So …. Freckles goes back to school this week.

New subjects, same friends, and the same dress code.

As I look through my closet to see which tops are OK, which ones need a 2nd shirt on top, which shorts and skirts are long enough, I find myself thinking about dress codes.  I understand why the schools want to keep gang attire out and why they want us to dress in a way that we don’t distract each other, but then I look at the outside world.  Do you know that people who work for the US Congress can dress in shirts that would be banned at my school?  Really!  ABC News is reporting it at: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2247649


%
3Cbr />Chech that out!  Check out the tears and the spaghetti straps.  Now either the standards at my school are way off or the standards of Congress are!

Different schools and districts seem to have different ideas of what is acceptible and what is not.  Some only outlaw skimpy clothes.  Others ban gang attire, and still others seem to have no rhyme or reason that I can see.  No hoodies or cargo pants in a Tennessee district.  Check out what the AP reports about Texas schools: 

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – July 11, 2006 – The Arlington school district has expanded its dress codes to include mouths – and earlobes.

Students may no longer wear mouth jewelry known as “grills” – shiny teeth caps – or the earlobe-stretching practice known as “gauging.”

“The district is having to respond to fads because they’ve become distracters or a safety hazard for those around them,” said Malcolm Turner, the district’s executive director of student services.

The nearby Irving, Grand Prair
ie and DeSoto districts also ban grills, and some also address gauging – the process of placing increasingly large items in the ears to stretch the lobes.

But students said the body modification is simply self-expression.

“Really, a grill is just like an earring. It’s fashion,” said junior Devonte Wright, 16.

But school officials said they hoped to teach students that life would require them to follow specific regulations in specific settings.

“We want to instill in them a sense of modesty and a sense of community,” said school board trustee Gloria Pena. “We’re preparing them for the work force, and in the work force there are rules.” 


If you want to spend your ENTIRE morning crosschecking your outfit with the most comprehensive list of dress code rules I could find, click here.  Other schools are very simple — they sell or give you a uniform and you wear it.

What are the rules where you study or work? So …. do you dress for success?  Do you show skin in the hopes of getting a better job?  Do you dress for you?  For your friends?  For your boss?  For the person you want to attract?  Do we even know any more what kinds of clothes are appropriate for different places?  Are there even different types?

Click on DRESS CODES in the title if you’d like to comment.

—-Freckles