When I was a kid I was obsessed with being cool. I always wanted to have the in clothes, the in shoes, and whatever all of the other kids had. But I wanted to go one step further, I wanted to have the things they didn't have yet - the latest upcoming trends. I wanted to be a trendsetter. So, I was really excited when I got an email - in sixth grade - from this company that said they would send me these free clothes, and I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was going to be the new trend, and nobody else would have these clothes yet. I was really excited about it. I responded, told them how excited I was - I gave them my home address, which might have been a mistake, but anyway... I got these clothes in the mail, which is a miracle that this wasn't actually a scam. I tried on the clothes and I was so excited because they seemed so different from what everyone else in my class was wearing. I don't remember exactly what made it different - but it made me feel more adult. I had broken my arm at the time, so my mom had to help me with getting dressed every morning. I showed her the clothes and even she was excited, she thought the outfits were really cute, and somehow I managed to get away with not telling her I'd give a strange company my address. I went to school, and all of my friends seemed really excited about this outfit too... but then I was sent to the principals office. I couldn't figure out why, I'd only been at school for a couple of minutes.
The principal told me I had to be sent home because my outfit had broken our school dress code and was too 'provocative.' I couldn't understand what he meant. I didn't see anything wrong with my outfit - it was really just jeans and a loose, patterned shirt. The jeans weren't even ripped, something that kids had gotten reprimanded for but never sent home over. I asked him what it was about my outfit that was too provocative, but he wouldn't answer and my mom was called to come and pick me up. When my principal filled her in she was livid. She couldn't understand why my outfit was coming under fire when no part of me was exposed. The principal, after much berating, finally told her that my shirt had exposed too much of my shoulder, in a way that could be considered inappropriate. I don't know why, but I can't remember what happened after this point in the conversation. I went home, changed, and came back to school, but I don't remember telling my friends about what had happened, or wearing the rest of my new trendy clothing. I was too embarrassed. To this day I spend a lot of time picking out my outfits. I worry more about my outfits now, but I think I'm worried for the wrong reasons.
~Anonymous