating through the meeting) and would go back to the ol' trusty long-sleeve. I really didn't think anything of it.
A very similar experience also occurred when I lived in Breckenridge, CO. The bk study group for that area met at the wealthiest family's home -- the Knick_____'s. We had a few more bros in this group. Upon seeing that the people who went here actually made themselves at home, almost literally, I decided to try something out. No shoes were allowed in the house so everyone brought slippers from home. I kid you not, the bk study conductor's wife wore bunny slippers. You would think the Secretary of the hall, who also happened to be our bk study conductor, would be pretty lax in enforcing the dress code seeing that his wife wore bunny slippers every week. Apparently not. I tried wearing a cardigan sweater one night and noticed, quite conspicuously, that I was not asked to say prayer or read. The elder didn't say anything to me afterwards either. The next week I tried it again and the same thing happened. Only this time he told me afterwards that I needed a jacket. It finally clicked with me - I mean really clicked. You mean to tell me that I can avoid saying prayer or reading the paragraphs simply by not wearing a jacket? Sweet.
I can't remember how many times during the following years I intentionally left the jacket at home and wore a cardigan or a long-sleeve shirt instead. These were also my awakening years when I began reading H2O. The rebelliousness only increased from there.
So for you lurkers out there wondering how you can start fading, I say start with losing the jacket. Once the prayer and bk study or WT reading privs dry up, you're on your way. Meeting attendance closely follows.
