Teacher Dress Code. These are (were, I hope!) real rules for adults… somewhere. I would not have survived, especially the pantyhose rules, I didn’t even wear them for my wedding! Did anyone have to follow any of them? Or any other crazy rules not listed? Please share!

While most of the list made me laugh at the absurdity of the dress codes, the one that really made me scratch my head was the one that said the admin was checking every 6 days to make sure teachers weren’t wearing jeans more than their allotted number of days. Really? They have the time? Shouldn’t they be more concerned about bigger things like test scores or weapons in schools?

I’m literally in the middle of getting a half sleeve tattooed this summer (that may progress to a full sleeve when I get my wife on board lol). I’m 22 years in, the only teacher who teaches my subject, and the union vice president. I’d looove for them to tell me I’m not in compliance with the dress code 😂

Most of us at my campus wear t-shirt (usually school themed shirt or college), jeans, and tennis shoes/sandals! We’re in a teacher shortage, we figure, if that is what admin. is going to pick at, we will gladly go home and not come back! Our admin. knows not to say a single word! We get our job done, what we wear is absolutely irrelevant!

Of course, we still have those who think it’s a fashion show, yet their classroom managment is out of control! Just sayin’ 🤦🏻‍♀️ Priorities 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

My favorites from this list are that curly hair must be flat ironed, faculty cannot change hairstyles all year, and no pony tails. Holy cow!

I do feel fortunate that we seem to have no dress code whatsoever, but I kind of wish workout pants (except for PE teachers) and extremely ripped jeans were not allowed! These just look sloppy to me.

I think a dress code is helpful in the design of professions. I find it appalling that see staff with article of clothing that reveal too much of their body parts. Students have dress code requirements so why wouldn’t staff? I believe that low cut tops, short dresses and skirts, etc is a distraction to the learning environment. Just my opinion. I am old school.

IMNSHO, the whole “tuck/untuck” thing is goofy. There’s an entire clothing company called “Untuckit” that has long and short sleeve shirts, dress, casual, polo…that are all designed to be worn untucked, and they are not inexpensive (most at or over $90 each).

And there are jeans that cost 2x or more than dress pants. The kind of folks that still think of denim as low-class or just for home probably also call them “dungarees”.

I teach science classes and labs and wear a lab coat when teaching. Between that and my demonstrated content mastery (I used to work in a bio research lab), I could wear jeans and a t-shirt and still have my students’ ans colleagues’ respect.

Our is basically to use common sense.

Our district tried to add attire to our evaluation. Like wearing a tie, dress or skirt makes you a better teacher! Lol

Wow. I’m floored by these rules. I’d quit if I couldn’t wear jeans and had to wear pantyhose. I try to look nice casual. Every time I try anything fancier than that I ruin my clothes with paint or playdough.

I think it is really regional. In NYC obviously a lot of style variation is regularly experienced wherever you go so there isn’t a lot of concern.

My daughter used to draw on herself in the back seat of the car when she was in first grade. We were way out in rural New York State and went to a store and the shopkeeper was horrified. My daughter told her “I have tattoos!” And the shopkeeper replied “you can’t go to school like that tomorrow! What will your teacher say?” And my daughter said “I think she will like them, they are just like her tattoos!” The shopkeeper was a little stunned.

We are the adults that are representing a profession. We need to look put together and not dress like we are cleaning our house or going out for a supermarket run.
The students have a dress code and we should be respectfully dressed.
Our dress code is no jeans unless Friday. No hoodies, No ripped jeans, no leggings daily.

I teach grades 9-12. I know I over dress but that’s my style and that DOES NOT effect my ability to maintain a positive, disciplined classroom environment. I also stress the students dress code daily and this prepares my students for the real world! You may not believe it, but professional dress does make the students feel like they can achieve better when taught by someone who cares about what they are wearing.

One of the things I love about my district is that we have no dress code, explicit or implicit, and we are treated as rational adults. I’ve heard older teachers complain that staff should cover tattoos and that male teachers should not wear earrings, but those individuals sound like they are a step away from churning butter on their front porch while yelling at kids to get off their front lawn.

While serving on a committee with some board members, the board president casually said that she’d love to have a dress code for teachers, but our union president immediately pointed out that the topic would have to be negotiated with the union and that we’d demand something in return. Board president dropped the topic, lol.

I had a principal at a middle school in Texas who required all females to wear pantyhose, even with pants, and all men to wear ties. She was an ex beauty queen. We offered to trade requirements with the men.

In my honest opinion, here’s the bare minimum standard that should be across the nation:
Jeans on just no holes or distressed
Gentlemen, polos/button up shirts except for school team shirts
Ladies, tops appropriate for school, i.e. Business Casual
NO SANDALS, like beach kind, some ladies footwear is ok if appropriate. In other words, if it looks like something wear to the beach, no
No sweats
Belts for gents required
Shirts tucked in

When I started 25 years ago…no tatts, no jeans, no facial piercings. Now, I show my tatts. Still no jeans and I’ve seen some ladies with nose piercings. :) I’ll retire and they will permit jeans. 😂

We had a new teacher tell the students that she “is the best dressed teacher” and that “all the other teachers dress like slobs.” I coach, so at least two days a week I wear khakis and a coaching shirt; Wednesdays are wellness days (wear our wellness shirts or a school shirt); Fridays are usually jeans. That leaves Mondays to dress up. Whatever. I found it more awkward and annoying that she would wear dress slacks and blazers, even when we had inservice days with no students. Plus, her classroom management was abysmal, so it really didn’t matter that she was “best dressed.”

Ridiculous. I don’t wear makeup or nail polish for religious reasons and I would sue if someone tried to force me too.

Also during virtual one charter school I was at made a rule saying we can’t wear sweats or pj pants because we needed to look professional. I continued to wear sweats and pjs every day

Make up required, lipstick must be touched up...

Leggings are too revealing under a dress but bare legs aren't.

🙄

Jeans, Carhartt T-Shirt, clean and respectable. But we are out west.