A college today banned girls from wearing shorts known as 'hot pants' when three students who wore the new fashion were sent home to change.
The 150 girls in the business studies department at the East Berkshire College of Further Education at Maidenhead were given a lecture by Miss Pauline Callender, head of the department, about suitable clothing and the three girls were suspended for a week. Later the suspensions were lifted, but the ruling upset members of the 200-strong students union.
The chairman, Kevin Meacher, aged 17, called a meeting for Monday and said: "Many of the girls feel that the attitude of the college is rather stuffy, and they are in a militant mood. 'Hot pants' are certainly not indecent. They are a lot more respectable than mini-skirts which are allowed here."
Miss Callender said: "We are relatively free and easy with rules and regulations, but we like students to turn up reasonably dressed, as they would for an employer. This is a storm in a teacup".
Mr Joseph Martin, the college principal said: "The affair is closed. I will be talking to the girls. All will be normal on Monday".
.lcShould girls dress as they please at school? What clothes would cause a similar fuss today?
