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dress code for the music team - Printable Version

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dress code for the music team - HelenaZF - 01-29-2007

Does your music team have a dress code?



Does it need one?



What do you think about the way your music team dresses?



What do you think is the best way to handle the dress code issue with your up-front musicians?


dress code for the music team - Phred - 01-29-2007

I don't think the guys ought to wear dresses, myself.


dress code for the music team - sonworshiper - 02-08-2007

Ah yes, the dreaded "dress code" topic! Smile



I remember a few years ago on the worship list I'm on, someone brought up the topic of drummers not wearing shorts on the platform. I still can't quite wrap my mind around that one. I had a drummer who wore shorts and there was never an issue. Still don't quite get it--and don't want to let my mind wander too much down that road.



I would imagine that all would agree that worship teams--whatever that means to us individually, should dress appropriately, a word which makes me shudder, as there is nothing much "appropriate" in me. Wink However I mean, not too much skin showing--meaning, women no cleavage, not too much leg. . .etc. Men are not free of cautioning here--no tight jeans! Nothing that would cause people to have attention on you and not God.



My "team" consists of myself and a wonderful girl, who plays djembe. One day she wore a skirt--long jean, not short or anything. . . .but I found that she had a hard time with the djembe as she had to balance it off to her side instead of between her knees. I've since asked her not to wear skirts again. Wink



We are a very informal church, jeans are the typical pant worn. Some wear skirts, one guy wears a tie. But no, no dress code in our church. Smile Have I told you lately how much I LOVE our church? Smile



Blessings.



Moe.

:crooner:








dress code for the music team - flaglady - 02-08-2007

Funny - our team has just started to try and co-ordinate their dress - black trousers or skirts, with grey or white tops. Except for the lead singers who can be a bit dressy! So far it's looking quite good!


dress code for the music team - DeanZF - 02-08-2007

<QUOTE author="sonworshiper,Feb 8 2007, 09:44 AM">
sonworshiper,Feb 8 2007, 09:44 AM Wrote:Ah yes, the dreaded "dress code" topic!  Smile 



...I would imagine that all would agree that worship teams--whatever that means to us individually, should dress appropriately, a word which makes me shudder, as there is nothing much "appropriate" in me.  Wink  However I mean, not too much skin showing--meaning, women no cleavage, not too much leg. . .etc.  Men are not free of cautioning here--no tight jeans!    Nothing that would cause people to have attention on you and not God.



My "team" consists of myself and a wonderful girl, who plays djembe.  One day she wore a skirt--long jean, not short or anything. . . .but I found that she had a hard time with the djembe as she had to balance it off to her side instead of between her knees.  I've since asked her not to wear skirts again.  Wink
I see that "appropriate" affects you like "balanced" does me! <EMOJI seq="1f607">:innocent:</EMOJI> and yes, it does come up on the Worship List pretty regularly, actually.



I think that you have a pretty even-handed way of looking at the issue of garmenting. (Notice how I deftly avoided the use of MY dreaded word, "balanced"). The whole thing IS simply to not call attention to ourselves, thus stealing the focus from our beloved Lord to our ill-clad or over-clad selves!



I can tell y'all stories about the things we've seen in various places and the appropriate clothing in one place would be in serious trouble in others. Dresses below the knee for ladies when everyone is on the floor or on an 8" riser is just fine, but when the platform is elevated 4, 5, or even 6 steps up (more than a meter!) that same just below the knee skirt becomes a problem for any men in the front rows.



We've been in places where the folks on the worship teams had coordinated outfits. Band & singers wore similar clothes, or at least similar color schemes. One of my favorites was a smallish congregation, primarily urban blacks in the US. They were a GREAT and lively congregation. Pastor Luther was all about Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. This was, after all GOD'S HOUSE, BROTHERS AND SISTERS (his emphasis, not mine!!) and we should come dressed well out of respect to our KING, not our baby-sitter or our drinking buddies. God's House is a special place, where we meet a special God, and in Whose presence, we need to be appropriately attired. Part of being on THEIR worship teams meant that you bought or made the garments, four sets of 'em. For the men, suits and ties or jackets and ties with the correct color or dress trousers. The shirts were coordinated to what the ladies were wearing and the jackets or suits also complemented them. A yellow set, a blue set, a black and white set, and one set that had a lot of a deep, rich red, if I remember correctly. They were stunning! They dressed alike, and they practiced so that their music was as coordinated as their garments. They were not professional sounding, but they were pretty darned impressive!



I remember them so well because they came to our really laid back Sunday night service once, all dressed to the nines, and there we were, VERY casual. Pastor had his Hawaiian shirt (long before Rick whatshisname made it popular), shorts, and flipflop shower shoes!. Pastor Luther stepped up to the podium in his very spiffy black three-piece suit, sparkling white shirt, and gleaming highly polished shoes, almost as though he'd just gotten off the top of a bridal cake! Quite a contrast. He told his people publicly that if they learned ANYthing that night, it was NOT how to dress for church! We all laughed, but we knew he wasn't kidding. We did a MUCH better job of dressing when it was our turn to visit their church. I went into the restroom where an obvious dad-type was looking at a 7 or 8-year-old who did not have vest, jacket, or sweater on and heard dad-type tell boy-type, "You'd better not let Pastor Luther see you!" And again, everyone in the room knew he wasn't kidding! Big Grin



And we've seen torn jeans, tacky or unclean tee-shirts or really low slung tanktops with underwear hanging out or no underwear worn (for the ladies) nor concern expressed about it. "Yeah, well, like, y'know, like, whatever, man..." And a whole bunch of other fun stuff in between the extremes.



Personally, I do like to see the team dress just a touch "up" for their service before the King. Doesn't have to be suits or matching outfits, but if we're going to lead, it's nice to be leading in all those areas, too. We do have to be careful to be "culturally relevant" to a point, but in my mind, leadership should be in the upper portion of that cultural range. If jeans is the norm, they ought to be really nice jeans that fit well and are not worn to a frazzle, with a nice shirt, as befitting the occasion. IMO.



A suggestion for your djembe player, Sonshine, er Moe, I don't know the technical term, but I've seen a lot of women wear what could be described as a VERY wide-legged pant that's hard to distinguish from a skirt when the wearer is standing. I think they're pretty elegant and very practical for instrumentalists. Even a female cello player could wear it and not compromise her modesty. That way your lady could wear what looks like a skirt if she'd like, and still remain true to your need for a well-anchored djembe!



So, in case you'd not figured it out, I LIKE the idea of some gentle form of garmenting guide. Where there are resources, I LIKE the idea of complementary garmenting. Helps define them as "team" visually as well as by the fact that they are somehow (and only in some places!!) "up front".



My two cents worth.


dress code for the music team - flaglady - 02-08-2007

You're right on the spot, Dean. I think the garment to which you refer is are culottes.






dress code for the music team - DeanZF - 02-09-2007

Yes, that's one name.



When I was a kid, some of the gals called them "skorts", but I think those were shorter.



I think that another name is something like palazzo pants. Not sure of name or spelling. Saw them with a dressy blouse and thought them rather elegant and special. But, what does a guy know? They're probably "out" now.


dress code for the music team - flaglady - 02-09-2007

Just a tad!



(Like the idea of 'skorts'!!)


dress code for the music team - sonworshiper - 02-09-2007

I'm still a "jeans only" kind of woman. Smile But it goes well with a church that meets in a bar. Wink



Blessings!

Moe.

:crooner: