Strutting down the hallway with not a care in the world, girls of all ages have been swept up in the epidemic: crop-tops.
A “crop-top” is a shirt. But not really. It’s more a piece of fabric. It doesn’t quite make it past the belly button. It makes an effor to cover up, but fails miserably. The fact is that the reemergence of the 90s crop-top craze is back. More and more, girls are marching down to Urban Outfitters or jumping online to buy the $10-$60 controversy before throwing it over their heads and bounding into school.
Teachers and students alike struggle to come to a conclusion as to the appropriateness of these gutsy tops. There is a significant consensus that crop-tops are fashionable when worn on certain occasions. However, there is an increasing number of teachers throughout StaplesHigh School are finding crop-tops to be inappropriate for a school environment. For school, the shirt should probably reach the waist.
Staples Secretary, Maryann Garcia, agreed with the overall sentiments of teachers and administrators. “There is a time and a place for everything. School is not the right place for crop-tops,” she said.
Students seeing eye to eye with the administration is a rare occasion in high school, but crop-tops have quickly become an exception. Many female students also took arms against the glorified belly shirt, stating that it is “summer attire” and “weird for school.” For someone like Sarah Rakin ’17 who cannot stomach crop-tops, there is no holding back.
“I hate crop-tops. They’re too expensive for a piece of clothing that isn’t even that flattering,” Rakin said.
Guys, however, called Rakin’s view to question. Whether a freshman or a senior guy, crop-tops seem to be a fan favorite. In fact, crop-tops are found to be so flattering, that it can cause a girl’s appearance to change drastically. Guys are finding a girl pulling off a crop-top to be a magic trick. Someone who may not be attractive becomes instantaneously better looking by putting on these magic shirts.
“It can be a game-changer in how a girl looks. The double-take effect is common practice. They can be a boost or a detriment to appearance,” Alec Johnson ’14 said.
Johnson’s sentiments hit most boys at StaplesHigh School right in the breadbasket. Yet crop tops have the administration on the prowl. Page 64 of the student handbook states, “Attire should be safe, appropriate to the activity, and not distracting or disruptive of the educational program.” The administration finds crop-tops more often than not to be a violation of this code.
“Crop-tops become a violation simply because they make a student or even the person who is wearing one feel uncomfortable. With these tops, teachers and students alike have to make a conscious effort not to be misconstrued for sexual harassment,” Principal John Dodig said.
Even so, a long as students are well behaved, Principal Dodig sees no reason to implement a dress code, because there are other priorities of greater importance; so it looks like crop-tops are here to stay.
“Controversy or not, I guess if you can’t beat ‘em, you’ve got to join ‘em.” Jason Bernstein ’17 said. “The wave is here, we should all start wearing crop-tops.”
