The new LDS garment Tank Top: your body, their choice

This minor adjustment isn’t progress. It’s a subtle form of spiritual bypassing—a calculated move designed to pacify the very real and long-standing criticisms Mormon women have been voicing for decades.

For those who’ve left the LDS faith, the latest update to women’s garments—the infamous “tank top version”—is bringing up a storm of emotions. And understandably so.

After years of layering, strategic shopping, and sweating through summers just to maintain “modesty,” the symbolic inch of fabric that’s been subtracted feels less like a gift and more like a gut punch.

Your feelings about it? Completely valid.

This minor adjustment isn’t progress. It’s a subtle form of spiritual bypassing—a calculated move designed to pacify the very real and long-standing criticisms Mormon women have been voicing for decades.

And how was this “un-veiling” introduced? Through a well-curated rollout by LDS influencers on social media—many of whom have long bent the rules themselves. The message?

“See, you can still be stylish and obedient.”

LDS Influencer speaks about her sacred underwear, while promoting her lifestyle brand.

But beneath the fresh filters and soft music is a hard truth: this is not liberation. This is strategy.

Why now? As a way to lure young Mormon wives who struggle with garment wearing, by trying to “bend the rules of covering into submission.” This new garment is a covert form of manipulation.

Telling someone what underwear they have to wear is not just about clothing. It’s about control. It doesn’t matter if the hem is shorter or the straps are thinner—it’s still a leash, just with a little more slack.

This wasn’t about saying, “Your body, your choice.” It was about reinforcing, yet again, “Your body, our choice.”

Because in patriarchy, that has always been the underlying message.

So when you see your active Mormon family or friends rocking a tank top and praising the prophets for this “revelatory update,” remember—they are still not free.

Their bodies are still under surveillance. Their choices still filtered through the male-dominated system of patriarchy that decides what is holy, what is acceptable, and what is worthy.

They may feel empowered.

But, empowerment handed down by the men in power isn’t empowerment at all. It’s permission.

And permission can be taken away.

Just ask the September Six. Or Kate Kelly. Or John Dehlin. Or the Hamakers. Or any progressive voice who tried to stretch the bounds of Mormonism beyond its tightly controlled lines.

There is no true space for progressive or expansive faith in a high-control religion. The garment change isn’t about freedom—it’s about retaining control while appearing flexible.

See the difference?

If this new version of the garments stirred something in you—anger, grief, confusion, even relief—know you’re not alone. And I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s talk about it.

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