New year brings new rules for uniforms
Students can now wear any shade of khaki pants to school.
January 9, 2020
Every change has its purpose, and every change has an impact, as was the case with the Riordan’s uniform pants policy, which has witnessed two modifications in less than a year.
The start of school year 2019- 2020 saw a rollback of the previous year’s pants policy. With a new year, comes new uniform rules. According to Brian Kelly, the Dean of Student Affairs, students are now allowed to wear any khaki pants, no matter the brand or shade.
Kelly said, “There was a set of pants [A Plus] that you had to order and that was a challenge for numerous levels, but for the kids that I saw, it was just one type of pants that maybe did not fit well or it didn’t give you a lot of variety”
“I think it’s better than just to have the A Plus pants because it was expensive. At least we can wear shorts as a bonus,” said Mathew Manzi ’22.
Stephen Koon ’20 said, “I think the new policy about pants is good because old khakis were uncomfortable and it was hard to find an appropriate size to buy. The old khakis were so baggy, the material was also very expensive. So if you get to wear your own khakis at school, it’s a good thing because some students like to wear elastic pants and not solid pants.”
Alec Douglas ’21 said, “I like it because it gives more freedom and it doesn’t feel constricted. When I was a freshman, I was like 5 feet tall and the pants were ridiculously huge on me.”
He continued, “I think that if you get any pants, as long as they fit and look good, I like it.”
Counselor Vanessa Martinez agreed, saying, “I do like that they are able to just buy whatever they want, just as long as they look nice.”
Kelly confirmed this, saying, “I think a lot of the change was to give a little more freedom, but also put some perimeters to keep the concept of what a dress code is.”
Martinez said, “The khaki pants are a part of the uniform, and I don’t understand exactly why people complain about it all the time because that is what they are supposed to wear.”
She added, “I would like that there should be some sort of policy about pants because there are like 50 shades of khaki all the time and it’s very obvious when people aren’t wearing the right pants.”
Kelly said, “The policy is going to stay for awhile. It is just a guideline to what to purchase.”
In terms of the polo, however, in January, students will have to wear a polo shirt with a Riordan logo, purchased from the online PrepShop.
“I feel good about that,” said Leo Maranghi ’21. “I would be understanding about it if they changed it back to the regular polo, but at the same time, I would be sad because I’m already used to wearing whatever has the R on it.”
He also added, “A lot of the times, polos can be uncomfortable to wear in class all day, but I like representing the R. I like how the R looks.”