The new dress code: Injustice exposed
October 3, 2009 • Victoria Kim
Filed under Editorials
The beginning of another school year… A time of assemblies, chapels, and more than one almost mental breakdown when that horrible panicky feeling suddenly starts to well up in my chest along with the slow realization that I forgot to pack my homework for my next class and my suspiciously draconian teacher is going to eat me alive and leave my bones with the remains of Unfortunate Students Past when I arrive without my homework because I was doing my other sixty billion assignments for all my other classes. A time when all that separates me from hell’s deepest pits of agony and despair is the cushioning comfort that only a good outfit can afford. Clothes work wonders on a person’s confidence, self-image, and perceived mental health (imagine a madwoman muttering to herself in a tie-dyed shirt and go-go boots. Now imagine a madwoman talking to thin air in a crisp business suit. Who looks crazier?).
Unfortunately, such halcyon days are at an end. With the recent amendments in the dress code, boys are expected to wear collared shirts at all times and girls must wear bottoms no shorter than pointer fingertip and tops that don’t go lower than the armpit line. With the recent amendment in the dress code, the percentage of “illegal” clothing in my wardrobe has spiked. Oddly enough, the only people who have commented on my clothes are equally worried and confused students. My presence hasn’t seemed to register on the radar of the people who should be most concerned about the length of my shorts or my décolletage, probably because my clothes miss their mark by a few unnoticeable centimeters. And yet, they’re still technically illegal. Which begs the question, if they look presentable and appropriate enough to not seem to be illegal, should they be?
The intent of the dress code is to promote a more professional image among the students. A quick glance through stores known for their more mature attire such as Banana Republic or Anne Taylor will reveal that many of their tops are lower cut then the armpit level. That doesn’t make them any less appropriate, as can be evidenced by the many female teachers around campus who wear similar styles and still manage to look like professional women rather than “professional women.” As for the question of shorts, I know two friends who are polar opposites in fashion. One is among the smartest and responsible people I know. She always dresses in nice crisp clothing – and shorts. The other is always wearing long skinny jeans that obviously meet the length requirement of the dress code but that also come in a blinding array of colors. However, though the latter outfit fulfills the letter of the law, the former meets the intent.
While certain standards must be upheld to prevent students from coming to school looking like members of a certain time-honored but not quite honorable profession, the newly implemented rules do not necessarily reflect the over-all intent of the dress code. Though too deeply low cut tops and too short shorts detract from the professional and academic atmosphere, the requirements for either should not be based on the criteria that are currently being employed. Perhaps rather than one set length, a reasonable grace interval of a centimeter or two above or below the pointer finger mark or armpit line which would still be appropriate but would also give students a little more breathing space and leeway could be embraced by all.
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