To complain about what teachers wear?

[Bunchofdaffodils]

More is she being unreasonable? Visiting a friend the other day with a daughter in year 5 I think. Just moved to a new school ( New to area).
My friend suddenly went on a rant about how it wasn’t on what the teachers were wearing and should she say something about it being inappropriate? Apparently it’s things like short skirts(other parents have commented about seeing Miss Xs knickers!), high heels and being over the top, like a fashion show.
She thinks it’s not a good example to set the children? Was she being unreasonable?

We're not allowed jeans that's it!

I don't think anyone dresses inappropriately at our school. I wear a cami or a scarf if I am wearing a v neck.
What's wrong with Vans and Converse they are very comfortable. I wear flats all the time but some of the younger women wear high heels. Florals and a cardi goodness how that Headteacher doesn't come here that would be at least half the workforce.
We went to visit another school once. No one could remember much of the Headteacher's intro but we knew what brand of high heels she wore. Comments in the staff room next day were how on earth does she walk around in those all day to she'll be sorry later when she has corns, ingrown toe nails.😁 they were more suited to the catwalk.

Short skirts, fair enough but how does wearing heels cause any issue? It’s personal choice. “Being over the top” is s totally subjective judgement.
I agree.
If there's underwear on show then it's not professional.
Heels - if she can do her job then who cares?
Over the Top - group of bitch playground mums who have nothing better to do than slag off someone not dressed in the latest Hush collection

As a teacher I think some people don't dress appropriately for work. One of my colleagues regularly has a good couple of inches of cleavage out and I don't think it's appropriate for work. But the head should be having a word with those who aren't capable of dressing themselves professionally.

I look back and cringe at some of the clothing choices I made during my teaching years. But hey, who cares. The children made brilliant progress and I was well liked by children, parents and colleagues alike.

Back to academic gowns, covers a multitude of sins, and mortar boards for bad hair days. Added advantage of impressive swishing in and out of the classroom. Sorted.

I'm all for self expression, but where school teachers are concerned I'd draw the line at anything that would be considered sexy or revealing. It's unprofessional, and at the end of the day they are there to set a good example and teach children - they aren't going out clubbing. If somebody's skirt is so short you can see their knicker when they bend over then that's ridiculous. I'm not saying teachers should be in dour office type clothes, in fact I've seen teachers wear bright colours, mad fluffy jumpers, crazy scarves - all good. But letting your arse or tits hang out - not professional. Same for men, be professional. Go crazy in your own free time if need be.

I also get with some weather presenters on t.v who dress like they are going clubbing to read the weather. It looks a bit desperate to me.

Sometimes less is more, and I think if you look elegant it's more attractive anyway.

The staff should be wearing business type clothing, it's not a fashion parade and it wouldn't be allowed in a corporate environment

A school isn't a corporate environment though. Fashions have changed, men's shirts and suits are cut differently now (tighter with tapered ankles). Women no longer want to wear frumpy blouses and ankle length skirts to work.

I think short skirts are inappropriate unless over leggings. Excessive amounts of exposed flesh make people uncomfortable. But what's wrong with a bodycon dress or fitted clothes? In business environments IME most women wear fitted dresses or pencil skirts and heels.

Teaching is a practical job, you need to be able to move freely. And with primary age you're likely to get paint/snot/mud on your clothes. I think smart jeans or jeggings with a colourful jumper is ideal for teaching young children. You want to look approachable and warm, not ready to make a sales pitch or chair a meeting.

heels in secondary /year 5/6 are fine.

Heels in reception/year 1 are not fine, as they are dangerous. Small children sitting on the floor, playing games on the carpet etc, and if you catch a hand with heels, that is really nasty.

My mum used to teach students going into nursery school, pre-school and reception class placements and one thing they had to cover was dress code. She used to say that some years she had to tell them about heels/stilettos, and other years not bother, depending on how fashions changed!

Some weird ideas on this thread...

sashh 'no high heels, no long skirts, no cardigans ' ???

Obviously teachers should look professional.

No idea why florals are unprofessional though

Also not sure why teachers should wear jackets etc just 'because the children wear uniform'... The kids have to do GCSEs ... does that mean the staff have to??

It's also weird that people are suggesting that no one wears suits or dresses smartly in offices, considering a couple of weeks ago a whole host of posters were wailing about how an OP couldn't possibly wear flat, brown shoes to an interview in the city

Are the students complaining? No? Then no problem.

If a school is very strict on uniform, hair etc for the students then it should also be strict for the teachers. I'd be right royally pissed off if I was a student being disciplined for a messy tie while my teacher was wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt. Ditto if I wanted purple bits in my hair, the school said no, and my teacher had bright pink tips. Hypocrisy is unbecoming in any institution. On the other hand, if the teacher dress code is relaxed, so should it be for the students.

I teach in Italy and uniforms don't exist here. On the other hand I went to a Grammar school growing up which was very strict on uniform. Neither has had any impact on the educational results of the students.

