They (women) should not wear trousers, see-through dresses, or clothes that expose the breasts and show too much skin. Tight garments must also be avoided," the guidelines said. Wearing a traditional Mizo 'puan' (a piece of cloth women wrap around their waists reaching their ankles) are termed "respectable" and encouraged by the church.
The men, meanwhile, must wear clean shoes and respectable suits to maintain the sanctity of the church, the SEC said. The committee also encouraged use of cosmetics for women, but advised that they should not go over the top with make-up as and also said that wedding dress for the bride should be beautiful and respectable.
The Presbyterian Church's decision to issue a dress code did not come out of the blue as the strictly patriarchal Mizo society has always frowned upon dresses that could be termed as 'indecent'.
Though Mizo society has been regarded as free, debates on dress code for women have been alive all these years with some people even suggesting that incidents of rape have increased due to indecent dressing.
Former chief minister Laldenga once told government employees in 1987 that though law-enforcement officials would not tolerate "indecent exposure" as described in the IPC, no one should impose a dress code for women.
Recently, after pressure from student bodies, the state education department issued a dress code for students, which says that the skirts should not be above the knees. Some Church-goers have lamented that Sunday wear have become extremely expensive and that the aisles of the houses of worship have become almost like red carpets for fashion shows.
Not only the church, society-based organizations like the Young Mizo Association (YMA) have expressed strong dislike for girls who attend funeral services wearing tights though no diktats have been issued.
Many YMA branches have made appeals to girls to wear traditional Mizo "puan" on a particular day in a week, which augured well with state art and culture minister P C Zoramsangliana, who also appealed to all colleges to fix a day in a week when students would wear the "puan".