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<\/a>Me, my cousins and best friend in our ’60’s garb<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n In 1964, the night before my first day of high school<\/strong>, I spent hours agonizing over what I was going to wear on that inaugural day.\u00a0 Back then we strived to look like the impossibly perfect girls we saw in Seventeen Magazine<\/em>.\u00a0 So when I realized I didn’t have a purse to match my shoes I went into panic mode.\u00a0 Yes, it was that<\/em> important. \u00a0 Luckily, my cousin who lived around the corner came to the rescue and I was saved from the humiliation<\/strong> of mis-matched shoes and purse.\u00a0 We lived with pretty strict rules back then.\u00a0 Girls could not wear pants to school, not even culottes (I know because I was almost sent home one day for wearing them), and jeans were totally out of the question. Skirts could be no more than one inch above our knees<\/strong>.\u00a0 Sleeveless dresses were about as risqu\u00e9 as it got.\u00a0 Looking back, we were so covered up most of the year that we came darn close to resembling\u00a0Mennonites.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The epitome of ’60’s cool<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Towards the end of my high school career the “mod” era of fashion<\/strong> changed a lot of what was acceptable – or not – at our school.\u00a0 Skirts inched up and up until it became dangerous to bend over.\u00a0 Jeans, as long as they were clean, were allowed for boys.\u00a0 Fabrics were brighter, white boots were the epitome of high style<\/strong> and hair grew longer on both sexes, although boys were still not allowed any sort of facial hair.\u00a0 Still, with all the changes, there remained a norm of looking nice to go to school.\u00a0 Over the years, of course, dress codes at schools have become looser and looser, almost to the point of seemingly having none at all.<\/strong>\u00a0 Baggy pants with underwear showing, micro shorts, bare bellies – they’ve all become \u00a0de rigueur<\/em> at our local high school.\u00a0 Dress codes have been in the news a lot since school started up again this year.\u00a0 Some principals are cracking down<\/strong> on sloppy and “barely there” attire, while others are going in the other direction – let the kids wear whatever they like.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Would you hire these butts?<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n It was with this in mind that I read with interest in USA Today that one high school district in the Bay Area is doing away with dress codes<\/strong> and have replaced them with general guidelines. \u00a0 Here’s what is listed as what students MUST WEAR:\u00a0 bottoms, tops, shoes, clothing that covers genitals, buttocks and nipples.\u00a0 Seems like that’s a mighty low bar<\/strong>.\u00a0 The policy goes on to say that they CAN wear midriff-baring shirts, pajamas and tube tops.\u00a0 The only items forbidden are those that contain hate speech, profanity, pornography, etc.\u00a0 The intent of the policy is to prevent shaming, specifically for girls.\u00a0 In fact, the school district has said they reject the notion that bodies are distracting<\/strong> and therefore must be monitored and covered up.\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 They work all day around teenagers with raging hormones and they don’t think bodies are distracting?<\/p>\n I’m not suggesting we go back to the early ’60’s but I’m sure there is a middle ground<\/strong> to be reached.\u00a0 Clothes can take on way more importance than they warrant at that age so relaxing standards a bit seems logical.\u00a0 But I will say this:\u00a0 as a former HR executive I can attest that appearances do matter<\/strong>.\u00a0 Teaching our kids that they can wear whatever they want, whenever they want, does them a disservice.\u00a0 Even at the high tech companies there are standards – no pajamas, for example.\u00a0 The real world<\/strong> requires some amount of “dressing for the occasion” and, further, there are studies that show there is merit to the “dress for success” mantra.\u00a0 Unless a kid’s ultimate career involves working in their parents’ basement, in which case all they’ll need is their pajamas and fuzzy slippers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson In 1964, the night before my first day of high school, I spent hours agonizing over what I was going to wear on that inaugural day.\u00a0 Back then we strived to look like the impossibly perfect … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/60s-150x300.jpg\")
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