# I do not understand dresscodes... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531 "2001-03-02T18:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/21 "2001-03-03T11:39:25Z")
Back in Dallas, in the 1950s, girls would have been sent home immediately if they came to high school wearing: A: Shorts B: Pants C: Tee Shirts D: Maternity Clothes—pregnant girls were NOT ALLOWED to attend public high schools. Boys had some leeway, but not much. Although it wasn’t formalized, no boy I knew would have even considered wearing shorts to school—shorts were for sissy boys, in the general view. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/22 "2001-03-03T12:07:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > **More proof that there’s nothing new under the sun: A bunch of guys in my senior high school class wore skirts one day for just these reasons. I graduated in '87.** You didn’t happen, by some strange coincidence, to have attended Manheim Township High School in SE Pennsylvania, would you? 'Cause some boys there did the same thing, same year! (I didn’t go to Twip, but it was in the newspaper…) I seem to remember that the school administration actually came to their senses a little and said that shorts and skirts were okay as long as they were no more than so-and-so far above the knee, or something. Of course, this was back in the eighties, when people still believed high school students had more rights than prisoners :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/23 "2001-03-03T13:43:00Z")
Last place I worked have no formal dress code. I generally wore jeans and T’s. I sat in a cubicle all day doing research and writing stuff up. However, when I had to do a presentation or when we had visitors, we were expected to put on a more polished appearance. I had no problem with that - much as I wouldn’t go to a wedding or funeral in cut-offs and flip-flops. There was one fellow, tho, who got his knickers in a knot because he thought we should all conform to suit-and-tie rules. He didn’t last a year - I’m assuming he went to work in a organization better suited to his fashion sense. So be it. My daughter’s school has a fairly liberal dress code - no straps narrower than 1", no extremely short shorts, no visible undergarments, no obscene/product endorsement t-shirts, no hats. Heck - she can even wear sandals… then again, it is Florida and it gets mighty hot mighty early in the year… Dunno - until people realize that certain kinds of dress are inappropriate for certain situations, dress codes will continue… such is life… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/24 "2001-03-03T14:31:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JavaMaven1 \* > \*\*(Sorry, I usually don’t pick on spelling/grammar, but the irony was just _too_ great to pass on.) > \*\* Good thing you don’t. I came across a comma fault in your first sentence, and a number of other problems thereafter. Through improper punctuation, you failed to indicate if your first sentence’s adjectival phrase is restrictive or non-restrictive, and in punctuating it as you did, made your sentence look as if the adjectival phrase is preceeded by an adverbial phrase, which it is not. Shall we go into the other writing errors of your post? Or should we recognize that both you and Evnglion have written readable posts, and get back to the dispute over dress codes? As you say, “The irony was just _too_ great to pass on.” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/25 "2001-03-03T14:43:04Z")
And on the subject of irony and dress codes . . . . One school at which I attended had a dress code for everything, including swimming. It also had a problem with musty swim suits (this was back in the cotton days). The solution was found through the dress code. You guessed it. No bathing costumes allowed. Nada. Zippola. So now when kids complain about having to wear geeky outfits due to a dress code, I can reply, “At least you have clothes. Back in my day they they kept us naked. You kids have it easy today.” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/26 "2001-03-03T14:48:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muffin \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by JavaMaven1 \* > > \*\*(Sorry, I usually don’t pick on spelling/grammar, but the irony was just _too_ great to pass on.) > > \*\* > > Good thing you don’t. I came across a comma fault in your first sentence, and a number of other problems thereafter.\*\* Whose law is this, again? ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/27 "2001-03-03T15:07:12Z")
I think dress codes are nobig deal…then again I think uniforms are a great idea, and I would have thought so in high school as well. See, I didn’t get to wear trendy clothes, and I didn’t know how to keep up with fashion, and I was taunted mercilessly for my stupid clothes. I would have LOVED to have had a uniform to put on, so I wouldn’t have to worry about whether it was Jordache or Gloria Venderbilt this year, or whether I was still “allowed” to wear the grey angora sweater, or whether Adidas were very uncool (1982) or very cool (1985). As far as the “kids need to have the ability to express themselves!” argument…what, the only way they can do that is through the way they dress? There’s no other way to be creative in school? I’m not saying, “put them in uniforms so you can stifle their creativity!” I’m saying “put them in uniforms so the kids who have more important things to worry about than Prada and Versace don’t have YET ANOTHER THING the other kids can tease them about.” ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/28 "2001-03-03T15:25:31Z")
