ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a new option to beat the scorching summer heat - sacred undergarments that are sleeveless. It's the first summer the faith has offered religious clothing without sleeves in its nearly 200-year history. Many Mormon women are celebrating the new garments, which they've been requesting for years. Others say the church's all-male leadership should have listened to them sooner. Ciara Hulet reports from Provo, Utah.
CIARA HULET, BYLINE: It's a 100-degree day in Provo, Utah. And even on a toasty day like this, faithful Latter-day Saints wear religious garments underneath their normal clothes, including Dara Layton.
(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING ON DOOR)
DARA LAYTON: Hey. Come on in.
HULET: Oh, hi.
LAYTON: How are you?
HULET: But the Brigham Young University student answers the door wearing something very new to her - a tank top. For years, Layton only wore shirts that fully covered the cap sleeves of the religious garment. Then last fall, the LDS church opened up a new option with thick straps instead.
LAYTON: My shoulders, they, like, have never been more tanned in my entire life (laughter).
HULET: She's not the only one excited about this change. The redesign isn't available in the U.S. yet, but that's not stopping American women from getting their hands on them from other countries. That includes some social media fashion influencers who post about how to style the religious wear.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED INFLUENCER #1: Comfy dresses I'll be wearing with my garments during the summer.
UNIDENTIFIED INFLUENCER #2: This is Sunday...
UNIDENTIFIED INFLUENCER #3: One hundred percent.
UNIDENTIFIED INFLUENCER #2: ...After-church outfit.
UNIDENTIFIED INFLUENCER #4: I've been trying to find the best tank tops that fully cover the new garments and that are comfortable.
HULET: That was Wissali Holman, Claire White, Josilyn Vassau and Victoria Froelich. Layton thinks her closet has doubled in size since getting the sleeveless garment about a month ago.
LAYTON: So I went on probably the biggest shopping spree I've ever gone on in my entire life, but I was just, like, so excited to have new styles that I could wear and...
HULET: Show me. Show me your closet.
LAYTON: Yeah.
HULET: What do we have here?
LAYTON: I have - the tank top I'm wearing, I have in, like, five different colors. But I really kind of just went crazy. It was really bad (laughter).
HULET: Adult church members receive the garments as part of temple ceremonies. That includes the top and also bottoms that go to the knees. There are different fabric options from cotton or silky nylon to a polyester-spandex blend, but always in white. It's not the only religion with clothing that shows a commitment to God. The church compares the garment to other religious wear like a nun's habit or the robes of a Buddhist monk. So even though it's a sweaty summer day, Layton still wears the extra layer because it's sacred to her.
LAYTON: They are about this two-way promise that we make between us and God. And it's just a way to help us remind ourselves to bring Christ into our everyday lives.
HULET: But not all women are excited about the sleeve removal. Some are confused. They thought they were supposed to be different as Latter-day Saints, and now they're dressing like everyone else. Other women are angry and wonder why they sacrificed to cover their shoulders for so long, only for them to be OK to show now, says Jana Riess, a Latter-day Saint and an American religion historian.
JANA RIESS: There's a lot of frustration that the church is not acknowledging the fixation that it had on women's bodies, and they're really pretty sad.
HULET: Riess says the church's focus on modesty for girls and women became extreme in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
RIESS: Even to the point of, in a church periodical, taking an angel depiction and then adding sleeves to an angel.
HULET: Rachel Gerber remembers wearing a tankini swimming suit to a church activity when she was 14, but a leader told her it was inappropriate and that she had to cover up.
RACHEL GERBER: And I got, like, pissed. I was super upset. And someone was like, Rachel, you have to wear it or go home.
HULET: Gerber is a part-time legal assistant and mom of two. She also runs a social media account called LDS Changemakers to promote gender equality within the church's current policies. She believes modesty and garments represent a larger inequality in the church. There are new temple garments for men as well, but Gerber says it's always been much easier for men to wear fashionable clothing with garments.
GERBER: It controls my life much more than it controls my husband.
HULET: The sleeve change is something many women have wanted for at least 15 years, but the church hasn't acknowledged that. It declined to comment for this story and didn't respond to NPR's interview request. A short church statement from when the news first broke, though, says some members live in hot and humid areas and that the garment change is to bless them and others who might benefit. At the end of the day, Gerber calls the sleeveless garment a win and a good step forward.
GERBER: I don't think the leaders of the church, like, hate women. I just think they are within this patriarchal system, trying their best to function within it. But there's definitely more we can do.
HULET: She says this change signals that church leaders are listening. The new garment style will be available in the U.S. later this year. For NPR News, I'm Ciara Hulet in Provo, Utah.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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