See Ya, Dress Code!

Vibrant hair, sweatpants every day and no belts; these are all things that could have sent a Seabury student to the lost and found after being dress coded just a year ago. Now, they are a normal occurrence thanks to the newly revised dress code prior to the start of the year. With the new rules focusing on allowing more ways to express individuality, students have already seemed to get as far away as possible from blue and green polos and khaki pants.

 “For the most part a lot of people just want to wear more comfortable clothes,” says senior Ethan Tangpornsin. “T-shirts are much more comfortable than a collared shirt and usually it’s harder to find new sizes like if your clothes change and you have to buy more.” 

For a lot of students including Tangpornsin, comfort is a top priority. “I like that we don’t have to wear polos,” adds eighth grader Kavon Price. “[The new rules] can let you dress a lot more comfortably and casually.” 

While the removal of scratchy polos and khakis is at the front of some minds, the freedom to wear new colors is more exciting for others. “My favorite part of the new dress code is for sure the vast color options,” Junior Cambill Garlock says. “Pink is my favorite color, and I love being able to express that in my outfits.” Garlock has also taken full advantage of the new rules sporting rainbow colored hair; she joins many other students in the world of vibrant hair colors.

Most students agree that the current dress code is a major improvement over the previous, but a lot of them also miss some things about the old dress code. “At first I was very irritated with the new dress code, because I loved the last dress code for the reason that everyone looked nice and put together,” explains Garlock. 

While the uniformness of the last dress code was appealing to some, the convenience of it was nice for others. “The only thing I would miss would be that I didn’t have to think about what I was going to wear,” says Tangpornsin. Having a stricter dress code certainly made it easier for students to decide what to wear every day with tiny logos and pants or shorts being the major separators between outfits.

Students also seemed to enjoy breaking the previous dress code in any way possible whether it was hiding an untucked shirt with a long hoodie or wearing colors and logos that didn’t conform with the rules. “To be honest, I miss breaking the dress code,” eighth grader Xeva Oldridge confesses. “It was just a bit exhilarating and funny to wear something so blatantly not dress code yet no one says a word.” 

While comfortability, convenience and variety are certainly benefits, the new dress code’s main purpose is to allow students to “express their individuality as they engage in learning” as written in the official dress code document. With this in mind, students feel as though the new dress code accomplishes this goal. “I feel like with the dress code relaxed, now you can express characteristics of yourself more,” says Tangpornsin. “If people want to wear a tuxedo really badly, they can,” he jokes. 

“I think it’s fun and new to see the way people dress and what they wear every day,” adds Senior Jimin Kim. “Now everyone’s outfit matches their personality, and it’s cool to see what they wear.”

One main focus of the previous dress code was to make sure nobody was judged or put down for what they chose to wear. In a strong community like the one Seabury has, the new dress code can thrive without having to worry about issues regarding judgement. Oldridge sums it up well saying, “ [Dress code] tests people’s character on how they react when they don’t like what someone is wearing. Too bad for them there is no dress code.”