I went to school in a farming community in southern Iowa in the 70’s, and we had a BIG problem with hats. On one side, you had the green hatted John Deere posse, and on the other, the red hatted Massey Ferguson crew. They really hated each other. We even had a couple of drive-by plowings. Me and a couple others were proto-goths with our black Case hats and hair long enough to reach our collars. Don’t get me started on the FFA - 4H rivalry, the memories are too painful. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/29 "2001-03-03T15:37:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Muffin \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by JavaMaven1 \* > > > \*\*(Sorry, I usually don’t pick on spelling/grammar, but the irony was just _too_ great to pass on.) > > > \*\* > > > > Good thing you don’t. I came across a comma fault in your first sentence, and a number of other problems thereafter.\*\* > > Whose law is this, again? \*\* Not the PQ’s. They regulate diction, but not syntax. Seriously, though, I think you have hit the nail on the head, for both pedantic enforcement of standard usage conventions and enforcement of arbitrary dress codes come down to power positioning. Now maybe the Taliban is onto something with their debilitating dress code for women, but somehow I don’t think so. By comparision, school dress codes are a joke, but the underlying power mechanics remain. School dress codes are used to keep kids in their place. I don’t think that is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/30 "2001-03-03T15:48:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > **See, I didn’t get to wear trendy clothes, and I didn’t know how to keep up with fashion, and I was taunted mercilessly for my stupid clothes.** In my opinion, you have set forward one of the few valid reasons for dress codes. I would suggest, however, that a dress code still would not prevent the taunting. I have attended many schools, including one where many of the children came from very wealthy families, and another where uniforms were required. The level of taunting was not different. At the one, the taunting was over the style of the car one drove. At the other, the taunting was over the style of one’s pens. The items being held out were different, but the taunting was the same. I think that kferr’s satire is bang on target. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/31 "2001-03-03T16:16:46Z")
When I was in high school, we didn’t have a dress code _per se._\* What we did have, though, was teachers and administrators who were allowed to exercise their own judgement and common sense, and encouraged the students to do the same. Even though it wasn’t all that long ago that I was in high school (I graduated in 1985), things have changed dramatically. I understand the need for tighter restrictions, and in most cases I agree with them. I also live in a different city, with a high crime rate and a lot of gang activity. A lot of the schools here have gone so far as to give up on enforcing a dress code, and just switched to uniforms. I don’t think that enforcing a dress code in school stifles a child’s freedom of expression. Most schools still have adequate outlets for expression, such as arts and sports. And then, at the end of the school day, they can go home and change clothes, into something that their _parents_ will absolutely hate. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/32 "2001-03-03T16:17:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robgruver \* > When I was in High School (waaaaaaaay back in the 90’s) my school started the no short skirt crap for girls. The next day I wore my kilt to school all the while carrying around a copy of the Memo that was sent out about skirts. Was told by every teacher and admin that I passed to go to the office and all the while I held up the memo with the word “GIRLS” highlighted brightly. > > Made it through the whole day too. The next day, it was amended to “Boys and Girls will not wear short skirts.” 🙂 > > I rule. > > As for the OP: With apologies to George Carlin: “Dress codes are a great idea! I remember seeing films from the 30’s with all students in the same clothes. Of course it was hard to understand as it was all in _GERMAN_. What the fuck is wrong with the American Education system? First we make these kids think alike and now they have to look alike?” \*\* Rob, you are my hero. One of the reasons my high school ROTC retired the women’s uniform in favor of the standard Army green trousers was because the skirts did not conform to school dress codes. (That and no one wanted to look like a Catholic schoolgirl.) Robin ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/33 "2001-03-03T16:18:14Z")
