Low-rise jeans, exposed pelvic areas, super-short skirts, skintight tops covering essentially nothing and wind-tousled, sexy curls are sending and selling provocative messages to viewers. And the buzz lately is that celebrity styles are trickling down into the daring dressing habits and body images of high school and middle school students in Los Gatos and Saratoga.

Because of such styles, Los Gatos High School students have been putting the finishing touches on a revised dress code that will go into effect next fall and has finally been given the OK by the school's administration. Los Gatos Principal Trudy McCulloch says the original dress code—written by staff members—hadn't been changed in about three years and was difficult to enforce. That's why McCulloch says they decided to seek student input.

"You'll find that many educators like it when it's cold outside, because as it gets warmer and warmer, you see less and less clothes," McCulloch says. "It's something we've been fighting for many years."

Los Gatos sophomore Caitlyn Horton says the previous dress code wasn't enforced at all, so students made the code more realistic, to fit with styles on the racks of Bebe or inside the cover of Cosmo's latest edition.

"It came from what we thought was more appropriate, instead of what our teachers thought was appropriate," Caitlyn says.

Along with classmates, Caitlyn revised a part of the code related to midriffs. The revised code allows a "reasonable" part of a midriff to be exposed, but does not permit showing bellybuttons.

"If I can see your hip bones, it's too short," says Los Gatos Assistant Principal Dan Fowler, who monitors dress and grooming standards.

Fowler asked students involved in dress-code revision to think about how they would dress in a workplace. He reminded them he's required to wear a shirt and tie on the job, except for casual Fridays. Fowler's motto, as evidenced by a sign in his office, reads: "Common sense is authorized." See-through clothing, suggestive and revealing undergarments and excessive cleavage are unacceptable, Fowler says, with the exception of bra straps, which can show.

"We had to make it so there weren't any gray areas of how you were violating the dress code," Caitlyn says. "We changed it to fit what's out there."

Enforcement difficult

But what is constituted as "reasonable or inappropriate" is still left to the discretion of administrators at both high schools, and Fowler says no matter how the dress code reads, it's still difficult to enforce.

Recent crazes among Los Gatos and Saratoga students include Australian Uggs (boots), Playboy bunny purses and T-shirts on females depicting a Buddha in the breast area featuring the words, "rub me." Guys who "sag" (let boxer shorts hang out of their pants), girls who wear backless or strapless tops (also known as tube tops), or any students wearing shirts and clothes that depict profanity, alcohol, tobacco and drugs or that promote gangs or hate are violating the Los Gatos dress code.

"You can't sag, but they don't enforce it," says Los Gatos sophomore James Ashton. His buddy, sophomore Jonathan Moultrup, says he doesn't believe girls in short skirts and low-cut tops are a distraction during class.

"If a girl wants to get noticed, she'll get noticed," he says.

One warm school day, Los Gatos senior Monika Krach, 18, admitted her brightly colored, striped tube top from Banana Republic wasn't in accordance with the dress code.

"I've already been talked to [by administrators] and asked to put a jacket on," she says. "But it's too hot out today."

Saratoga freshman Sean Nasiri joked around with his buddies during lunchtime, saying that most girls—not all of them—can get away with wearing less clothing to school. Sean says attractive girls will always get noticed, regardless of what they wear.

"The distraction is always going to be there," he says.

Saratoga Assistant Principal Brian Safine says he rarely hears complaints about the school's dress code from male students. Safine also stressed staff members have to exercise caution when disciplining improper or disruptive attire.

Safine says male staff members often ask female staff members to intervene when dealing with scantily clad female students, since it can be an uncomfortable situation. Violators are generally pulled from class discreetly, instructed to put on additional clothing or required to call home for a sweatshirt or pair of jeans.

Most students say they've seen classmates asked to leave a classroom, put on a lab coat or add a layer to an outfit—still others admit it's happened to them.

"It's important for students to know we do hold a higher standard than what's being force-fed in mainstream pop culture," Safine says. "It's shameful that students are led to believe they can only look and dress one way."

Clothes hard to find

Students complained about the difficulty of finding clothing in local shopping venues that they can actually wear to school. Los Gatos sophomores Stephanie Girsback and Pauline Chow enjoy shopping at Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe in Westfield Shoppingtown, two contemporary stores that cater to young women shopping on budgets.

Current styles include flowy, tiny skirts; layered and off-the-shoulder tanks; whisker-washed denim; chunky shoes; bright-colored tops and bottoms; studded, decorative belts; and purses instead of backpacks. These styles, paired with modern hairdos and heavy doses of makeup, come straight from teen magazines like YM and Seventeen. But high schoolers, especially at Saratoga, also frequently don pajamas and sweats to wear to class.

"I don't know where they're shopping," says Saratoga parent Agnes Gregorian. "If you really look in the right places, there is everything out there. Marketing is such that there is always something to cater to anyone's needs."

Gregorian, who grew up in boarding school wearing uniforms, says that she might have a conservative, unpopular perspective but if students look hard enough they can find decent attire that doesn't take away from their own individuality. Gregorian says students need to be aware that they attend an educational establishment to study for academic purposes.

