Mind Over Fashion

I think back to the days preceding my first day of ninth grade. I spent a week with Ma Peacock picking out my outfit, two days trying it on to make sure it was OK, hours agonizing about whether junior and senior boys would think I was sexy or bookish, and moments curious about teachers and classes and learning.

My main concern, however, the thing that kept me from sleeping during those tension-filled nights, was what Lisa Zane would be wearing. She’s a successful actress and chanteuse now and if you’ve seen her, you’ll understand what I mean. Beautiful, full-lipped, curvy, raven-haired, all the boys loved Lisa. Boys our age, older boys, teachers. She was smart and a good actress and singer and she always seemed to get what she wanted.

Sure enough, while my mother thought I looked pretty cute in my cashmere sweater, tartan skirt and loafers (it was 1975), Lisa showed up in tight, white jeans and a T-shirt that showed a little of her belly, high-topped black sneakers and little round sunglasses. Instantly, she was surrounded by boys. I tried to pay attention to my math teacher, but I was obsessed with figuring out how I could put together an outfit like that. I tried to concentrate in English class, but I noticed that the girl sitting next to me was wearing a Jax T-shirt in the color I couldn’t find.

At the end of the semester, when my grades were just average, I cried to my parents, explaining to them that the girls with the best clothes were the most popular and got the best grades because the teachers liked them the most and if they wanted me to get As, I needed to go shopping again and this time, I was picking the outfits.

That was the definitive moment. What we went shopping for was boarding schools, and I was shipped off to a school the next year where everyone wore a white, button-down shirt and a blue skirt or pants. I hated it, I’ll admit it, but because I couldn’t obsess over who was wearing what, I starting paying attention to my teachers. And I got good grades and got into a good college and even though I'm still jealous of Lisa Zane, I learned, early on, that there was a lot of value to a well-dressed mind.

All of this came back to me recently as I watched a televised debate between a student debate team and a group of local politicians. The subject: Should American high school students adopt a mandatory school uniform policy?

The students eloquently defended their individual rights to freedom of choice. They called the policy “a Band-Aid” for the greater problem of violence in the schools. They argued it was an “Un-American, corporate conspiracy” by large retailers who would “reap benefits” by manufacturing uniforms; also that it placed a financial burden on parents. But in the end, the judges handed the debate to the politicians, because the facts they presented seemed irrefutable.
    
The politicians argued that it was critical to reduce distractions that interfered with learning. They cited positive reports from schools that had implemented uniform policies showing an increase in the numbers of students on honor rolls, a decrease in suspensions, fights, assaults and batteries, sexual offenses, teen pregnancies, and higher grade-point averages. And uniforms, they claimed, cost under $50 and would be supplied to everyone whether they could afford it or not.

Considering that students can wear whatever they please when they get home and on weekends, if implementing school uniforms can create a better learning environment, one with less of a threat of violence, or competition, or distractions, I'm all for following the lead of boarding schools, Catholic schools, private schools, and those public schools that have chosen to implement a uniform policy. For once, a group of politicians were blowing more than hot air in a public forum where three out of four were not even up for reelection.

And thinking about it in retrospect, if Lisa Zane had to wear a uniform, I never would have been sent away. I might have been a doctor, a lawyer, an actress…