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Decoding the dress

Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

Dressing down A dress code in place doesn’t stop students from trying to dress as they please

Students say goodbye to the freedom of summer vacations and hello again to the constraints of the dress code.

College-age students are deemed responsible enough to vote for our country’s leaders and eligible for a driver’s license but when it comes to dressing for college, officials do not trust them to make their own decisions.

According to the formulators of the dress code, it was put into place to make sure that female students dressed “modestly”. Many also feel it serves as a safety precaution, because a lot of female students use public transport and being decently dressed would keep them safer. So according to the rules of the code salwar-kameez is the preferred attire but if a female student insists on wearing jeans, , she has to pair them with a long kurta.

A number of girls are fine with the idea of a dress code as they feel it keeps away unwanted male attention.

There are others who disagree. Maya, a final year mass-communication student says, “Boys make comments whether you wear salwar-kameez or jeans with a t-shirt, so why ban t-shirts?”

However strict and un-yielding the dress-code might be, girls find a way to get around it. Jackets are used to cover bare arms when wearing a sleeveless top. T-shirts are covered with dupattas and stoles.

Some courageous souls blatantly wear t-shirts and sleeveless tops with jeans to college.Maya says, “As long as you make it past the main gate where the principal stands checking the girls’ clothes, you are safe.” How does one get past the principal though? Maya makes it sound easy enough, she says, “If you are wearing sleeveless, wrap a stole around you.” Maya was unfortunate enough to get caught wearing a t-shirt once. According to her, “The teacher yelled at me in front of the class, she asked me why I was dressed like I am going to a disco.” the teacher went on to tell her to not spoil the reputation of the college.

Shireen, a final year mass communication student says the dress code is too strict.

“If someone dresses over the top, in spaghetti tops or tight clothes pull them up. But what is wrong with t-shirts, capris and sleeveless tops?” she asks.

Among parents the opinion regarding dress code spans the entire spectrum from the ones who think it is an excellent idea as it keeps the girls safe, to the other extreme where parents are appalled that the college can impose a dress code, when they themselves do not tell their daughters what to wear.

Some parents have interesting justifications for the dress code. Maria T, who has a daughter in her final year of college, says, “It brings in discipline,” she also adds that all the girls cannot afford trendy outfits and the dress code attempts to bring in some uniformity. The argument for and against the dress code are many and it is impossible to have a consensus.

And in the heat of the debate we shouldn’t forget the most important role of a college, as Keerthi R, whose daughter is a final year student says, “I do not care what my daughter wears to college, as long as she attends college,” and most importantly, “is getting an education.”

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