Hello! We’re Mirella and Ella, Westridge juniors, and for the past 12 days, we were drastically out of uniform. The Westridge uniform is clearly defined in the student handbook and consists of a white or black t-shirt and khaki bottoms. In our time at Westridge, the administration’s strictness on uniforms has dwindled—something we’ve grown to appreciate. Before this experiment, Ella occasionally wore colorful sweatshirts and leggings, while Mirella usually wore a tank top or sweatpants under her skirt.

Sometimes, Ella would forget a skirt entirely, leaving it in her car or at the day-before’s flag football practice. At some point, Mirella noticed that if she wore anything with enough confidence, she wouldn’t be dress-coded. While the occasional student or two or a teacher commented, there were never any repercussions for being out of uniform. 

So we wanted to see how far we could go. We went undercover for as long as we could to be out of dress code. We started small with white graphic tees and pants under our skirts, but our experiment quickly progressed to us wearing outfits no other student on campus would dare to wear. 

Here’s what we learned, heard, and experienced:

• Teachers will comment on your uniform in a playful way. They’ll laugh after they say, “Where’s your skirt?”
• Some teachers might go on a spiel about the importance of the uniform—indirectly directed at you.
• Or, some teachers would completely disregard the “out-of-dress-code-ness” and compliment your outfit!
• You can get away with any top as long as you have a khaki skirt underneath.
• Outerwear is never commented on. 
• One quote that we got from a teacher when we were taking photos of our outfits: “Are you documenting your fashion or are you documenting your uniform?”
• When you try to tell a teacher your green floral skirt is in dress code because it’s a skirt in Westridge colors, they say, “I don’t mind that you’re out of dress code. I do mind that you’re lying about it.”
• After a while, people would ask us about the other and say, “Have you noticed how out of dress code she has been too?”
  • “Ella, have you seen what Mirella has been wearing lately?”
• No member of the administration ever commented.
• Coordinating more ridiculous outfits every day is hard. 

After a while though, we began to miss the comfort of our khakis, so we left the floral and neon prints behind, at least until summer arrives.