dress and grooming standards

The church has strict rules for dress and grooming in many cases like for missionaries and young women, and strong preferences in others, like for bishops and lay members. The temple garments force members to avoid things like tank tops and short shorts. The church also strongly discourages things like facial hair and beards or even long hair for men. Leaders seem to forget that many early church leaders did not comply with the strict rules of today. Jesus himself wore long hair and a beard, as well as dressed consistent with his times (as far as we know). These complaints are dismissed as against a policy rather than doctrine, but there is no church leader or missionary who is allowed to wear a beard or stray from the approved corporate American look. Many members struggle with this requirement to look so corporate, what is the big deal and why does it matter?

Profiles with dress and grooming standards on their "shelf":