Opinion: It's Time to Reconsider Priory's Dress Code

The onset of the 2024 school year brought several significant policy changes to Priory, but few have been so controversial as Priory’s dress code enforcement. While the rules outlined in the dress code remained consistent with the previous year, students began to notice that the number of violations increased dramatically, especially with the onset of a sweltering heat wave in September. Administrators had hoped that enforcing school rules more uniformly would create a more unified and fair campus community – but that has not come without its costs. Priory’s dress code may be well-intentioned, but it is also important to consider how these policies may inadvertently impact students. 

Compared to ten years ago, Priory’s current dress code is mild. Health teacher and twelfth-grade moderator Korinn Myers, who has taught middle and upper school students at Priory for over a decade, noted that in the past five or six years, Priory’s administration has worked to actively reform the dress code based on student feedback. 

“Before COVID, we started talking with ASB about the dress code to get the students' perspectives because…there were not as many dress code policies for boys as there were for girls,” Myers said. “ So we wanted to… level the playing field.”

Following the pandemic, Priory also sought to adapt the dress code to the transformed cultural landscape and shifting societal norms.

“After COVID, a new administration came to Priory,” Myers said. “So I think that they took a look to…see what is happening out in the world and what people are wearing, and see if we can come to a middle ground.”

Priory has also made substantial reforms in order to address any gender discrepancies within the dress code policies, including swapping out gendered language such as “spaghetti straps” for the more unisex “tank tops,” and eliminating a previous ban on athletic wear that included leggings and sweatpants. The result has been a more egalitarian dress code policy with far fewer disparities between female and male students. 

Senior Conrad Brousseau, who has attended Priory since 9th grade, noted that when he first enrolled at the school, “the list of dress code requirements for girls was long as [heck] compared to what I had to follow.”

“I feel like a lot of schools are weird about how girls have to dress,” Brousseau stated. “I feel like Priory’s dress code in comparison isn’t as crazy, but I’m not a girl [so] I can't really speak on that.” 

Some students, however, continue to feel that the dress code disproportionately restricts female students’ apparel. While the dress code imposes some limitations on clothing typically worn by male students, such as hats and sandals, many dress code policies also prohibit items associated with female fashion, such as crop tops, mini skirts, and denim shorts. 

Myers sees the gender disparity as a byproduct of gendered fashion norms. 

“It's still not totally 50-50,” Myers said. “but I think that’s also because the [clothing] choices boys have is less than what girls have. So this gives us an advantage, that we have more options, and also makes it harder for us, because then we have to be more thoughtful in what we're wearing.”

Even still, some female students have found it difficult to find clothing that adheres to the dress code, particularly during the warmer months. From personal experience, I can attest to the difficulty of shopping for shorts that meet the required length, or a summer dress with Priory-approved sleeves. Priory senior and ASB executive Allegra Ryan shares this frustration. 

“If you look around and walk into a store,” Ryan said, “you often won’t find a lot of shorts for girls that are mid-thigh, but for guys it is the norm.”

Per the 2024-2025 Priory Student Handbook, the dress code aims to “help students navigate the ways in which their attire is appropriate for the task at hand” and “respect the seriousness of their academic purpose.” However, why is certain clothing considered inappropriate to begin with?  It’s easy to understand why clothing that promotes violence or hate speech is considered harmful or even why wearing flip-flops to school is a potential liability, but the idea that bare shoulders, legs, or even midriffs are inappropriate can feel somewhat antiquated at times.

It’s also important to keep in mind that these policies can inadvertently harm students’ self-perception, particularly regarding body image. Myers noted that female students in particular can take the dress code as a personal criticism of their appearance. 

“Because I'm a female, I know how stigmatizing it can feel,” Myers expressed, “ [but] it has nothing to do with the body; it's just the relationship we have with the school and its rules.” 

However, intent does not always equal impact, and some students cannot help but feel shamed by the dress code – particularly given that many dress code policies are aimed at limiting bodily exposure. Teachers may only enforce dress code policies so that students will follow the rules, but those rules may also unconsciously stem from expectations regarding modest apparel. 

“I think part of the things that make Priory quite unique is the fact that it's very judgement-free, which is something that the dress code impedes on. It also forces students to shed away part of their individuality and their confidence” Ryan expressed. “Clothing plays a huge part in one’s confidence, and at a crucial moment in the development of one’s confidence (teenagehood), I think it is important to understand that imposing someone else's view on another person’s body can be very harmful.”

Enforcement of  the dress code can be disruptive to students during the school day as well. Pulling students from class due to dress code infractions can be an uncomfortable experience for students and faculty alike. And while the amount of class time missed may be negligible, residual feelings of embarrassment and discomfort can distract students from the task at hand: to learn. 

Ultimately,  the question of whether or not to have a dress code is a complicated one, with no definitively clear answer. There are understandable justifications behind its presence at Priory, all of which reflect a genuine concern for the academic, social, and spiritual environment of our school. And there are certain limits to what is objectively acceptable. Faculty members such as Myers believe that the dress code “reminds students that not everywhere you go you can wear whatever you want to wear” and that “we are a Benedictine school… we have to be respectful of the rules that are in place.”

At the same time, however, I believe that it is equally essential to be mindful of how these policies may impact students and their learning environment. We have a responsibility to follow the rules of our community, and we also have a responsibility to act with respect, consideration, and kindness towards each other. It is important to ask ourselves whether our dress code currently aligns with that, both in terms of the policies themselves and the ways in which they are wielded. Do the benefits of these policies really outweigh the costs?