It's been a growing trend over the past few years. It started out with people digging out the old sweatshirts from the back of closets that at one time were the 'must have' of the season, and wearing them to the office to get a laugh. Then it became 'Tacky Fridays' and things turned a bit competitive - who has the ugliest, tackiest attire of all? This year, the tacky Christmas dress-up option seems to be everywhere. You can actually buy brand new 'ugly, tacky' attire. I saw these T-shirts at Giant Tiger this afternoon. For the ridiculously inexpensive price of $6, it's hard not to imagine the Bangladeshi sweatshop where they may have been produced, and the disadvantaged workers who toiled to churn them out.
I'm troubled by this trend for so many reasons. I remember attending an ETFO Provincial Equity Leadership Symposium a few years ago where we had the privilege of hearing a 'Roots of Poverty' session. That was the first time that I was challenged to think differently about aspects of 'dress' at school. The example given that made the greatest impression on me that day was 'Dress down Fridays'. We were encouraged to examine exactly what we are doing when we 'dress down'. For example, when we 'dress down', what does this say to our most disadvantaged of students - the students who are lucky if they have 2 options of outfits to wear on any given day? One day a week, when we dress down, is the result, in fact, that we adopt a more casual, less put together, less affluent look? More like them, when, in fact, they have no options of dress and look like this every day? On the other hand, if you really look around at a staff on one of these days, often what you'll see is a showcase of the coolest of jeans, kickin' boots and the trendiest Ts. Cool and trendy are never an option for many children and their families. And worse, if we happen to gather in the gym and draw even more attention to our 'dress down', or worse yet, tally and compare the participation from each class - how do our struggling students feel? This challenge to my thinking affected me deeply and I haven't been able to participate in a 'dress down' day, or any other showcase of privilege, since. Further, I believe that it's important that all of us examine the underlying issues that might be embedded in some of our favoured traditions, however difficult that might be.
Dress down Friday is not the only offender in schools. What about twin day if you're the child in the class who is always left out and who has limited wardrobe choices? Sports shirt day? Favorite character day? Red and green day? In fact, any day that implies that a student can go home, look through plentiful closets or perhaps make a trip to a thrift store to create the required look. Not all of our students have those options and if, as a teacher, your goal it is to create a loving, inclusive classroom, then these types of events have no place.
On a more superficial level, I have a closet full of theme dress that I accumulated over my long career as a music teacher. These were the attention-grabbing outfits that gave kids yet another reason to be excited to walk through my music classroom door. I used these glittery wonders to motivate and engage. And it worked. And my memories are fond. I can't possibly look at these treasures today and call them tacky. So they remain secretly tucked away in the back of my closet.
And if I pull one out to wear, I'll wear it with pride and with no reference to tacky.
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