Maybe am still conversative?

[shootingstar]

Sure, I agree that at high school it's a lot laxer in clothing styles.
Just when a kid who looks old enough to work for a summer job, they need to be coached later....how to dress for the work world soon, job interviews, business meetings, etc. I should have clarified.

[Helene2013]

I'm not sure what to think of this picture. But one thing for sure, I would never have gone out dressed like in this top. I was a bit too converservative and did not seem to need to "show off" my body. Maybe there is the issue of how you were raised, your friends' circle, how confident you are or not. If I had worn something like this, I would have had a little vest/unbottoned shirt over it and it would have made a big difference.

I was always told, even in high school - towards the end - to dress as you wanted to be seen. I guess her view and mine would differ a lot.

I know some schools, just like workplace, have a a dress code. If it's clear, there is not much as a student/employee you can do against. I know at work here we are pretty strict but sometimes, we let slip one. hihi And I'm in HR.

[rebeccaC]

Yes the winning answer is uniform!!!

...and yes shootingstar, if you want to...you should wear a sarong as a skirt on the job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm trying to remember if we wore halter tops in HS--I know darn well we wore them on the weekends.

a halter with skinny satin cord ties or maybe a cowboy shirt both worked with my Juicy jeans….that could have been my high school uniform for a while. now a short goth corset skirt, maybe fishnets….a cheap vintage crushed black velvet jacket, i could have thought that through as a uniform when i was a teen

I did a photo essay on an American Apparel billboard campaign in the L.A. area that can and has easily been interpreted as making it easier for people to believe that teen aged looking girls want to be involved in adult sexual relationships. I’m sure I’m more aware of it today but it seems a teen dealing with sexualizing is so much more prevalent than it was just over a decade ago for me.

building positive self-identities ftw

[OakLeaf]

I’m sure I’m more aware of it today but it seems a teen dealing with sexualizing is so much more prevalent than it was just over a decade ago for me.

Forty-three years ago when I was in the eighth grade, the fad was "sizzler dresses." The length was right at the butt crease, and they came with a matching panty.

I don't think teenagers, new to their sexual identity and feeling like flaunting it, is anything new!

I know I graduated eighth grade in that dress, I'm not sure but I'm thinking I was confirmed in it as well, and yes I am appalled by that now, but it sure does make me less likely to judge "kids these days."

building positive self-identities ftw

+1 and I think that's really the line we're talking about. Building positive self-identities, *including* their sexual identity, but helping them remember that there's a lot more to life - as distracting as all those hormones can be!

[shootingstar]

I went to a public co-ed high school.
In my final year, a few girls transferred from an all-girl's Catholic school to our high school. The girls who chose to transfer and were accepted, were high achievers. Yes, of course it gave them the freedom to dress to their own liking at our school. I don't recall any of these girls wearing stuff that would be on par with crop tops, etc. while in school.

A bit off topic: What was obvious even to me, along with my current female classmates who were also high academic achievers, etc., was the level of self-confidence of these former all-girl migrants had in their verbal self-expression, etc. I do believe for girls, an all-girl school with uniform requirements, if the curriculum is challenging can help (some) girls develop good self-confidence without overly relying on validation from guys at school. But the hormones at that age, just can distract even the best. Well, you know what I mean.

I graduated from high school in 1978. During my first year in HS, girls were finally allowed to wear jeans. I remember kneeling in hallway along with other girls in my class, so that (female) teacher could check our hemlines were knee-length.

[ny biker]

Wow. My two siblings graduated from high school in 1978. I was four years behind them and it was one building for junior and senior high -- grades 7-12, ages 12-17 or 18. We wore jeans to school all the time.

[Crankin]

I am not horrified by anything I wore to high school, because after 2 months at Miami Palmetto HS, I told my parents I refused to go back for my junior year. I went to a very small private school, where I could not even wear pants to school, in 1969-1971. So while my friends in Newton, MA were demonstrating on the Boston Common and generally not doing anything to please teachers and parents (who were also smoking weed and demonstrating), I was thrown backwards about 10 years. I did wear midriff tops, sans bra on the weekends, and skirts as short as I could get away with at school. I do remember "hot pants," but I don't think I work those to school. Seriously, granny dresses were in style while I was in HS and the beginning of college, so no skimpy stuff there.
I started dressing quite a bit brazenly, in the 80s, when I was teaching aerobics. But, I wore suits to work, and I think it was almost like I had 2 personas: the professional looking teacher and the slightly trashy looking gym instructor. Seriously, I was quite proud of my body, so I put it out there. I was only in my early to mid thirties, so it wasn't so inappropriate.

[rocknrollgirl]

I teach in a public high school and what I have to say on this subject would probably crash the system. Suffice to say I am in favor of a dress code that is appropriate and enforced. I am tired of looking at their butt cheeks all day. I love fashion, and I express my style through fashion. I fully support young women expressing their style through fashion......that is appropriate for school, which is their place of business right now.

The young lady in the original article looks adorable. To go out. Not for school. that being said, I see 10x worse every single day. Butt cheeks, full cleavage and now that the weather is warm, lots of backless dress sans bra, so add some side views in. Not appropriate.

This is how you get from point A, the young lady in the photo which most of you said was not so bad, to point B, what I am describing. There has to be a standard, some limit, some line which is not crossed, or many, many young ladies, in my school at least, will and do cross the line into scantily clad, every day.

Sorry to rant, but I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired of looking at it.

[OakLeaf]

I guess, to me, if they're dressing in the same style as everyone else their age, then they're adept at conforming to fashion. While they may need a guidance counselor's nudge to begin with, they won't have a hard time figuring out what to wear in a business setting where more formal clothes are expected. Remember it's just fashion.

It's a bit personal, just because my parents dressed me and my sisters like we were in some kind of weird TV cult, and we had to figure out how to dress ourselves when we were in our 20s (middle sister never did figure it out - she's a college professor with an emphasis on fieldwork, so she can get away with it at work). I'm just barely, I choose very conservative clothes just because I never learned how to accessorize, match or flair. I think if a kid has the social networks they need growing up, then basic conformity to fashion won't be hard for them - whether it's pushing the edges in high school, or rocking a suit at the office. If they don't have that social support, then punishing them for what they wear isn't going to help.

Plus, I think there's a world of difference between "X amount of cover is required in a setting with Y level of formality," vs "girls have to cover because boys can't help raping them if they don't."