{"id":36053,"date":"2018-08-28T11:33:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-28T15:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=36053"},"modified":"2023-08-02T14:17:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T18:17:37","slug":"back-to-school-dress-codes-from-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/back-to-school-dress-codes-from-the-past.html","title":{"rendered":"Back to School: Dress Codes from the Past"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about high school dress codes from the past. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to go back to school! Most students across the United States have either started the school year or will shortly. The lazy, carefree days of summer have evolved into that time of the year when rules and order reign supreme (or at least that\u2019s the hope). By the time a student reaches the high school classroom, rules regarding conduct have become second nature, including the high school dress code.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: high school students listening to speeches at the Pan-American Union, February 1942. Credit: Marjory Collins; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My youngest is now a senior in high school and his school\u2019s dress code has, in the past, been criticized nationally for its treatment of female students. However, this year the dress code has become more relaxed in dictating what students are allowed and not allowed to wear. Dress codes and criticisms of those codes by students, teachers, and parents are decades old. In researching those codes, it becomes apparent that some rules, like the length of a girl\u2019s skirt, remain consistent while others, like the length of a boy\u2019s hair, might be in response to the fashion trends of a generation.<\/p>\n

Girls\u2019 Dress Code: Skirts vs Pants<\/strong><\/p>\n

One prominent theme in dress codes for female students up until the 1970s (and sometimes even later depending on the school) was the prohibition against wearing pants. Judging from the comments I received from Facebook friends on this topic, female students were required to wear skirts or dresses well into the 1970s. And the appropriate length \u2013 at the knees \u2013 was judged by having the girl kneel so that her skirt would hit the floor. Girls were required to wear skirts at school no matter how cold the weather was.<\/p>\n

The penalty for not obeying the dress code? Depending on the school it could be either sending the student home to change, detention, or suspension \u2013 as one Facebook friend was when she wore a polyester pantsuit that looked a little too much like denim, resulting in a two-day suspension in the mid-1970s. Even when female students could finally wear pants at school, they were not free to choose any pair of pants. For many it had to be a coordinated pantsuit and absolutely not denim jeans.<\/p>\n

Did anyone ever publicly protest their school dress code? No doubt some students did. There was one case in 1942 when Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn, New York) student Beverly Bernstein protested her school\u2019s dress code by wearing slacks and a sweater to school one day. She was promptly suspended, which resulted in other girls carrying on with the protest the next day and wearing slacks in solidarity.<\/p>\n

Cartoonist Russ Westover of \u201cTillie the Toiler\u201d fame weighed in with his opinions about women wearing slacks, and mentioned Beverly\u2019s case. According to his article the girls had put together a petition for school authorities that cited the government\u2019s advocating for wearing slacks in the \u201cevent of an air raid\u201d and that wearing slacks \u201cconserved silk stockings,\u201d which reflected the WWII-era they were living in.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Detroit Times (Detroit, Michigan), 22 May 1942, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
Detroit Times (Detroit, Michigan), 22 May 1942, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Skirt lengths have always been an issue addressed in dress codes. While it follows that short skirts would largely be frowned upon, I was surprised when Facebook friends told me that they were sent home in the 1960s and 1970s for skirts that reached their ankles!<\/p>\n

The reason might be found in this newspaper article from 1965. A principal justified sending two girls home for wearing ankle-length dresses because: \u201cThe attire worn by a student must not be unorthodox in such a manner as to be a distracting or disturbing factor in the instruction program.\u201d Apparently, some schools believed that long skirts were just as distracting as short ones.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas), 3 December 1965, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boys\u2019 Dress Code: Ties and Haircuts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boys\u2019 dress codes were also controversial in decades past. While jeans and t-shirts are the norm today, in 1958 the dress code in Livingston, New Jersey, required boys to wear \u201cdress shirts unbuttoned at the neck or wear ties when the shirts are buttoned all the way.\u201d It seems the kids at that high school were not happy about the new dress code; 13 had already been suspended for protesting it in less than a week. A friend from Kansas told me that his school in the 1960s required the same standard of dress as above, but the shirt had to be tucked in and a belt worn at all times. Dressing casually was not an option when one went to school.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), 14 April 1962, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the concerns addressed in boys\u2019 dress codes was the length and style of their hair, as in the case of the following 1972 announcement from Fort Worth, Texas, that stated boys\u2019 hair: \u201cMust be above the eyebrows in front, be kept trim and neat and that sideburns cannot come below the bottom of the ear.\u201d This had been changed from the previous rule that \u201cboys\u2019 hair could not come below the top of the collar in the back.\u201d There\u2019s no doubt that this most likely became an issue as men\u2019s hairstyles followed trends found in the music world of the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Forth Worth, Texas), 10 February 1972, page 42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now It\u2019s Your Turn<\/strong><\/p>\n

What was the dress code when you were a teenager? How has it changed from that time to today? What dress code do your kids or grandkids have to follow? Did you rebel against the dress code?<\/p>\n

Note<\/em><\/strong>: Special thanks to my Facebook friends who shared their stories with me about their high school dress codes. There are too many to name individually but their stories helped me with the research for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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