The winter uniform has officially begun, bringing with it some uniform changes.
Required leggings are being enforced in the female winter dress code this school year. When the school year began, female students were informed about the slight winter uniform changes.
These changes included female students having to wear a pair of khaki pants, tights, or leggings during the colder months when the winter uniform is in effect.
Why is this change being forced on all female students when in previous years, they had the possibility to choose based on their preferences?
The Deans of Students have told us that students need to dress for success and that leggings are the more professional choice. One of the reasons this change was put into place was to stop female students from wearing sweatpants in the morning. However, most female students would remove sweatpants before school.
The sweatpants were used as a way for female students to stay warm while traveling to and from school but could be easily removed when they entered the warm building. Some female students are extremely upset about this change because they dislike wearing leggings under their skirts all day, especially when being forced to do so.
We are told that leggings are being implemented for a more professional look. The original uniform looks professional with or without leggings because it does not change the overall look of the uniform, meaning it should be a student’s choice which variation of the uniform is worn.
Wearing leggings underneath a girl’s skirt could be for warmth or modesty reasons. However, now it feels like a punishment for wearing sweatpants in prior years.
Since leggings are being integrated into the uniform, it should start with the incoming freshmen instead of forcing the change on the other classes who have had the uniform a certain way since they started attending John Carroll.
Many of the female students bought or altered the skirt to fit a certain way, and wearing something underneath the skirt, such as leggings, may interfere with how the skirt looks on a student.
If a female student opts to wear leggings in the winter, that should be a personal choice because many female students have different preferences. The school should be able to accommodate the choice of the student to make them more comfortable, especially if it is something as small as if a student decides to layer their clothing.