Girl Who Didn’t Have A Dress Code In High School Shows Off The ‘Scandalous’ Outfits She Got Away With Wearing
Her outfits definitely wouldn't be allowed at most schools.
Maria Markevich / Shutterstock Schools impose dress codes for a variety of reasons, one of which is to ensure that students appear appropriately dressed each day.
TikToker Keilani Olivia, on the other hand, doesn’t know what this experience is like. Olivia attended a high school that did not have a dress code.
Olivia shared some of her high school outfits on TikTok.
Olivia showed off some of the outfits she wore to high school, which many would balk at. At the request of her followers, she made the videos a two-part series.
“My school didn’t have a dress code, and I was doing the most for absolutely no reason,” she said.
In the two videos, Olivia showed pictures of her high school self in crop tops, cleavage-baring tops, and sleeveless shirts — all things that are not allowed by most schools.
“Feel free to judge me, because I’m also judging myself,” she joked while going through the pictures.
Pointing out a corset-style crop top without sleeves, Olivia said, “I know this is a going-out top for a lot of people, not, like, a math class top.”
Olivia asked viewers to not question her mother and father’s parenting skills as they had no idea what she was wearing.
“Please don’t bring my parents into this. They would not have approved [of] me dressing like this at school. They just didn’t see what I looked like when I left the house because they weren't home,” she shared.
While it may shock some people, Olivia’s wardrobe was never a problem for her at school. “I don’t think anyone ever got dress-coded at my school,” she said.
Olivia’s videos drew a variety of responses on X, where they were reposted. One person pointed out that they were dress-coded at their school for much less. “Oh, but my shoulders and right knee cap through my ripped jeans were a problem,” they said.
Meanwhile, another person chimed in and said they also didn’t have a dress code. “I didn’t have a dress code and I was pulling [expletive] close to the first outfit a lot,” they remarked.
Are dress codes a good idea?
Whether or not dress codes should be enforced is a hotly debated topic amongst students and educators.
Education Week stated, “93 percent of school districts have dress codes or policies on what students wear to school, according to a Government Accountability Office report … Most often, though, dress codes ban clothes that the district considers revealing, distracting, controversial, or pose a safety threat to students.”
However, it seems that dress codes may be unfairly targeting some students and not others.
According to Education Week, “The vast majority of dress codes — 90 percent — ban clothing associated with girls.” Furthermore, “59 percent of dress codes have rules about students’ hairstyles that disproportionately impact Black students.”
While dress codes may be put in place with good intentions, evidence suggests they affect some students more than others. While it’s surprising to hear that Olivia didn’t have a dress code she had to follow, it would be even more shocking to see a boy make a video similar to Olivia’s, because almost no boys’ clothes are banned under dress codes.
Photo: Kassandre Pedro / Pexels
It’s not uncommon at all to see a story on the news about a Black student who had to change their hairstyle to match dress code standards. In some cases, this has even been forced on them at school.
If schools hope for dress codes to remain relevant and intact, changes will have to be made to be more inclusive for all students.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.