School dress code: Top 10 offenses

Here’s a breakdown of some common fashion contraband categories.

3. The skinny on straps

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Nina Dobrev arrives at the Aug. 11 Teen Choice Awards. Many teens look to celebrities for fashion cues, but Dobrev's skinny straps and plunging neckline would not pass the dress code in many high schools.

All but one school surveyed restrict how much bare shoulder can be visible under tops. (South Eugene High School in Oregon is the outlier here, with no mention of shirts in the school's dress code policy.)

Ten of the schools surveyed ban tank tops all together for both boys and girls, while some schools allow straps only if they meet certain criteria, which vary greatly from school to school; some say straps must be at least one inch wide – one goes as far as to require they equal the width of a dollar bill – while others simply ask that bra straps remain covered.

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