What do your teen boys wear to church?

[DawnM]

Just curious.

 

We don't dress up at all.  My boys don't really have decent clothing for church, but I would like to get them something nicer.

 

Right now I do insist they wear polo shirts/collared shirts, but they don't have nice pants (wear jeans) and don't have decent shoes (wear sneakers or crocs!)

 

We don't like to spend a lot on clothing, but I really think they need something nicer.

[milovany]

If not serving in the altar, khaki type pants with a nice button down or pullover shirt.  Shoes that are dressier than their everyday sneakers.  Our oldest has been wearing nice black jeans with solid black shoes, which is okay; neither are grungy at all. 

[PrincessMommy]

how about khaki's from Dockers?  There are lots of nicer shoes that aren't dress shoes but also aren't sneakers.  Check out Kohls

 

 

 

 

[Lawana]

Polo or button up short, khakis, dress shoes. Ds's feet haven't grown in a year, so that helps in the shoe dept. Some other teens wear jeans and athletic shoes, others dress a bit nicer. The girls always seem to be dressed better than the guys.

[Another Lynn]

Khakis, polo style shirt, tennis shoes.

[MysteryJen]

At this point, I am just glad they are going to church with us. Ds1 has nice clothes, but does not wear them to church. Ds2 wears khakis from Old Navy and a polo shirt, but just tennis shoes.

 

We had to let go of requiring church clothes in return for coming with a willing heart.

[DianeW88]

White shirt and tie, dress pants, dress shoes.  We are not a casually dressed church for Sunday services.

[Ripley]

Khaki pants, short-sleeve tucked-in button down shirt, and belt. He has one black and one brown pair of dress shoes, but if he's not serving he prefers to wear Docs.

 

If he's serving he'll wear a suit and tie. He's always the most over-dressed in that capacity, but he feels it's appropriate.

 

The church I grew up in is way more formal than the one near us now, so for years he wore suit and tie. This is as casual as he and I both feel are appropriate, but my parish has a very, very lax view on this. My childhood church has a posted dress code, not unlike the Vatican's. This is our "when in Rome" compromise as best we can meet it considering my childhood baggage and beliefs. LOL

 

There are two camps of teens here. One is my son's camp, wearing khakis and s/s button-down or polo shirts. The second is usually (nicer) jeans, sneakers, and an un-tucked polo or designer tee-shirt.

 

[Susie in SWVA]

Khakis, a dress shirt (not white) and sometimes a sweater.

[mumto2]

Normally khaki trousers, polo/dress shirt, and new tennis shoes. He wears the next pair to church until wears out old. He does own a suit which he wears to special services but only because it was literally waiting for me to find on the super discounted rack. Being tall and skinny occasionally has advantages. He has black tennis shoes for suit.

[Scarlett]

Suit and tie and dress shoes.  Since he was 18 months old.  Every single time. He is in a man's size suit now thankfully....very difficult to find boy's suits without paying a fortune for them. 

[DawnM]

I think they would much prefer nice black jeans and some black shoes to wearing khakis.

 

I will have to see what I can find.

 

Oldest is quite slim and can be sized easily.  Middle and younger are larger sized and need/prefer the stretch kind of jeans with lycra in them.  Thankfully those are popular now.

 

Dawn

 

 

If not serving in the altar, khaki type pants with a nice button down or pullover shirt.  Shoes that are dressier than their everyday sneakers.  Our oldest has been wearing nice black jeans with solid black shoes, which is okay; neither are grungy at all. 

 

[Jennifer in MI]

We're in the suit and tie camp.

 

But, I think you can do nicer clothing pretty cheap.  Khakis are cheap at Target.  Pair that with a collared shirt tucked in with a belt.  Easy peasy!!

[dirty ethel rackham]

At our church, some masses are more formal than others.  While my boys could get away with jeans and a clean shirt and not be under-dressed compared to other teens, I have higher standards.  At the more formal masses, they wear khakis and a plain pullover shirt or button-down shirt with some casual shoes (but not sneakers.)  At the less formal masses (Saturday at 5 or the teen mass at noon), they wear nicer jeans and same kind of shirt and their gym shoes.  We save the dress pants, shirt and tie for special occasions (Christmas, Easter, funerals, weddings.) 

[Cinder]

At our church you'll see everything from suits to denim shorts. For our boys--one wears jeans and t-shirt or polo, the other wears khaki shorts (hates jeans and pants) and t-shirt or polo. Athletic shoes for both.

[Dory]

My boy isn't a teen yet, but usually the teens at our church wear either dark colored (or black) blue jeans or khaki pants. A few wear a button down dress shirt open with a t-shirt behind it. There are a couple boys who seem to like sweaters with button dress shirts underneath, a couple that often wear dress shirt and tie. Untucked button down shirts is the typical and most of them have dress shoes of some type. The clothes they wear are ones that would work for a lot of events and other than the ones with ties, they could probably even go to school wearing those clothes.

[Jan in SC]

They wear khakis, a button down shirt, navy sport coat, dress shoes, and a bow tie. Usually guys in our denomination and region don't transition to real suits until after college.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Only the over 65 age groupdresses formally. Most guys (men&boys) wear jeans with a Polo,tee or sweatshirt.

