You are all aware of the female Mormon modesty problem. We have different enough ideas of modesty and how it should be practiced and taught that it has been covered in many blog posts and even more lessons. Generally, it does not seem to be an issue for Mormon men.

One phrase often used in such discussions is “cover the Garment” as in, “it’s so hard to find stylish clothing that covers my garments” and “I won’t let my teens wear anything that wouldn’t cover the garment” and “even as babies, my kids don’t wear tank-tops and spaghetti straps–they don’t cover garments.” You know the drill. I don’t agree with all those statements or practices, but I understand where they are coming from. The garments have become the standard of modesty. Except sports wear. And bathing suits. And formal dresses. And. And. And. Everyone has their own exceptions and it is all just justification for wearing what you want or judging others who wear what you would not.

Yet men, who have no modesty issues, it seems, show their garments. Right? Any guy who sports the crew-neck garment tops shows their garments regularly. But it doesn’t LOOK like garments–it looks like a layered t-shirt. No biggie. Does anyone take offense to this?

So recently, at an all-female, all-LDS gathering, the conversation turned to garments (and the terrible fits, styles, and fabrics). You know that drill, too. And someone who had just bought a new round of garments was wearing a newish style of the top that had a scoop neck and was a t-shirt style with no lace. One of her friends says, “show them your new Gs” and she did, but she didn’t have to take anything off. Her new Gs were plainly visible peeking out the top of her shirt, looking like one of the many layering shirts all of us have, in an effort to, you guessed it, cover out garments. And it looked totally normal (as in, not like freakish religious garb) and did, indeed, cover all her bits and pieces, and yet, peeked up from the top of her other shirt, just a little, like…yeah, like her husband’s garments do. Without controversy. Yet unlike I have seen other women wear garments.

So what do you think of this little trailblazer? Has the fact that she has stopped playing our tuck and tugging game of HIDING our garments offended you? Do you think this will be generally accepted, or do you think someone will complain to her, or the RS president, or the Bishop, that she is not towing the line and covering her garments?