The Code of Dress: Males

New School? New Community? New Rules? New Dress Code… One major struggle of a public school male transferring to Cape Henry Collegiate is, of course, the code in which he dresses himself. Typical male students would want to wear a t-shirt with some jeans. The transition from wearing typically whatever he wants to wearing a collared shirt, belt, and some khakis for most male students isn’t always easy. It isn’t easy because males tend to want to wear what they want to wear or what they think is comfortable. At independent schools, the dress code isn’t always easy to abide by, so Mr. Horgan (Head of the Upper School) along with Dr. Garran (Head of School), Mr. Angilly (Director of Student Life), and the board members decided to make a few much-appreciated changes.

First and foremost, they decided to lighten up the dress code by allowing guys to wear their collared shirts untucked. Males also can wear earrings. The last change included that males are able to wear sweatshirts and hoodies that do not display major advertisements. These changes were put into action during the 2015-2016 school year. Despite the changes, Mr. Horgan believes in the importance of the dress code since “Students should dress appropriate for work because Cape Henry is a work environment.” He believes that students should also “express themselves individually,” while staying within the guidelines of the Cape Henry dress code. By giving students the freedom to dress looser while still having standards, this makes the dress code more relaxed than it has ever been.

Senior Jacob Konikoff has adapted to the private school life here and thinks, “It is an easy dress code to follow and there were minor changes so that nothing really stood out.” He’s used to the casual dress because he has been attending Cape Henry Collegiate for seven years where he dressed casually with collared shirts and khaki pants or shorts.

Junior Tommie Pope, who just transferred from Norcom High School, is adapting as a new student here. While talking to him about the school itself on his first day here, the dress code entered the conversation. He said, ¨I personally do not like the dress code because it takes too long to get ready in the morning.¨ As many others have said in the past, coming from a school where they can normally slip on a t-shirt and some sweats with some flip flops to attending a high profile private school with a work-like environment, dress code is not an easy transition. It typically takes a while to wake up in the morning and get used to the fact that you have to dress appropriate for a work environment. After a few weeks, it becomes more natural and normal.

Admittedly, these changes were minor but they eased up the minds of many males here at Cape Henry. Individuality and comfort are two key issues addressed by these changes, and many upperclassmen agree the relaxed policy is a win-win for everyone. Males now can relax a bit and not worry about getting in trouble for having their shirts untucked or having earrings in.