[Quiver0f10]

Jeans and a button up style shirt, left untucked or a polo, sometimes a T-shirt.

[QueenCat]

Nice jeans with polo or sweater, depending on season. If ushering or doing something from the pulpit, then they wear dockers style pants instead. If wearing dockers, then dress shoes, if not, then sneakers. It is normal to see mostly jeans in the under 25 crowd........ Most men wear dockers with polos/sweater/button down shirt. The older men (over 70ish) mostly wear suits. We are in the South.

[DawnM]

I should add that at our church we see just about everything.  It is a little more dressed up than a totally casual church.  Most adults have on khakis and a polo or button down.  Most women have nicer clothing on.

 

Older folks do dress up.

 

But there are many who are very casual as well.  My husband wears jeans and refuses to wear anything nicer.  He works with the 2 year olds during the Sunday School hour and says there is no way he is ruining his work pants.   

 

Dawn

[G5052]

Khakis and a "nice" long-sleeve shirt.  He also has a sport coat and tie that he can add to the outfit if we are going to a funeral or wedding. We live in an area of the country that is more formal though, so YMMV.

 

[Guest]

Good jeans, a nice button up shirt and "skate shoes". The shoes are suede and they keep them lookng nice. We have a pretty casual church.

[Aura]

If I let him, he'd wear sweats & tees. All the time. To any place or any event.  :glare:  But for Sunday services, I insist he wear collared shirts and slacks, with belt and dress shoes, with appropriately colored socks. Jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes are okay for Wed. as long as they are (1) clean, (2) unstained, (3) no holes or rips. I also require certain standards if he goes out w/ the family...pretty much Wed. attire.

 

But my ds requires a little....encouragement...when it comes to dressing for the occasion. He's the type to live the same outfit (sweats & his "favorite" tee) for days if I let him. I'm trying to teach him that there are different styles of dress for different occasions, and that it isn't going to kill him to wear something other than sweats.

 

Honestly, though, at our church, I don't think anyone would care. There's a pretty big variety in what the teen boys wear. So the dress requirements are solely because of our family and ds's personality.

[musicianmom]

Khakis and polos are the norm at our church for boys that age.

[redsquirrel]

Anything he wants. The kids wear whatever they would wear to school. Often they are asked to wear something they can get dirty because they will be paining or out in the garden or cooking etc.

 

Our church doesn't have many people who dress up. I wear jeans and whatever top is handy. The minister wears a tie and jacket every week, but he might be the only one.

[Tammi K]

Dress pants and collard shirt

( polo - older son, button down younger son)

[GSOchristie]

My 7 year old isn't a teen, but he also doesn't like to "dress up" at all.  He will, however, wear Levis cords in place of jeans.  I let him wear a tee shirt/thermal shirt and a button down over it.  I found these shoes which look dress-ish with the cords pulled over them, I see they have them in the bigger sizes, too.

[Susan in TN]

In general, tan pants, a button down shirt or lightweight sweater, brown casual leather shoes.

[justasque]

Dress shirt and tie, sports coat, khaki pants, dress shoes.  
The first four items are good quality, obtained second-hand.  Total cost for them, under $20 per kid.
When they were younger I purposely bought their athletic shoes in a very plain black style, which could pass for dress shoes in a pinch.
Dress clothes for younger boys are often bought new and worn once, so they are easy to find second-hand.
 

[AK_Mom4]

Flannel shirt and jeans in winter, cotton button up and jeans in summer (same as DH wears).  Tennis shoes on the feet.

 

For holidays or special occasions, they put on dress shirts, ties, slacks and dress shoes.

[bobbeym]

Our church is fairly relaxed.  Mostly everyone under 45ish wears jeans, t-shirts or casual shirts, and sneakers.  The ladies tend to dress up just a tad bit more.

[Elm in NJ]

My boys wear jeans and tees to church and everywhere else. I insist that they are decent looking though and will make them change clothes if they look scruffy.

[Jilly]

My teen son wears black jeans, a collared shirt, and his Sanuk shoes. 

 

 

[GSOchristie]

My teen son wears black jeans, a collared shirt, and his Sanuk shoes. 

 

Sanuks are another favorite of mine, they are very comfy :). 

[Scarlett]

Now I know why it is so hard to find suits for teen boys! No market for it. Lol

[mamajudy]

Shirt and tie, dress pants and shoes for Sunday morning; jean and tee shirt or khakis and polo shirt for Sunday evening, which is more casual.

[busymama7]

My boys all wear suits. LDS here and white shirts are definitely tradition/kinda expected. They will sometimes wear just khakis and a white shirt/tie especially when travelling but they prefer suits.

[gardenmom5]

minimum dark slacks, white dress shirt and tie.  they usually had suits even as teens.

[LMV]

Our teen boys have grown into dads with their own little boys.  They wear suits (or sometimes dress pants alone)/collared button up shirt/tie with dress shoes.  Their sons (who are 5-7) actually wear similar things.  My stepson's little boy has a current fascination with neck-ties (and loves real ones not the clip ons) so he always has a tie.  Our daughter in law is awesome so he often has a tie which matches his dad's and he thinks that is the coolest.