I work in a school and know of two complaints made about members of staff and their attire. Both reasonable. One for very short skirts (I'm talking half way between thigh and knee, no tights and can almost see knickers when bent over) and one for cleavage (very big boobs, very small top!). I didn't say anything and doubt I would have if I were a parent, but some of the boys had been going home and talking about their 'sexy teachers' and how they were 'sexing it up' for the sixth formers. Not true but I can see why ridiculous rumours like this get started due to what teachers wear. I always had the thought in the back of my mind that they were pushing it a bit so don't blame parents for thinking the same.

Our (primary school) head is very relaxed about staff dress so our rule is you can wear anything as long as you can’t see up it, down it or through it.

"My children have commented how they saw a certain teachers boobs when they bent over. "

When I was at (secondary) school there was a day when all the boys were asking the teacher to come and look at their books so that she'd bend down and they'd get an eyeful. I think one of the girls told her at the end of the class.

Sethis
Somewhat missing the point that teachers aren't children.
I can wear nail varnish if I want. Pupils can't. I can wear jewellery. Pupils can't.
I never get the 'teachers should have to have the same sort of rules as students'. We aren't students. I can go off site at lunch. Y10 can't. I can use my mobile at work. Students can't.

" how does wearing heels cause any issue? "

Health and safety if they're very high.

I agree with PP that while I wouldn't dream of wearing high heels while chasing after primary school kids all day (actually I wouldn't wear them all day in any circumstances) as long as they're actually able to do their job it's really none of my business if they wear heals. If their feet hurt that's their issue, I don't think they need the rest of us policing their foot health for them.

My dd's teacher wears cropped tops so as soon as she moves her arms you can see her belly button ring. That's all Dd and her friends talk about during play time apparently!

Also I do think that teachers should just make sure that underwear isn't on show as well as additional flesh. Adopting an office dress code is fine, knee length skirt, trousers not leggings as trousers and no cleavage or bum cracks on display. Not really rocket science is it?

Outstanding Secondary here.
We dont have many young staff, we're mainly all mid 30s to mid 50s. There are a lot of vintage dresses amongst the females. A good smattering of trousers and blouse types. I usually wear leggings and tunic/dress combo. But occasionally wear skinny black jeans and a tunic or blouse. The men are all still in shirts and trousers.
The TAs have had a few risque outfits amongst the younger ones. The heatwave saw shorts, vest tops, playsuit and beachy linen kimonos with flip flops. Lots of false eyelashes too🤣 SLT did have to speak to a few.

The staff should be wearing business type clothing

Because that is entirely practical in EYFS where most of the day will be spent sitting on the floor, outside in the garden, wiping shit of a child’s arse, painting, in a freezing cold room because the door has to be open all day.
I’ll stick to legging and a long top thanks.

Maybe let's go back to gowns then.

I fancy swishing down a corridor, glowering at year 7's a la Severus Snape 😂

If a woman wear heels she can teach in all day, fair play to her. She's braver than me!!

Mostly people are sensible in their dress. It's the teachers' place of work though, they aren't students.

If the coloured hair etc is acceptable in an office, then it's acceptable in a school. We are asked to cover tattoos as much as possible, and to dress appropriately.

For me that's trousers or a pencil type skirt, blouse or top (loving boat necks, no cleavage issues) and flat shoes.

My room varies hugely in temperature, so I have to layer up/down as the day goes on.

I gave up on this thread when homeschoolers piled in for a swift kick about teachers clothing. Eh?

I think I will start a thread about health care professionals being fat, midwives who speak English as a second language and housing officers who only allocate houses to their relatives.

Bish bash bosh anyone care to join me?

Isn’t it interesting that the vast majority of these posts are talking about (criticising) what women wear as teachers. Not what men wear.

Kidding ourselves on that women aren’t judged daily for what we choose to wear.

Like claraschu, I think we should stop policing other's choices in clothes - students and teachers. What teachers and students wear has no bearing on the quality of teaching and learning and the unnecessary focus on it drives me crazy. As long as the teacher is doing a good job, who cares what they choose to wear? In most (not all) office environments the dress code is much less prescriptive than it used to be and schools should be the same.

Very true.

Maybe it would be easier if all women just wore a huge uniform style kaftan....

If a school insists that pupils wear smart, strictly enforced uniform, because they are teaching appropriate dress for a professional environment, then teachers should have a similar dress code, because they work in a professional environment.

If a school insists that pupils wear smart, strictly enforced uniform, because, you know, they are kids and we can treat them like minions and prisoners. Then it's fair enough for the staff to wear relaxed clothing. They are teaching the kids that once they finish GCSE's they too can wear normal clothes.

But surely an environment where neither the kids or the staff are too concerned about externals would be far better.

Maybe it would be easier if all women just wore a huge uniform style kaftan....

The sad thing is I can actually see some folk thinking that’s a good idea.

Instead of actually looking at their own internalised misogyny and realising that they’re in the wrong.