dresscoderesearch-blog

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weekly process

[dresscoderesearch-blog]

Mini shorts vision board

[dresscoderesearch-blog]

Ethnographic Research

Q:How have school dress codes affected you or others around you? 

A 1: Even though our school had a dress code, no one really got dress coded and everyone went against it. My friend went to a school in an area where there was a lot of gang activity, so the students there were even banned from wearing certain colors that could have been affiliated with gangs. One student even got jumped after school for wearing purple. 

A 2: Our school only introduced a dress code in eighth grade, which felt like a weird shift and was definitely hard to adjust to. I realized I could not wear any of my shirts to school based on these rules and had to go shopping for new ones. However, I realized that at the stores I usually like shopping at, there were not really options that worked with our dress code either. 

Q: Do you think school dress codes are necessary/helpful? 

A 1: In the case of student safety, dress codes could be relevant, such as in the case of gang affiliation. Dress codes, or uniforms could also be a solution to issues such as bullying. Sometimes students will get bullied for appear to be of a lower class if they are not wearing “trendy” or fancy clothing. However, outside of those cases I don’t really see why it’s necessary. 

A2: Our dress code generally made me feel very uncomfortable. I could tell that teachers were looking at me for long amounts of time trying to calculate the exact length of my clothing with their eyes. I also found it distracting when teachers would approach me during a lesson to discuss my choice of clothes while I was trying to work. We were often told that if we dressed more modestly it would stop male students from getting “distracted”, but it seemed as if teachers were the ones who were more bothered by our clothing choices. 

Q: Do you feel that dress codes target women? 

A 1: Definitely. Our dress code mostly banned spaghetti straps, crop tops, and shirts, which are mostly seen on teen girls. In general there are also more rules regarding women’s clothing. 

A2: Yes! The girls’ choices of clothing were a constant topic of conversation at school. During the summer, even if boys were wearing very similar clothing, such as tank tops, only female students would be targeted by teachers. 

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The first recorded use of standardized dress in education was most likely in England in 1222, when the Archbishop of Canterbury mandated that students wear a robe-like outfit called the “cappa clausa.” As time progressed, uniforms adapted, but still seemed to be a symbol of the upper class. At one of England’s most prestigious schools, Eton, students were required to wear black top hats and tails on and off campus until 1972, when the dress codes began to be relaxed. School uniforms in the United States seem to follow these uniform codes established in England, although they are generally limited to private and parochial schools. School dress codes, while allowing for more variety, evoke similar ideas of mandated clothing, possibly to associate themselves with being upper class and “respectable”.

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Dress codes can be seen in various cultures throughout history. Oftentimes, they were set to establish distinction between social classes. During the medieval ages people outside of nobility were not allowed to wear jewelry or dress extravagantly in public. Even for lower classes, however, there were usually guidelines for how one should appear in public. A general theme I observed was associated with modesty. In Victorian England, for example, high necks and long sleeves were the norm.

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Sexism in School Dress Codes

About 55% of US public schools have a dress code, so it more uncommon to find schools with no restrictions ( these numbers also exclude private institutions). Sources also agree that these rules have an inherent bias against girls. According to Education Week, only 5% of clothes marketed in stores to boys were banned by dress codes, while 57% of banned clothing was marketed towards girls in stores. This way, even if students shopping in women’s aisles wanted to wear “school appropriate” clothing, their choices presented in most shops would be rather limited.