I’m the first to admit that my opinion about dress codes has, and continues to swing, from one side of the spectrum to the other.  I’m going to follow my thought process all the way to the conclusion and hope I don’t contradict myself.

As a child of the 80s, I grew up hating dress codes.  No one was going to tell me that I couldn’t wear crop tops, sport a blonde rat tail, or rock purple lipstick. As a school kid, I remember thinking that school uniforms were the worst idea imaginable.  Even so, when and where I grew up had a very definitive line between what was appropriate and what was not.  Only prostitutes or strippers wore platform heels so there was no real danger of any of us wearing them or even wanting to.  

As I got older and the lines between what was ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’ blurred, I found myself getting crotchety about what the young’uns were wearing nowadays.  Maybe it’s because I now had a teenage daughter of my own or maybe it’s because I was seeing literal ass hanging out but I got weary of the idea that kids could and would wear just about anything.  I wonder if I’d have gone through my less tolerant phase if I didn’t live in Florida at the time.  The clothes I’d see at the 8th grade dance would have made the strippers and prostitutes of my younger days proud.  It was infuriating to watch these girls wobble in on 4 inch platform heels while pulling on a skirt that barely covered their booty.  Mostly, I just wondered what the fuck their parents were thinking.  

Now, just a few years later, I’ve adopted the ‘live and let live’ motto.  While I certainly wish that more people had read the “Leggings Are NOT Pants” memo, I’m glad I did.  I still hate platform heels but will argue that it’s anyone else’s personal choice, obviously.  I do still feel that some of these young girls need guidance, not to prevent distraction or rape (that is pure bullshit), but because a person’s choice in wardrobe reflects their personality and I’m not sure they have the maturity to recognize what they are putting out there.  Still, I’m more concerned with what my child is wearing, not anyone else’s. 

That said, I don’t think it is anyone else’s responsibility to police what someone else is wearing. Not to school,  not to the prom, not on the street.  Any reason a person uses to justify the criticism of someone else’s wardrobe choice is invalid.  “Her short skirt or sleeveless shirt is a distraction.”  Bullshit!  “Her skirt must fall below her finger tips.” Why?  “The amount of cleavage she is showing is inappropriate.” To whom? And, who is looking hard enough to decide that?  Frankly, I think that the problem lies more with the person who has the problem than the person wearing the ‘offensive’ clothing.  

Every time I read about a child (usually female, by the way) being sent home from school, the prom, or a chess tournament (for fuck’s sake) I feel us stepping just a little bit closer to justifying a full on societal dress code.  While my hate of platforms shoes is enormous, my fear of living in a world that can tell me what I can and can not wear is far worse.