I figured I was going to wear underwear of some sort, so even though the garments were a little odd, and the Relief Society president at the time, ordered my first set (the one piece style - this was 1962) in nylon and a size too small when we were going to UT from OR. I about died of the heat. I have no idea what she was thinking! Nylon skivvies in UT in the summer?

Somehow, I managed to get used to them. But the dang things wouldn't wear out. I did manage to save a few bucks and go down to Penny's in Provo about a year later, and buy more in a different fabric that was more comfortable. This was before Distribution Centers) and garments could be purchased over the counter at Penny's in Utah.

I was determined ... After all, this was my new family, and adopted "tribe," new culture, by golly, and I was going to fit in, one way or another!! I was assured by other ladies that I would learn to love them. Hmmm. Well, that was pushing it, but it did get better.

I finally bought the garments in Bemberg Rayon that were a lot more comfortable. I wore them snug to my body and they weren't half bad. I had grown up wearing an undershirt and later a camisole and half slip or a full slip as a properly dressed woman in the 40's and 50's. That probably helped me adjust to the different undies. But the lace--that was another problem. Made me itch! I'm itching just thinking about it! :-)

I never could wear them at night though-- even if I went to bed with them on, I took them off in my sleep! That ought to have been a clue! DUH!! But, I was young and naive and serious and wanted to be a proper Mormon!

I even answered the temple interview questions honestly when asked if I word them day and night. Nope. Can't wear them at night. No bishop or stake president ever batted an eye. No problem! I chuckle when I think back to these interviews and the look on their faces! :-) I think it was TMI! (Too Much Information!)

In fact, at one time, I recall that we were encouraged to have some nice night time wear for..err..ahh..you know...! Of course, it was not worn..... very long.... I had a nice red ditty with fur that lasted for years. (Ya, I know TMI again!)

Later, in the late 70's when the styles changed, I found that the two piece ones had lace that irritated my skin, so I got the Specials Dept to make them without lace and they made a pattern that actually fit me this time! No more seams in the wrong place, and it had a true cap sleeve! And they were not half bad--- in the daytime. But they were too hot in the summer! Miserable things.

FYI: The one piece style is still available for men and women. Some men prefer the one piece. In fact, they used to come with buttons up the front, or a zipper. Don't ask me how I know that! :-)

We were encouraged to be very, very careful about where we wore the garments. We never wore them where they would be visible to others. We never hung them outside to dry, for instance, where they would be visible either. Well, actually, it was OK if they were on an inside line and sheets or something large were hung on the outside lines so they wer not visible! I tried that trick in Utah in Wymount Terrace Married Student housing on a rack on our third floor deck one winter afternoon and forgot to bring them in and they all froze during the night - hard as a board! :-)

I never wore them to try on clothes in a store, or to a doctor's office or the beach, to swim, etc. We always had a set or two of "Gentile" skivvies for those times.

Eventually, when I wanted nothing more to do with Mormonism -- sometime in the mid 90's, and had changed my mind about what I chose to believe in, the garments represented everything I didn't like about the religion: too much control, too invasive, and on and on. that was why I had to, eventually, throw them in the garbage. (That's another story!)

Now, I have made peace with that part of my life. They are just clothing, undies and I don't care who wears them or why. I am married to a believer and he can wear any kind of undies he wants and if that means the garments, that is his right. I am not going to use an ounce of energy on hating someone's undies! :-)

Great story susie!

I am forever greatful that I never advanced far enough to take on the jesus jammies.

I just re-read the text of the ritual where the garment is put on, right after the washing and anointing. One is instructed to wear them "throughout your life."
The temple recommend question asks, "do you wear them day and night, as instructed in the temple, and according to the covenants that you have made in the temple?"

Technically, one could put them on for an hour once a month for the rest of his/her life, and he/she would be wearing them "throughout his/her life."

The recommend interview spins it into a "wear them constantly" thing.

The other thing the recommend interview spins is the idea that one made a covenant to wear the garment. It is an instruction, not a covenant.

I really hate the fact that my DW wears g's. She has kept a pretty good figure over the years, and seeing her walk around in those things just hides that fact.

I guess back in the 60's and 70's alot of kitty's had fur. I still prefer a nice shaved kitty though. Oh wait... You said ditty, never mind.

It's so luxurious.

They are amazed when I point out someone in a restaurant, for instance, and say: "That woman is LDS". "How do you know", they ask. "Because I can see her "smile line". " Then I show them how to tell if a woman or man is wearing Mormon undies.

Seems to me that the garments for women ought to be made low enough in the back so they hit the normal bra line. Instead, it appears that it becomes a matter of broadcasting their worthiness by showing off the lines.

My exit from the Morg preceded my divorce from my first wife, a TBM, by 6-12 months (depending on whether you count from when my beliefs disintegrated vs. actually saying "See ya!"). I am now remarried as an ex-mo to a never-mo.

