Vocational Schools Take On The Dress Code

New York City fashion designers tackled school uniforms of vocational education training this year. The designers won. As a school project, budding designers received free rein to administer a full makeover to the pleated-and-plaid standards loathed by private school youngsters everywhere. In the process, the uniforms became unrecognizable, which many saw as a blessing.

"All of our models are kids, and they were thrilled with what we did," says Joanne Arbuckle, project leader and assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, a New York public school. Their comment was, "Why can't our uniforms look like this?" Why not? A cynic would reply that the designer garments were insufficiently itchy, hot and boring.

A more practical reason could be that few schools favor eye-popping purples, pinks and oranges as their official colors. Then there's fabric. How many PTA members want their kids racing around in fake fur? Even the most charming, Dalmatian-spotted print? Or colorful suedes cut into a cowboy theme? Striped Lycrabike shorts might not appeal to school-board traditionalists either--even when topped by a short, heather-blue jumper and a burnt orange, suede jacket.

Far-out by any standards, nevertheless, the chic, colorful outfits could be modified into uniforms, if a forward-thinking school chose to do it. By approving "a collection," and allowing students to mix and match pieces from it, the school might satisfy youngsters' need to express them while simultaneously setting a dress code. At least, that's Arbuckle's hypothesis, one she acknowledges seems ahead of its time. "Some people will never get it," she says with resignation. "That's why some of the uniforms kids have to wear today look the way they do."

But the definition of what clothing is safe or unsafe has broadened to an unimagined extent. A harmless pair of tennis shoes could prove fatal to the wearer if a knife-wielding classmate wants them. By the same token, the range of what's acceptable in the workplace also has expanded. Vocational teachers should understand this, even as they strive to convey the importance of situational appropriate dress.

Youngsters near heavy machinery might be barred from wearing rings or baggy clothing, for example. High-heeled shoes don't make sense on slippery floors or in jobs that require a lot of standing. A flowing scarf worn near a laminating machine could spell disaster.