In contrast, Saratoga parent Debi Schwartz says students don't have many options.

"It's hard for these kids to find cool clothes that actually cover themselves," she says. "That's not the style these days, so they are not left much choice."

Schwartz doesn't allow her daughter, Elise, to go to school showing cleavage or her midriff. She says today's culture—from fashion manufacturers to advertisers—encourages students to wear in-vogue and sometimes outrageous outfits.

"It's our fault we seem to be so desensitized to so little clothing," she says.

But Elise exercises good taste and judgment and is fairly compliant with her mother, Schwartz says, so she doesn't have to worry. Elise is more interested in blending in at school, Schwartz says, than standing out.

Saratoga High's dress code is similar to that at Los Gatos—no visible underwear, no sagging and required spaghetti straps, to name a few requirements. But students like junior Chelsea Young believe it's the job of a parent or guardian to enforce proper attire—it's not the school's responsibility.

"People get pretty decked out for school," Chelsea says. "It's kind of ridiculous. People spend a lot of money on clothes."

Deviating from the norm, Chelsea says she tries to develop her own style by shopping at Goodwill or having her mom make her clothes.

Saratoga Assistant Principal Karen Hyde says uniforms are not supported in the district since the schools do not face gang issues or serious financial conflicts between "haves" and "have-nots." But Hyde said there are still plenty of kids who can't afford "fabulous clothes."

She says the key to a dress code is that it has to be enforceable. Hyde noted that school dances and the start of spring will cause a slippage into patterns of poor or promiscuous dress. It can be a tough call to send students home or turn them away from a school function, Hyde says, especially if parents don't agree with her "Sister Mary Karen" speech and traditional values.

A trip back in time through Saratoga's class photographs depicts a fluctuation in skirt lengths and styles over the years. The 1960 dress code prohibited girls from wearing patent leather shoes, "love beads" and Levi's. Boys had to tuck in their shirts and wear belts. And if a girl got a run in her stocking, she had to go home and change.

Body-image concerns

Another dilemma with fashion today, Hyde says, is that everyone doesn't fit into a size zero at stores like Hollister, American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie & Fitch.

"A&F doesn't have anything that fits you unless you're miniscule," Hyde says.

Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia have persisted at both schools through the years. Modern sirens like Charlie's Angels, Madonna, Jessica Simpson and A&F models continue to project slender ideals to students in 2004.

As part of the Los Gatos High School diversity task force, a group of students gave a presentation to the faculty members about body image and eating disorders. The group presented alarming local data about body images, with percentages of dissatisfaction with body image higher in some cases than national figures. The group surveyed English classes to find that 40 percent of female students wished they looked different, and 28 percent of females thought they were too fat. Only 5 percent—or 27 female students—liked the way they looked. Pressures were induced by the media and the opposite sex and were also self-perpetuated.

"For the people who have good bodies, they want to show it off," says Los Gatos senior Chelsea Starr. "But for people who don't fit that mold, they think that's what you're supposed to look like."

Chelsea says some teachers were surprised by the results, but many knew body image was a problem. While the statistics weren't as striking for males, the "reality check" demonstrated the significance of the issue and the need to promote healthy body images at school.

"The more risqué the styles are getting, the worse our body images are getting," says Los Gatos senior Kathryn Hodgman.

Kathryn said students shouldn't go to extremes such as not eating before dances just to look thin. Chelsea said the group is hoping to see healthier food options for sale during lunch as well as raised awareness around the problem for both teachers and parents.

"The standards for what is beautiful have really changed," says Los Gatos senior Sean Delaney. "Marilyn Monroe was a size 14, and she was considered to be really beautiful."

It starts in middle school

But the problems start before high school. While words like "slut" or "hoe" are carved across the front of Falcon and Wildcat lockers and dress-code infringements escalate in high school, Redwood Middle School Principal Beth Polito says dress issues can be fostered at a younger age. So Redwood has an extremely strict dress code.

Undergarments are not allowed to be visible. Spaghetti straps aren't allowed and neither are bare midriffs. Skirts, skorts and shorts must be of fingertip and knuckle lengths. For young men, sagging pants aren't permitted and neither are sexual- or alcohol-related shirts.

Raymond J. Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos adheres to similar dress conduct, according to Principal Ken Lawrence-Emanuel.

If students violate the rules, Polito and Lawrence-Emanuel have consequences like warnings, asking a student to change into a physical education uniform and having a parent bring a change of clothing.

As for middle school students who change into something racy once they get to school, even Polito says she once did it as a teenager. As a result, she knows what to look for to prevent it from happening.

"We know the tricks of the trade," she says.

When Polito monitors parents dropping their children off for school in the morning, she notices some students who will fix their outfits upon seeing her.

"Parents really appreciate the fact that we are willing to enforce the dress code. They want the backup," Polito says.

But for the most part, Polito says, her students comply with the dress code. They will be rewarded for that compliance at the eighth-grade graduation on June 11. As long as they have something covering their shoulders for the ceremony, girls will be permitted to wear dresses with spaghetti straps—attire, that by next fall, will become just part of their everyday wardrobes.