Moroni wasn't an endowed Priesthood holder...

[_jon]

'31 He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.' (Joseph Smith - History, PofGP)


From this description we can see that Moroni (or Nephi if you prefer) was not wearing his garments, why not?
In fact, from this description it is fair to say that Moroni/Nephi was immodestly dressed.

[_Joseph]

He may have been wearing them and Joseph just took 'artistic license' like all those who paint the Book of Mormon heroes and others without them.

[_Buffalo]

'31 He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.' (Joseph Smith - History, PofGP)


From this description we can see that Moroni (or Nephi if you prefer) was not wearing his garments, why not?
In fact, from this description it is fair to say that Moroni/Nephi was immodestly dressed.

Some parts of his tall tales were edited later for internal consistency. This isn't one of them.

[Guest]

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[_Buffalo]

From the following account this one was later explained away:

It was while they were living in Nauvoo that the Prophet came to my mother, who was a seamstress by trade, and told her that he had seen the Angel Moroni with the garments on, and asked her to assist in cutting out the garments. They spread unbleached muslin out on the table and he told her how to cut it out. She had to cut the third pair, however, before he said it was satisfactory. She told the prophet that there would be sufficient cloth from the knee to the ankle to make a pair of sleeves, but he told her he wanted as few seams as possible and that there would be sufficient whole cloth to cut the sleeve without piecing. The first garments were made of unbleached muslin and bound with turkey red and were without collars. Later on the prophet decided he would rather have them bound with white. Sister Emma Smith, the Prophet's wife, proposed that they have a collar on as she thought they would look more finished, but at first the prophet did not have the collars on them. After Emma Smith had made the little collars which were not visible from the outside of the dress, Sister Eliza R. Snow made a collar of fine white material which was worn on the outside of the dress. The garment was to reach to the ankle and the sleeves to the wrist. The marks were always the same."

(Diary of James T.S. Allred; Letter to Col. Williams; [Microfilm d.1021/f.92, end of roll #2 (July 10, 1844)] LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City).

You have to love the shamelessness of Joseph's tall tales. I wonder if he wasn't a little mentally ill.