In the past couple of years, teachers have been more lenient with the dress code due to the struggles caused by COVID-19, and they haven’t adjusted back to a stricter dress code until now.
GA’s updated guidelines are written in the Upper School Student Handbook. For all students, the type of pants allowed are dress pants or shorts in black, navy or khaki only and in good condition (nothing frayed or with holes), and shorts must extend to the end of your fingertips when your hands are at your sides.
We have noticed that many students have reacted to these changes, with some expressing confusion about the reason and the specifics. After interviewing a few Upper School students about how they feel about the change in the dress code, we gathered some opinions.
“The highest form of self expression is achieved when you’re not constricted by the laws of dress codes,” Andrew Wells ‘25 said. “While they do serve to make this community work in one way, they also kind of get rid of a lot of the individuality that schools need. If [ students] are going to have some expression, then [the administration] should give us full self expression, not some small amount of it.”
Joshua Wangia ‘25, a new student to the Upper School, compares his ability to express himself through clothing at GA and at his previous school. “It’s kind of an invasion of our privacy and personal choice… I can’t really express myself in the ways that I used to here at this school,” Wangia said.
One major change to the dress code during the pandemic was the addition of joggers. However, with this year’s new dress code, joggers are no longer allowed.
“What ended up happening was that there wasn’t a differentiation between joggers and sweatpants,” Mr. Moll said. “The idea with joggers was to have solid colors and dress-looking gear, and it turned into wearing multicolored sweatpants. If you’re wearing something you would work out with, that’s not part of the dress code.”
But here’s the question many Upper School students are asking, including us: Are flare leggings allowed?
“I want to be careful because the way that we saw it last year was that they were flared dress pants,” Mr. Moll said. “I’m not a fashion expert, but I think leggings get clumped into the category of sweatpants. If you’re walking around looking like you’re going to a job wearing clothes adults would wear to a professional setting, that’s considered that dress pant look.”
We empathize with the confusion and initial frustration expressed by many students, ourselves included, about the updated dress code. However, after understanding the reason behind the administration’s intention and that it was less about the logistics of the clothing and more about the importance of maintaining professionalism, we now appreciate the effort to maintain a certain level of dress code while still allowing for individual expression.