It is only in the hindsight offered by my experience with my sweetheart now that I realize how ugly, drab and unflattering garments were.

Way Out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My exit from the Morg preceded my divorce from my
> first wife, a TBM, by 6-12 months (depending on
> whether you count from when my beliefs
> disintegrated vs. actually saying "See ya!"). I
> am now remarried as an ex-mo to a never-mo.
>
> It is only in the hindsight offered by my
> experience with my sweetheart now that I realize
> how ugly, drab and unflattering garments were.


It's my experience that once anger, hate, bitterness,resentment, etc., etc. take over any positive/loving feelings for Mormonism, the temple garment becomes a representative of those negative feelings.
Feel angry, bitter, betrayed, resentful, hateful, etc. etc. etc. = hate the garments.

There is something very symbolic about taking off the garments and destroying them. It represents taking your power back, owning your own freedom, refusing to give anyone control over you. Something as simple as choosing your own underwear becomes a monumental representative of your own personal power!

In my case, I didn't end up hating the garments. But after coming out as a non-believer to my TBM ex-wife (while we were still married but the marriage on the rocks), it was just a natural thing to stop wearing religious underwear that represented something I no longer believed in. I never thought, even as a TBM, that the garments would physically protect me, either. But I definitely didn't want to wear silly symbols of a stupid system of belief designed to subjugate people's identities.

Alright, going anon for this one....

I was barely hanging onto my activity when in undergraduate college. I went to a non-church school and hung out with quite a few DEFINITELY NEVERMO ladies.

I was also the only Mo in my rental house. One of my roommates had a gigantic pile of porn in the living room. I avoided it for months on end but finally the temptation became too great. I took a bunch of that porn and retired to my room.

I was sitting there on my bed in my G-s reading porn with the expected anotomic response in full view under my G-s. I was just about to start up my little factory when my bedroom door suddenly burst open. Standing in the doorway were two of my hottie friends with a birthday cake for me. They started to sing happy birthday but were so busy laughing at me and my obvious "situation" that they could not finish the song.

I thought that was bad enough but I took a new job a couple of years ago (almost 20 years later) and ended up working with one of those ladies. She thinks the story is still hillarious and had told just about every one of my co-workers!!!

I guess I deserved that one.

One time I received a call that my teenage son was being held for shoplifting. The manager told me they would be reporting it to the police. I went to pick him up and was walking out tearfully, when the manager came up behind me and said, "I see you are wearing temple garments, so we're sure you will handle this and it will never happen again. We're not reporting it. Just wanted you to know."

Please tell me this was in Utah...

Or some other state?

I've heard of people using a temple recommend for ID.

I am so glad I have left the Mormon Church before the underwear incitation. They are so unflattering and I see my friends and relatives always hassling over them to fit right with their outfits. I never understood why you didn't have to wear them when swimming or working out. I even asked my bishop in high school why we can't wear sleeveless clothing and dresses yet it is okay to wear a swimsuit that resembles a tank top. He looked at me like you are so random and he was like that's a great question, I don't know. That Anon story made me laugh out loud!! I would have died of embarrassment! So very funny! My boyfriend wears garments and it turns me off, mainly because he is scared to leave the Mormon Church, but won’t out right admit it to me. I love reading everyone’s posts!

I stopped wearing my g's approximately 5 years before I truly quit going to church.

I remember shopping with my mom for new clothes on my birthday the year after I got married. I had a complete meltdown in the dressing room because nothing fit right with the garments, and I was picking out "modest" clothing. Ahhhh!!! I get frustrated just thinking about it.

I remember my bishop telling DH and I, in a pre-marriage interview, to take them off before being intimate, but to hop up right after and put them right back on.

Ha ha, notinspite. I always wondered the same thing about swimming suits and tank tops.

When my maternal grandmother died, my siblings and I cut out all the markings in her garments, put them in a cup to await burning.

I don't know any other people who handled their deceased relatives' underwear in such a bizarre manner.

itzpapalotl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When my maternal grandmother died, my siblings and
> I cut out all the markings in her garments, put
> them in a cup to await burning.
>
> I don't know any other people who handled their
> deceased relatives' underwear in such a bizarre
> manner.


That's how they make them into rags! The markings mess up the rags. It's recycling!:-)

Garments are another form of sexual destruction and a means for the theology to get between you and your spouse.

Someone needs to make a 'designer G's' line...even then it will suck.

I know there are some LDS women who are willing to wear lingerie occasionally to throw porn/guilt ridden husbands a bone, but the women are going through shame and cog/dis.."Oh NoEs! I didn't have them on 24/7!?!"

So yeah, LDS = perfect recipe for sexual dissatisfaction.

left then off . . . .as much as possible! :-) Any reason not to wear them and they were not worn! I had a couple dozen reasons. So did everyone I knew!