Oy vey. Sorry about that coding, there. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/34 "2001-03-03T16:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by waterj2 \* > \*\*Personally, I’d actually like a job where I’d have to dress in a nice suit every day. Somewhere where “casual Friday” would mean I could get away with a nice blazer. I like wearing nice clothes, and the number of jobs where it’s important to look good is dwindling. Maybe I could go to law school. Lawyers still dress up, right? \*\* In some courts we do. The reason is that if we all dress the same, then the judge will focus on the arguments we put forth rather than our attire. The best argument should win, not the best suit. Thus you end up wandering about in a dinner jacket and bat cape with your designated superpower being the ability to fade into the woodwork. I think that legal attire is the exception in the dress code world. Most uniforms and dress codes are pretty cheesy. For every lawyer all dolled up in robes, there are hundreds of fast food employees wearing dork-o-rama uniforms. I have yet to see a person in a resplendent kilt and regalia serving at McDonalds. I don’t think that uniforms, or even dress codes, necessarily equate with dressing well. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/35 "2001-03-03T16:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Muffin \* > I think that legal attire is the exception in the dress code world. Most uniforms and dress codes are pretty cheesy. For every lawyer all dolled up in robes, there are hundreds of fast food employees wearing dork-o-rama uniforms. I have yet to see a person in a resplendent kilt and regalia serving at McDonalds. I don’t think that uniforms, or even dress codes, necessarily equate with dressing well._\* I work in retail and I actually like the “uniform” we have to wear. It’s a polo shirt (green or oatmeal) with a Snoopy-and-Woodstock insignia on the left breast, with or without a sweatshirt with the same insignia, a pair of jeans, socks, running shoes and maybe a hat. When I leave I’m keeping the shirts. (and FTR there is nothing on the shirts with the company name on it. I’ve had customers ask where they can get the same shirts.) Robin ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/36 "2001-03-03T17:42:55Z")
JavaMaven: Tits. Not testes. Got it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/37 "2001-03-03T18:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*testes. \*\* Do you have to stay up all night to study for them? ---
**Author:** ![nikjohns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/53a042/32.png) [@nikjohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikjohns)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/38 "2001-03-03T18:35:50Z")
_note to self: check if there is a rule stating boys must wear boys uniform and vice versa_ Our school is really taking the piss with uniform. Through the whole school, there is a set uniform. Standard trousers,white shirt, blazer etc. Girls can wear a tie if they want (for boys this is compulsory), and can wear trousers instead of a skirt (boys cannot wear shorts). Girls can undo their top shirt button if they want (guess what? Boys can’t) And in the 6th form (kinda the end of school, for 16-18 year olds) there is a “dress code”. Boys can wear any colour shirt, and any colour tie. And “smart, work” trousers. Girls can wear - almost - anything. Crop tops. Skirts. Trousers. (not jeans for anyone). No tie. A regular jumper. The only reason girls can wear trousers at all are: 1. There were a **lot** of complaints in the local press, and also girls from other schools took their schools to court over sexual discrimination. 2. There is a big inspection coming up in the school, and they don’t want to look bad for that. (big rant coming up on _that_ soon. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/39 "2001-03-03T20:20:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Muffin said: > School dress codes are used to keep kids in their place. I don’t think that is a good thing. What? Teachers are paid crap money for being glorified babysitters…they have the administration pulling on them from one side, parents pulling on them from another side, and they’re supposed to get these kids who don’t want to be there in the first place to learn to read and write while they’re at it…and you don’t think helping keep kids in their place is a GOOD thing? If putting kids in uniforms so that they concentrate less on what everyone is wearing and more on what they’re supposed to be LEARNING help, more power to 'em. It is my personal opinion that people who think kids should be allowed to wear anything they want and/or do anything they want either hasn’t been parent to a teenager, or hasn’t been in a school lately. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531/40 "2001-03-03T21:36:58Z")
Yo homey, what’s with rules in school duuuude? Dress codes are like so totally lame! I want to wear baggy crap that is 10 sizes too big so my underwear shows!! I want to wear a bikini!! I want to wear a hat all day long in class!! I refuse to wear a tie!! I want to wear shorts!! I want to wear a t-shirt with a pot leaf on it!! I want to wear roller blades all day!! When I’m not wearing a hat, I want to sport these bitchin obscene words the barber cut into my blue hair!! These are my rights dammit! Why the hell won’t anyone treat me like a freaking adult?! \ Sorry 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-understand-dresscodes/56531.md?page=3)