Tube tops, tight pants, hoodies allowed at Alameda schools

ALAMEDA, Calif. - In Alameda, students returning for the first day of school are being given more freedom to decide what to wear.

It’s part of a new dress code policy that was adopted over the summer and what is being called the most permissive in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Tube tops, tight pants, ripped jeans, short skirts, hoodies, yoga pants and even pajamas are now acceptable attire. The new policy allows students and families to decide if such clothing creates a distraction in the classroom. 

The school board also hopes the dress code will reduce bullying--and body shaming--on campus.

One of the students involved in the process, Kristen Wong, an incoming freshman at Alameda High, told the Chronicle that the old policy was confusing and degrading, enforced arbitrarily by teachers and staff.

Across the country, school districts from Portland, Oregon to Evanston, Illinois, have been reconsidering dress codes, saying the policies unfairly target  females.

The policy challenges the notion that girls should be responsible for ensuring that boys are not distracted by bare shoulders or a bra strap showing, according to the National Organization for Women.