It was a hot summer day. A coworker told me that I shouldn’t wear short sleeve dress shirts any more because that wasn’t a mature thing to wear. I noted that I wore short sleeves on my mission. When you go to the temple, you must wear long sleeve shirts or are asked to change. Why do they only allow long sleeve white shirts in the temple? Are short sleeve dress shirts just for the young? Is my friend right? Should men only wear long sleeve dress shirts?
Wheat & Tares 
There is no such thing as a short-sleeve dress shirt. Period.
The common advice for professional attire is “dress for the job you want, not the one you have”. Anyone who wears a short-sleeve shirt with a tie screams ‘McDonalds manager’. If that’s the job you want, go for it. See how much respect it gets you.
Short sleeves let people know you work for the government.
Or a hipster trying to be ironic. Or a member of a religious cult.
All reasons why missionaries should not be allowed to wear them.
Any man over the age of twelve should not be wearing a short sleeve, button-down “dress” shirt unless he works at the post office, government job or fast food restaurant. It is an eternal law which is not subject to discussion.
🙂
And, you look busier with rolled up sleeves.
Long sleeves are required in the temple because garments used to have long sleeves: the dress code didn’t change when the garments changed. Also, since the display of porn shoulders is forbidden outside of the temple, covering porn elbows shows that there is a higher standard for the temple.
#3 – Jack, Jack, jack…I’ve worked for the “Gubmint”, in both civilian and military capacities, and I can tell you, especially as far as the Navy is concerned, that a dress code exists. Even in “Silly Service”, there are venues where anything less than a long-sleeved WHITE dress shirt, conservative tie, and a ‘toned-down’ business suit (black, navy blue, grey, or smoke), and you will later get a ‘talkin to…’
It also doesn’t cost a lot to ‘dress for success’. When I took off the lard some years ago, and had to get a whole new wardrobe, at first I bought three suits from “Jacques Pennee” each for under $100. Since then, I’ve fleshed out my wardrobe which fills a walk-in class mostly from Deseret Industries, GoodWill, and ThriftTown, and have had little trouble finding articles in like-new (or in some cases, actually never-worn) condition.
Would it be so hard to wear a long-sleeved shirt to either the Sunday block or to the temple? If it’s THAT much of an imposition, (like if your temple was a four-hour drive away), then wear ‘casual’, and change at a nearby gas station or fast food joint restroom. Sheesh.
My kids school they have something called “short sleeve order” when it gets hot in the summer term. Prior to the head declaring “short sleeve order” they are all expected to wear their school blazers moving between classes, in assemblies and outside, even travelling to and from school.
Yep. The other commenters beat me to it but, succinctly:
(1) Dress shirts are long sleeved. If you need short sleeves, roll them up.
(2) The temple shirt policy is a carry over from earlier times. I believe long sleeve G were used (in the initiatory at least) through the 1960s.
I live in Australia, it is mid winter and the temperature today is 24c, which is I think 75f.
Some of the members wear long sleeves, and even jackets, but the majority wear short sleeves. I have never heard all this judgement towards short sleeves, and hope it is not serious.
Is this short sleeve rule part of the unwritten order of things? Because ive never heard it. And with temps in arizona in the 100 degree range, i suspect many eschew long sleeves there.
Whatever you do, men, do NOT wear long sleeved dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up, or you will become ‘walking pornography’ for poor sisters like me who are trying SO HARD to be valiant.
…Unless your forearms are hairy, then do what you want.
I agree long sleeves are dressier, but in my old age and 93 degree heat coupled with about 90% humidity, short sleeves are the way to go. I keep a couple of long sleeve shirts for the temple, but otherwise only wear long sleeves from about December through March.
Short sleeves do sort of say “low level, fashion-challenged accountant” to me, at least if you include a pocket protector. Even for the boys, my last two wards have discouraged short sleeves as too casual I guess. I think that’s kind of dumb since both those places have been very hot climates.
As anyone who’s read John Bridges’ A Gentleman Gets Dressed Up knows, “Short-sleeved dress shirt is an oxymoron.”
People who pay attention to the length of my sleeves need to get a life.
Short-sleeved shirts, narrow black ties, horned rim glasses, pocket protectors equals early Silicon Valley nerd.
I avoid even the very appearance.
#19 – haven’t you heard of “Nerd Chic’?.
It’s no imposition to wear a long-sleeved shirt (I rebel at to ALWAYS wearing white, but will do so if teaching or know that’ll I’ll speak or carry out some PH function, and I always wear white on fast sundays in order to be in ‘uniform, Pledge pin and all. The A/C in both my rides can form icicles out of the air nozzles, so it’s not as if the ride to and from Church is all that bad. It’s wearing the blazer that at times gets tough, but my beloved Snips comes to my ‘rescue’ as she gets cold easily (her bodyfat is probably around 3-4% at best, she one of the few that LIKES a Texas Summer, where’s she’s from), so I get relief from being ‘sweaty guy’ as well. That’s what you call compatibility.
Wear long sleeves. And crank up the A/C to keep cool.
Anything else is (a) a sign of weakness, (b) an admission that you don’t have the money to keep your home/office/car cooled to the appropriate 65 degrees, and (c) evidence that you’ve caved to the global warming/energy-running-out scaremongers.
Flappy short-sleeved shirts are kinda funny looking. That’s why mine are always cut to hug my biceps. Sure, I may be vain, but nobody gives me crap about my muscles showing.
#12 Geoff–In U.S. culture, short-sleeve dress shirts are are a fashion faux paus, like socks with sandals, or wearing a belt AND suspenders.
Maybe the dress standards are different in Australia.
I’ve lived in several wards on both coasts and went to BYU for 4 years and have never heard of a debate between long versus short sleeve shirts, just colored versus white shirts. I served in a tropical mission and we only ever wore short sleeve shirts, including to the temple.
This entire thing seems inane to me.
Of course it’s inane. The permas debated either this post, or another from Steve Evans titled “Types of Shirts, Ranked”
I’m still hopeful that the alternate post will see the light of day.
If you don’t understand why there’s even a discussion about long sleeves vs. short sleeves, it’s because that’s how you were raised and taught by your parents. But, that doesn’t change the fact that in our (and by our I mean the U.S.) cultrue, short sleeves are casual. Always. Whether casual wear is appropriate for your work depends on the dress standards of your work. Whether casual wear is appropriate for church and the temple is clear, it isn’t.
You can wear a short sleeve shirt to the temple, but you cant participate in ordinances without a long sleeve white shirt
short sleeves for life
DB-
Most be a generational thing. It’s not even a consideration in mine because no one thinks of it being not formal enough or not. No one cares.
never forget –
No, it’s not a generational thing; short sleeves are still considered casual and people in every age group know that. Maybe not you or your peers but that is the cultural norm and most people do care or they at least know. If anything, knowledge of clothing norms varies more by region than generation. Ignorance of something doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. And no, I’m not an old geezer if that’s what you’re implying.
Many women wear T-shirts to church . . . I think the collar and buttons of a man’s short sleeve shirt makes it dressy enough for our casual culture.
#7 – the ‘Urban Dictionary’ defines “Porn Shoulders” as:
Shoulders which are not entirely covered by one’s attire leading nearby religious zealots (especially Mormons) into sinful thoughts.
Next I’ll hear that it’s a known fetish and there are web sites dedicated to same…egad.