Why you should buy missionary clothes (BEFORE your call arrives)

Yes, that's what I said - you should start shopping for clothes BEFORE your call arrives!

I frequently hear of young adults who receive their LDS mission calls and then make a day of purchasing everything that they need in one big shopping trip. A parent's description of trying to get everything purchased in one day (or even a whole weekend) usually include words like, "exhausting" "frustrating" and "very expensive." A mass-purchase outing is definitely one way to approach the situation, but I recommend that you plan ahead and make various carefully planned purchases over time.

While there may be some situations where it is easier/cheaper to make certain purchases all in the same store on the same day (such as Elders who can get a discount for making multiple suit purchases in the same store), for Sisters especially it is smarter to make your mission clothing purchases over time. Most of these tips will be mainly for Sisters because of the nature of their clothing options, but some of these same principles can apply to Elders as well.

For Sisters, there are 5 MAJOR benefits to planning ahead and purchasing clothing items over time:
#1- having a plan will increase the number of outfits you can make
#2- you'll save a lot of money by shopping sales 
#3- you'll avoid panic/impulse purchases
#4- you'll be able to try clothing items out in real life, so you will know they will work before you pack!
#5 - you can spread your purchases out over time

The amount of time that you have will vary. Maybe you just recently decided to serve a mission and haven't had much time to prepare before submitting your papers? Maybe your papers are already submitted and you're just waiting for that envelope? It's ok - you can apply this principle to any amount of time you have left... (even if your mission call has already arrived, you can still plan and  make your purchases over time!)

My daughter (18) has known that she wanted to serve a mission for a long time. We've started planning ahead already, although she won't be able to actually submit her mission papers for several months.

So, is it really such a good idea to start purchasing missionary clothing before the actual mission call arrives? YES! If you're worried about how you will know what to buy without knowing where you're going, don't worry, I will cover that too!

Keep reading for a better explanation of all 5 reasons why planning ahead and buying ahead will make things easier and cheaper for you....

#1- MAXIMIZING OUTFITS (increase the number of outfits you can make)

When I was a called as a full-time missionary (in the 90's), I just threw some of my better church clothes in a suitcase and got on the plane. There wasn't much planning at all. Most of my tops/sweaters "went" with only one (or maybe 2) skirts. I cannot stress how soon you will get tired of wearing the same exact 7-8 outfits every single week. Imagine having to wear the same 2 outfits to school every day for a month and you will sort of get the idea.

The idea of a "capsule wardrobe" has become popular in recent years (just type in capsule wardrobe on Pinterest, you'll see thousands of examples) - basically, instead of having a bunch of random clothing items that don't go with anything (or that only go with one particular thing), you plan out a wardrobe with classic, basic items (and a few items with flair for personalization) that all go together, so you can easily create a bunch of different looks without being overwhelmed by things that won't coordinate with each other.

I've read several blogs that suggested maximizing your missionary wardrobe potential by having ALL printed skirts and ALL solid shirts (all/most of which coordinate together). The idea with that is to have the most possible outfits because everything would go with everything else. You could create an even more basic capsule style wardrobe by choosing all solid-color items, but most people will want so print for a less "blah" look. In some cases, you can mix prints with other prints, but not always, so if you are trying to go for maximum # of possible outfits, a "I'm only buying printed skirts and solid shirts" policy could definitely help. I mentioned this concept to my daughter and she liked the idea, but wanted to go the opposite way - all solid SKIRTS and all printed SHIRTS. I'm sure she'll probably have some solid color shirts in there as well... the idea is the same, though. If you bring 5 flowered skirts and 4 solid skirts, and half of your shirts are also flowered print, you are really limiting your outfit options. Maximizing the total number of outfit combinations is the ideal!

This graphic shows how a few items of basic clothing can be worn together in different ways to make a lot of different looks:

Here is an example (from SisterMissionaryMall.org) of how you can create many outfits from coordinating pieces

#2- IF YOU START SHOPPING AHEAD, YOU CAN SHOP DURING SALES 
If you wait until right before you leave to purchase your clothing, you will have no choice but to pay whatever price they are asking. If you have some time before you leave (or if you are planning to go on a mission but haven't submitted your papers yet), you can take advantage of seasonal sales. For example, after Christmas, a lot of websites have cyber-week sales and we were able to find some of the staple items that my daughter wanted for her mission (for cheaper than it would have been if we had waited). For example, she bought several layering-tees for $5 each (regular price $11.99) and 2 mission-appropriate dresses for $10 each (marked down because they were out of season). Look for sales at the end of each season - longer skirts, boots, winter accessories, sweaters, coats, etc are often marked way down (online and in stores) in the middle of winter because they need to make room for summer times. The same thing happens throughout the year- items from the previous season cost less. There is nothing wrong with these items, they're just lower priced because of the time of year. You can also find just about anything you want (like a long wool skirt) at any time of year on websites like Ebay and Amazon, but prices will probably be better off-season.

#3- AVOID IMPULSE/PANIC PURCHASES BECAUSE YOU'VE MADE A PLAN
Here is what my daughter is like at a clothing store: (walks in to buy jeans) "Ooooh! Look at that polka dot dress!...I NEED this purple coat!..." etc. Many times she's come home with a skirt or shoes that doesn't go with anything she owns. Without a plan, you are going to inevitably end up with items that won't work well for maximizing your wardrobe OR that you just don't like that much.

