The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released new styles for the garment of the holy priesthood for hot and humid climates.
President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, taught that the garment is a “robe of righteousness” that represents Christ’s Atonement and serves as a reminder of the promises and covenants endowed members have made in the temple.
Social media has been buzzing this week as influencers and media outlets have reported on new styles of garments released in countries with warm climates.
These reports have been confirmed on the Church's official store.
David Snell of Keystone and Saints Unscripted explained that “there are sleeveless options for women and men, and a couple of slip options for women.”
The new sleeveless, full slip and half slip styles are not currently available worldwide, but it has been confirmed they are available in places such as Kenya and Uganda. The Church’s online store has been updated to show that the United States will be able to purchase these new styles in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Brenda Karks, a BYU-Pathway student in Uganda, said she has received these new styles.
“Our country is hot sometimes, we need something not heavy on the body,” she said.
Though there are new styles, Karks said it’s the covenants that really matter.
“I’m comfortable with the new style," she said. "I still know whatever style that comes out, I will embrace because I’m keeping the covenant.”
The First Presidency instructed that “the garment of the holy priesthood reminds us of the veil in the temple, and that veil is symbolic of Jesus Christ.”
Barbara Morgan Gardner, BYU professor of Church history and doctrine, points to the relationship wearing the garment can give us with Christ.
“I love wearing the garment," Gardner said. "As a woman in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I appreciate the continued care and emphasis placed on the covenant relationship with Jesus Christ and the symbol of taking upon ourselves His name as we wear the garment and keep our covenants.”
The garment of the holy priesthood dates to Adam and Eve and the “coat of skins” they received as they left the Garden of Eden.
In the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the use of the garment dates back to at least 1845 when William Clayton wrote about them in his journal.
“Sisters Whitney and Kimball have been very busy through the day overseeing the washings and anointings in the female department, and instructing the sisters in cutting and making robes and garments,” he wrote.
Since 1845, the style and manner of purchasing the garment has changed a number of times.
Until the 1960’s, Latter-day Saints could purchase the garment in department stores, and a number of other organizations produced them. By 1977, the Church was the only organization allowed to produce or sell them.
In the March 1977 New Era, Relief Society General President Barbara B. Smith confirmed this.
“By assignment of the First Presidency, the Relief Society is the exclusive distributor of all such clothing,” she said. “The Beehive Clothing Mills, a Church owned and operated manufacturing establishment, is the only agency authorized by the First Presidency to produce the sacred clothing.”
Though there have been updates, and there will continue to be updates, it’s important to recognize what the garment is, and what it serves as a reminder of.
“Our temple garment reminds us that the Savior and the blessings of His Atonement cover us throughout our lives. As we put on the garment of the holy priesthood each day, that beautiful symbol becomes a part of us,” Sister J. Annette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, said during her message at the April 2024 General Conference,
Ash Froelich, an Instagram influencer sharing “modest fashion” said, “I think this is a great reminder that modesty is so much more than what you wear.”
President Holland has said, “I can’t answer every question you have. I can’t even answer every question I have. But I can, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, promise you the help of a loving God, who seeks your every success and blessing, in ways you can’t now fathom or foresee, as you keep the covenants you have made with Him.”
To learn more about the garment and other sacred clothing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, watch the Church video below.