by Jake McEvoy, Arts & Entertainment Editor

The NA Dress code has often come under fire for things like its prohibition of NA apparel and arguably sexist set of rules. While some protest it for more justifiable reasons, many kids dislike the code just because it doesn’t allow them to wear sweatpants every day. However, silently looming above the irritation and sexism of the NA Dress code is something that I think is substantially more damaging to NA’s social environment – the pressure to fit in.

Let me put it like this: private schools have three options with clothing regulation – uniforms, a dress code, or no regulation (within reason.) With uniforms, every student is forced to wear the same thing, representing a sense of unity and ‘poise,’ but eliminating any form of self-expression. Without a dress code, students are free to express themselves as they please – at the risk of ridicule from their classmates, the school, or the outside world looking in to the school. In the middle of these two extremes lies a confused limbo – the dress code. In theory, the dress code should draw from the pros of these two apparel extremes. However, as I have seen through my six years of schooling at Newark Academy, the dress code tends to reflect the cons of each side of the spectrum.

Having a dress code that begins up with “Collared shirts and blouses, golf shirts…nice plain t-shirts” demonstrates my opening point well – there really is not much room for self-expression in a school that is supposed to pride itself on independence and acceptance. In the male case, most students have become accustomed to the classic vineyard vines look – and if you’re not doing that, then you’re most likely wearing a plain t-shirt. The students who make the decision to represent their own individuality through fashion often just end up breaking the sacred “appearance code” and just hoping they go unnoticed. One such student is Justine Seo ’18. Justine values her own fashion sense, as it is much more of a personal statement for her than a passive decision: “[With fashion] You get to choose how you present yourself to those around you. Putting too many restrictions on this choice denies you the ability to show others an important part of who you are!”

Justine also points out a critical flaw regarding the culture around self-expression: “When you think of something like graphic T Shirts – which can have really interesting things to discuss – I think the first thing people think is “They’re wearing a graphic t shirt on a Wednesday, oh no!” Instead of checking out what is on the shirt! As soon as people notice little things like subtle rips in pants or a tiny word on a shirt pocket, that person’s outfit turns them into a target for violation.” Not only does it make them a target for violation, but for scrutiny as well. I have seen – both through personal experience and bystander observation – that as a student wears an outfit slightly different to their usual wardrobe, kids are quick to comment. The dress code has engrained a standard list of “acceptable” clothes for kids to wear; even peers ridicule each other for expressing themselves and stepping out of those boundaries.

It is only right that, after all this criticism of my home for the past six years, I propose a beneficial solution. Here’s what I think: Right now, we have a point on the clothing regulation spectrum that lands between uniform and freedom – the NA Dress code. I think we would be better suited to finding a point in between the NA Dress code and freedom. My hope is that this shift will allow more for more self-expression and more general acceptance of self-expression. Rather than enforcing collars and bland shirts, we should focus on clean, kempt and modest (for both male and female!) clothing – Why would clean and formal jeans be unacceptable while scruffy, dirty corduroys would go unnoticed? This will allow us to keep the clean-cut look we so greatly desire as a private school, while allowing for more freedom in self-expression in the student body. My hope – and prediction – is that, soon enough, this system would promote an acceptance and even enthusiasm toward self-expression in the NA culture and quell the toxic culture of casual ridicule for those of us who choose to wear clothes who reflect ourselves as people. If we at NA continue to vocally pride ourselves on individuality and progressivism, I think it’s time that our appearance code starts reflecting these ideas.