Being a teenage girl is all about adults constantly telling you that your clothes are «inappropriate,» even when they are nothing of the sort. I do not envy the days in my life when I was dress-coded by my nefarious theater teacher for the crime of wearing solid black leggings to the 8th grade. He made me change into extremely embarrassing ’90s pants in the costume closet, and I can still remember how badly they fit. I was also constantly dress-coded for wearing shorts because I was 5’11 and even normal-length shorts looked tiny on me. I was fighting for my life wearing pants in the 90-degree Texas heat during the first and last months of school.

While it’s crucial to learn that certain outfits are best saved for parties or dances, it can be borderline creepy to tell a teenager that she’s crossing a boundary for simply wearing a tank top or shorts.