If you are reading the Book of Mormon this year you may wonder why "costly apparel" is so often associated with wickedness in these scriptures. I like this quote. It helps me understand why it is a problem. For me if Ross doesn't have it I don't need it. In a conversation about this today with some friends we decided that in Utah perhaps our costly apparel is our obsession with big overly decorated homes.
"An analysis of the attitudes that lead to and are involved with this habit indicates why it is associated with wickedness. First, it promotes idleness and vanity. One who spends many hours coveting, shopping, spending, and adorning oneself becomes increasingly self-absorbed and uninterested in anything requiring that attention to be diverted from self. Accumulation and adornment become the prime concern. This practice is also a way of displaying wealth in a prideful manner, a manifestation of which has been called the ‘conspicuous consumption’ of the rich, which leads to despising the poor as somehow inferior, a separation of people into ‘us’ and ‘those kind of people.’ And when money and possessions become the chief marks of distinction in society, then the pursuit of money becomes the only action worthwhile. And if this pursuit requires the sacrifice of honesty, integrity, compassion, and all the other virtues, then so be it, for the love of money is indeed the root of all evil. The wearing of costly apparel involves the soul as much as the body." (Mae Banch, BM Studies in Scripture, p. 292)
I agree that wasting lots of time on shopping for and choosing clothing and the vanity that goes along with that leads us away from things that are important. If you have the money, however, I see nothing wrong with purchasing a few "nice" pieces of clothing that are classic and can be mixed and matched and will last a long time. In the long run they may last you as long as several seasons of buying really cheap stuff that needs to be replaced annually. It's all in the attitude and whether or not these purchases are putting you in the hole financially.
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