You'll also want to avoid items that are TOO faddish. Stylish and modern is ok - but if something is probably a fad (i.e., going out of style soon and will look really "dated" next year) that is going to really be a problem. For example, you might really like choker style necklaces, but those might be "out" by next season, and you'll still be stuck wearing them for the next 18 months because you brought 20 of them with you.

If you try to buy everything for your mission in one day/weekend, you are going to have to buy what they're selling. Maybe you hate the color mustard yellow, but 75% of the clothes in the store you're at are mustard because thats the hot color this season? Or maybe you really want a black pencil skirt and all you can find in black are a-line? These scenarios are very real, so this should give you some incentive to plan ahead.

You probably spent months (or longer) planning for big events like Prom and you'll probably spend just as long planning your wedding. Spend a little time on your mission wardrobe. You'll have to wear it for more than just one day, so the time investment is worth it.

You'll definitely want to make a plan - and write it down. You'll need a lot of items - shoes, exercise clothes, pajamas, slips, etc - but I will focus mainly on skirts, shirts, and dresses here. The call packet suggests 6-8 outfits...meaning enough skirts, shirts, and dresses to line up and make at least 6-8 outfits at once. (Some people suggest having more clothes than what is recommended (for example this blog suggests 10 skirts, 8 shirts, and 3-4 dresses, etc), but I think you will have a hard time fitting all of that in your luggage, especially if you need thicker items like sweaters and boots.

Of course, if you have planned ahead with coordinating clothing items, you will be able to make a lot more than 6-8 outfits using those items, but the 6-8 outfits is a guideline of how many clothes you will need to bring to use if you had to make outfits without mixing them together. This will be something like 7 skirts, 6 shirts, and 1 dress. Or maybe 5 skirts, 8 shirts, and 3 dresses. Any combination is okay, just make sure you have enough pieces to wear throughout the week without being able to do laundry.

Once you decide how much you want to bring, you need to get a little more specific with color and style. For example, if you want to bring 5 skirts, you might plan out what kind of skirts you want...by color, by style, etc. You might decide that you want 1 black skirt, 1 brown skirt, 2 blue skirts (one navy, one bright blue), and 1 red skirt. You might note that you want to have several pencil skirts, one maxi-skirt, but mostly midi-length a-line skirts. Or maybe you don't like maxi-skirts and you would prefer to have more pencil skirts...Your plan will be different than another future missionary's plan.

The Missionary Mall has an article about how to plan out your missionary wardrobe using this printable:

Not sure what types of clothing to bring, or what is acceptable for missionaries to wear? The Church has a great website Missionary.lds.org that shows suggested types of clothing for missionaries (click at the top of the page for separate sections for jackets, blouses, skirts, shoes, etc), as well as suggested hairstyles, makeup, etc. There is also a section for FAQ that will probably answer lot of your questions about clothing as well. 

#4- IF YOU BUY AHEAD, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TRY OUT CLOTHES IN REAL LIFE BEFORE YOU LEAVE
If you buy a skirt or dress during weeks/months before you leave for the MTC, you will be able to try to out - wear it church to see how you like it! Will you be okay with wearing this item for the next 18 months? This is especially important if you buy items online, because you won't know how they really look/fit/hold-up in the wash until they arrive. A skirt might ride up when you walk, or a shirt might be too sheer. It might fall apart the first time you wash it. You will want to know this information now - NOT on laundry day in the MTC!

#5- PLANNING & BUYING AHEAD ALLOWS TO TIME SPREAD OUT PURCHASES
If you wait until the last minute and do an all in one shopping extravaganza, you will need to have all of that cash on hand. It's a lot of money to put out at once, especially since you will have a lot of other expenses (including the actual cost of your mission) to worry about. If you plan to purchase specific items over time (say, one item a month, or 2 items a pay period), it won't be such a drastic blow to your wallet all at once...

BUT OVERZEALOUS MISSIONARY MOM, HOW CAN I POSSIBLY BUY CLOTHES FOR MY MISSION WHEN I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WILL BE CALLED?

Great question! When it comes to what you'll wear in different missions, there is a big difference between Madagascar and Russia. Different clothes are appropriate for different climates and seasons. I recently read a blog post in which the blogger describes how they couldn't wear certain types of fabric or dark colors (no matter what time of year) because it was so humid. In my mission (Minnesota) we needed full-length down coats and snow boots for daily wear in winter, but it was sometimes over 100 degrees in the summer, so we actually needed a wide range of types of clothes. 

Many times you see people advising that you wait until you know where you will be serving, and that is smart - you don't want to waste your time/money purchasing a perfect wool coat and realize later that you will be serving in Hawaii. 

Check out any missionary clothing blog or Pinterest post about mission clothes and you'll notice that there are a lot of similar items for Sisters, no matter where the missionary is serving. For these basic items (skirts, blouses, shoes), they are the same types of clothes worn by Sister Missionaries in 95% of missions. Of course in colder missions, rainy missions, humid missions, etc you may need additional specific items, and you do take the risk that some of your generic "no matter where you serve basics" items (like a black knit skirt if you are serving somewhere scorching hot) might not work. But in general, you should be able to purchase basics. But try to stick to the very basics that would work in most (or any) mission. You may really love cardigan sweaters, but put off buying weather-specific things like that until you know for sure if you will need them.

Here is a general timeline for purchasing mission clothes (and other missionary items):

See my next blog post - "How Exactly Do I Plan Out Purchasing My Mission Clothes Before My Call Arrives?" for SPECIFICS on how to plan out what and when to pre-purchase clothes for your mission