Things That Must Go – Leggings at church

A few things:

I’m forty years old; meaning that I have lived through multiple leggings trends. I think leggings are fun, but they have their place.

Leggings are not pants, but are worn like pants and are considered pants in certain circumstances.

I am an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in dressing modestly. No short skirts, nothing sleeveless or strapless, no obvious cleavage, etc.

Leggings are not an excuse to wear a short skirt or dress to church because they cover your knees and your skirt doesn't. If you are wearing leggings in this manner, you are wearing pants and a tunic. You do not wear pants to church.

If you couldn’t wear the skirt to church without the leggings, then you shouldn’t be wearing the skirt to church. (in regular life, fine - I'm not judging. There is separate standard for what you wear to church)

Leggings are casual wear. You are supposed to dress up for church. Leggings are a popular trend, but they are not appropriate for church. There is a time and place for leggings, church is not one of those places.

You are not allowed to wear leggings with short skirts/dresses at BYU. Most of the girls I see wearing leggings to church are Cougar fans.

Please stop dressing your girls in leggings and short skirts for church. I know that they are wonderful because they can wear a skirt and run around and not show their panties. I have two problems with this. One, little girls are supposed to be reverent at church, not climbing all over the pew and running and jumping around. Two, we should be teaching our little girls how to behave like a lady in a skirt. There is a way we behave when we’re in play clothes, and there is a way to behave when wearing our Sunday Best.

I know how hard it is to find modest length skirts. I was tall and thin my whole life. Do you know how hard it was for me when I was a size two to find a skirt that would go to my knees that still fit my waist? One of the main reasons why I sewed my own clothes was because I could never find anything in the stores that fit me around the middle that was long enough. However, we live in Utah where there are many stores that cater to the LDS modesty demographic.

Wearing leggings does not make up for the fact that you are wearing a short skirt. You are still wearing a short skirt. Wearing leggings is casual, not Sunday appropriate. Stop it, it is driving me crazy.