We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the most ridiculous school dress codes they had growing up. Here are the frustrating results.
1. When this school was totally cool with double standards.
"I was dress-coded for wearing shorts above the knee. I pointed out that a male schoolmate was wearing shorter shorts as a joke. 'That’s different. He’s an athlete.' Jesus Christ."
2. When literal children were forced to suffer because of male gaze.
"We were told we couldn’t wear shorts on a field trip in 95 degree heat at my all-girls school because it might distract the adult male chaperones. We were 13."
3. When this heinous, invasive procedure was somehow allowed.
"One time, in middle school, the assistant principal came in our classroom to measure our skirt lengths and check if we had shorts on underneath. She stopped the whole class and checked each girl one by one. We had to lift our skirts all the way up in front of a bunch of boys and a male teacher. Most girls, including myself, had on those tight spandex shorts that are very revealing. If you weren’t wearing shorts, you had to show everyone your underwear."
4. When justice was absolutely not served.
"I got sent to in-school suspension after the vice principal sat in on our class and said, in front of everyone, that the outline of my bra strap through my shirt was a distraction. He then asked me if that was the 'kind of girl I wanted to be known as.' By the way, he reprimanded me while I was sitting next to a guy wearing a shirt with a graphic illustration of a naked woman having an orgasm with her hand between her legs. The shirt read, 'Show me your o-face.'"
5. When having boobs was somehow a crime.
"I overheard a girl getting dress-coded for wearing a tank top on a hot day. A guy walks by also wearing a tank top and the girl says, 'Why don’t you dress code him?' The administrator says, 'Because he doesn’t have boobs.' THE HELL?"
6. When sports bras were considered lingerie.
"At my school, we couldn’t wear cutoff shirts to volleyball practice because they showed our sports bras, which were considered to be in the same category as lingerie. But, the football team could walk around shirtless."
7. When exposed shoulders were the end of the world.
"My school had a rule that tank tops had to be at least three fingertips wide. I was wearing a tank top and got stopped by a teacher who told me to measure it. It was two and a half fingertips wide, so she told me that I was going to have to go home to change. I told her I had a jacket in my locker that I could put on so I wouldn't miss my classes. She said that she couldn't trust me to keep the jacket on all day and sent me home."
8. When a perfect attendance record was wrongfully shattered.
"When I was in the sixth grade, my fingertips barely reached the end of my baggy shorts, so I had to spend the entire day in suspension copying the dictionary instead of going to my classes. I missed a test and was counted absent in every class, ruining my perfect attendance. I wasn’t even given the option to call my parents for a change of clothes."
9. When sexism was rampant AF.
"A high school girl in my town got dress-coded for wearing pants instead of a dress to her graduation. They refused to let her walk."
10. When this school didn't understand glasses.
"I wasn’t allowed to wear my eyeglasses on top of my head because they were considered headwear."
11. When this school didn't trust its own uniform.
"Our high school had strict uniforms, including a kilt for the girls. One day the school pulled an emergency fire drill and sent us all outside, only to send the boys back in moments later. They used the fire drill to measure the girls' skirts."
12. When this school failed to discipline predators.
"We couldn't wear skirts because apparently boys stood at the bottom of the stairs to look up them."
13. When hypocrisy ruined everything.
"One morning, in high school, an office secretary told me that my shorts were too short and I would have to call my parents to bring me new pants or leave school for the day. The shorts I was wearing were a part of my school-provided soccer uniform. We had a game that day, so I was wearing them with my warm up sweatshirt. I had to sit in the office and by the time my mom brought me another pair of pants, I had missed three class periods. When I got to the field after school, my coach told me he was informed that I couldn’t play in our game because I had 'skipped' three classes that day."
14. When this shit made no sense.
"I was about 16 at the time and wearing jeans and a tank top. The math teacher came to tell me I needed to change, as I was distracting the male teachers. She then pointed to another girl and asked why I didn't dress more like her. The other girl was literally wearing the same tank top!"
15. When some laws were seriously broken.
"I went to a strict private school. To make sure we all wore the correct uniform pants, we had to stand on our desks so the teacher could see up our skirts and confirm this."
16. When boys couldn't control themselves around turtlenecks.
"It was my sophomore year of high school and I was wearing a fitted, long-sleeved turtleneck sweater. I was sent home to change because my turtleneck was 'inappropriate.' My dad called the school to ask WTF happened and they told him it was because it was too tight and would be distracting to the boys in school."
17. When ripped jeans were totally unacceptable.
"I was wearing ripped jeans and my teacher said she saw skin through a rip above my mid-thigh, which was unacceptable. Apparently it was too distracting, so they made me wear my PE shorts over my jeans."
18. When a button almost ruined a student's life.
"I had finished all my exams and was headed out of high school for the very last time. It was really hot, so I unbuttoned my shirt (I had a vest on underneath). I was about 10 meters from the gate when the head teacher stopped me and told me she would revoke all my grades and fail me if I didn't button up my shirt. I was a straight-A student who never got into any trouble."
19. When this male teacher deserved to be fired immediately.
"I had a male teacher tell me my tank top was inappropriate when I was literally 10 years old. I wasn’t even wearing bras yet."
20. And finally, when God was disrespected by perfectly normal pants.
"I was wearing jeans that were slightly roughed up. They didn't even have any holes and the rest of my outfit was totally conservative. In the middle of class, a teacher crouched down in front of me and started telling me off in front of everyone, saying that I was 'disrespecting God' and 'looked promiscuous' because of my jeans. She kept going until I started crying, and she told me if I ever dressed like that again, I'd be suspended."
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.