School Dress Codes

School dress codes are general rules that govern how students should dress at school. Unlike school uniforms (or hard dress codes), which require a specific outfit to be worn, school dress codes, as examined here, delimit students’ choices of what they can wear to school. Many schools also have more specific dress codes for certain occasions, such as during physical education, yearbook photos, and dances. Dress codes are common in Canada and the United States and have been the source of significant, recent public debate in these countries. European and Nordic countries frequently do not have dress codes or uniforms, although school dress codes have been emerging in some countries, such as France. Most other countries in the world require school uniforms.

In recent years, a ...