[Silvan]

Hey,
as a person attending a school with a strict dress code (at least strict for my country), I've got mixed feelings about this.
First I'll describe what is obligatory to wear and what's not allowed. So we have to wear white shirts every day and a tie with an ID (tie is required for both boys and girls). Jackets with hoods are not allowed. The rest should be either trousers covering ankles or skirts covering knees and tights. We can't add any accessories such as bracelets/necklaces/earrings and we're not allowed anything so-called 'related to subcultures'.

As for the pros of the dress code, I believe the biggest one is that you don't have to waste time thinking what to wear. Honestly, that's huge (after three years at this school I have no idea how to dress when I'm free to choose, during holidays for example). I just grab a shirt every morning. The only thing is that I have to iron them, ew. I definitely won't miss that.
What teachers also mention is that thanks to dress code pupils don't look at each other through the prism of clothes. But I think that if pupils wanted, they would always find a way to decide whether someone wears expensive stuff or not. Fortunately students at my school aren't usually like that.

Now, cons. Cons in my opinion mostly concern accessories and hair (and trousers/skirts) rather than shirts themselves. So:
1. Accessories. I believe not letting kids wear jewellery (to a sensible extent, obviously) is an exaggeration. I mean - come on, even bandanas aren't allowed.
2. Hair. I love dying my hair. I don't even want to dye all of it, only the endings, but I can't. Does dying my hair blue or violet mean I'm a depraved teen or what?
3. Trousers and skirts. This point is slightly more complicated, because it only concerns one particular teacher. Dress code says our garments should be neat and tidy, so alright, I won't wear my ripped jeans. But that one teacher reprimands us for more and more ridiculous things every day. The colour of my trousers - light jeans, not some vivid red or yellow (!) - is only one of the examples.
I believe my third point shows how the dress code might be abused and used by teachers/school employees to raise - I don't even know what - their self-esteem?

To summarise, I believe dress code is perfectly fine as long as it's not exaggerated.