The nearly naked truth about fashion

”I think the dress code is like the speed limit,” says junior Abby Celotto while sitting outside during lunch. Both on the highways and in the hallways, she believes, standards are stricter than necessary. ”They put it lower because they know people are going to go against it,” she says.

If the dress code is like the speed limit, many Blazers, particularly girls, are willing to get a ticket. With Britney Spears and Lil' Kim leading the fashion trends, waistlines are slipping down, skirts and shirts are inching up and administrators are taking action as new styles continue to push the limits of propriety.

The school dress code outlaws midriff shirts, see-through clothes, spaghetti-strap tank tops and other revealing articles of clothing. However, an informal poll of 100 female Blair students on Sept 16 shows that 66 percent of girls come to school wearing clothing that they know violates the dress code.

Dressed to impress

Some students say they ignore the dress code because they do not believe the administration should be able to dictate what they wear. ”I think the dress code affects someone's individuality,” says junior Lorpu Kpadeh, who once got in trouble for wearing a sleeveless undershirt as a spirit statement for the girls' soccer team.

Sophomore Sarah Jilao also had a security guard tell her that she was showing too much skin. She was not pleased. ”It wasn't like anything bad was going to happen to me just because I was showing a little bit of cleavage,” she says.

Deji Dawodu, the assistant manager of Express, a women's clothing store catering to young adults, also defends current styles. He believes that dress codes fly in the face of fashion. ”Every kid wants to be up-to-date,” he says. ”A lot of the stuff that's objectionable [in schools] is the norm.”

Nevertheless, Dawodu admits that popular styles can be distracting. ”Bikini low-rise jeans, see-through shirts—it causes drama. You see a girl with some tight jeans on that are low-rise,” he says with a suggestive whistle, ”and you're not going to be concentrating on your work; you're going to be looking at her.”

Climate control

Assistant Principal Patricia Hurley says she understands that girls are only wearing what is fashionable. ”People want to come to school looking attractive,” she says. But she stresses that ”club clothes” are not appropriate for a school setting. ”If I was a young man and I was sitting in class where the girl next to me has a very low-cut top on, it [would be] hard to focus on the teacher,” she says. ”That's just human.”

Family psychologist Jane Jacobs explains that dress codes alleviate tension between students and administrators. ”A lot of people are made uncomfortable by public display of sexuality,” says Jacobs. ”The purpose of school is to learn, and if guys are looking at girls who look sexy and if girls are looking to see if guys are looking at them, it'll be harder to learn.”

Security guard Harry Wacke, who often asks female students to add layers to their outfits, feels that the dress code cuts down on sexual harassment. ”Certain clothing is going to bring out certain comments,” Wacke explains. ”If the comments are unwarranted, the girls are going to get upset. That's when we have a problem.”

Catch-22

Some teachers find the dress code difficult to enforce. Math teacher Stephen Foster, along with other male teachers, says he doesn't obey the rule requiring him to send inappropriately dressed students to the office because he fears being accused of sexual harassment.

”Years ago, I sent a female student to the office because guys were looking at her breasts,” says Foster. ”The next day I was in the assistant principal's office with her mom, who was irate. I felt like I was in a Catch-22.” Foster says that he doesn't believe he has sent a student to the office for a dress code violation since.

Pete Barrow, also a math teacher, says he doesn't find it necessary to enforce the dress code. ”If I did see something that was really over the line, I would probably pretend I hadn't,” says Barrow. ”Isn't that good manners?” Barrow feels that the dress code abridges students' rights as Americans. ”Isn't that what this country is about—the freedom to have your boobs hanging out of your shirt?” he asks.

Junior Sanaa Elbalghiti supports Blair's dress code. She laughs as she says, ”Boys already have trouble acting decently, and the less clothes we put on, the harder it is on them.”