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Ah, dress shopping. It's either easy as pie or frustrating beyond belief, *especially* when it's for a school dance! Sometimes it takes hours to a find a dress you're confident and comfortable in (extra points if it goes with what your gals or bae are wearing)! What's even more frustrating: when your school requires pre-approval of what you'll be rocking on your special night. Some upperclassman attending the prom at Osakis High School were asked to do just that.

A letter sent out by the Minnesota high school suggested 11th and 12th grade girls send the prom advisor photos of what they plan on wearing to prom before attending. A statement from the superintendent claims the policy was suggested in order to prevent students from being embarrassed if they were turned away at the prom (especially if they had spent hundreds on their gown). They thought this could ensure everyone had the chance to enjoy the prom, but the guideline has since been revoked. While no official policy was put into place, the Osakis community strongly resisted the notion. 

The original letter, addressed to female students attending prom, begins by stating an appropriate dress is one the student would be comfortable wearing at a formal school event. It goes on to specify dress length must meet or exceed fingertip length. Informal attire such as tennis shoes, sunglasses, and baseball caps were prohibited, and boys were asked to wear dress pants and a sport coat (as usual).

While the suggestion was a genuine bid to make prom fun and comfortable for everyone, it opened up a relatively controversial topic. School dress codes have gone under the microscope several times upon claims of dress codes being sexist. Often times, codes target only female students. Just last year Pennsylvanian student Aniya Wolf was not allowed into her prom because she wore a black suit. In 2013, another teen, Britanny Minder, was asked to wear a shawl over her dress throughout the dance because she was revealing too much cleavage. She believes this happened because she has a large chest that wasn't covered the same way by her dress as it would on a smaller girl.

What do you think of school dress codes? Do you feel more or less comfortable when strict codes are in place? Share your thoughts on this topic with us in the comments. 

by Julia Bonney | 2/24/2017