Last week organisers of a teenage disco in Kilkenny caused uproar online by issuing a ban on certain outfits they deemed ‘deplorable’.
Social media users rushed to express their outrage at the Fusion Ball management who stated on their Facebook page “Due to the deplorable dresses at the last ball it is necessary to fully enforce a knee length dress with no plunging neckline dress code for the mid-term ball.
“Keep it neat and discreet ladies.”
Hundreds of commenters rushed to convey their displeasure at the offending notice which was shared widely across the internet and accompanied by cries of misogyny, inequality and the inappropriate sexualisation of young girls - the list goes on.
But I have to say I applaud the nightclub owners for their stance – because we are not talking about grown adults being told what they should and shouldn’t wear, instead the owners of the Pegasus nightclub are insisting that the children, who are on average 15 years old, should be dressed in an age-appropriate manner.
Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon to lambast them for daring to suggest that the young girls shouldn’t wear skimpy tops with their cleavage on show or skirts so short that their modesty is barely covered.
But this is an across-the-board dress code. Boys are also required to dress in a seemly fashion and no-one has uttered a word. Shirts, ties and proper shoes have to be worn to gain entrance into the disco and by the same token, girls are asked to also dress with some decorum.
The dress code, which has been in place since the very first the Fusion Ball in 2005, states quite clearly what is required of both genders but the word ‘dress’ is very ambiguous and can be used to describe a multitude of garments - which is presumably why management felt the need to explain exactly what is and is not acceptable through both the words and accompanying photographs on their social media page.
As any woman knows, dressing up for a night out can be a minefield and feeling comfortable and confident in the right outfit can make or break an evening. But we’re talking about teenagers here and as all remember some of the more questionable garments we thought we looked good in, having a few guidelines can only be a good thing.
And to witness the queues outside any of the teenage discos up and down the country, it’s clear that a few helpful fashion hints are often in order.
While the boys all pretty much look the same in t-shirts or shirts and chinos and many girls are clad fashionably in reasonably short dresses and runners, an awful lot of outfits would literally take your breath away.
What would everyone have to say if teenage boys started turning up at their local disco wearing little more than a jock strap?
Aged between 13 and 15, some of the youngsters look like they are entering a fancy dress competition, albeit a rather risqué one – with miniscule dresses showing vast expanses of skin, towering heels (they struggle to walk so God only knows how they are expected to dance) and faces caked in make-up which not only looks terrible but is also unnecessary on their youthful dewy complexions.
Back in the day when I was a teenager, we probably looked even more ridiculous in our disco clobber – florescent accessories, ridiculously wide-hipped trousers (fetchingly called nappy pants), DM boots and the ubiquitous big perm – but at least we were decent. We were experimenting with style (ahem) but didn’t have our bodies on display.
Mostly because in those days, we wouldn’t have been allowed outside the door let alone into a nightclub with even a hint of the overtly sexual clothes many teenagers seem to get away with wearing today.
And before anyone starts going on about equality and saying why should it only be girls who are told what they can and can’t wear, let me ask you this – what would everyone have to say if teenage boys started turning up at their local disco wearing little more than a jock strap?
I’m sure there would be more than a few eyebrows raised.
So instead of hurling outraged messages at the organisers of the Fusion Ball, why not encourage your teenagers to stay classy? Steer the girls away from the Kardashian look and let them see how stunning they can be without exposing their bodies and tell your boys how gorgeous they are when decked out in a shirt and tie.
Events and venues have always had dress codes so the Kilkenny nightclub has done nothing wrong and in fact should be applauded for trying to inject a little elegance into our youngsters’ lives.
In an age where crass seems to have overtaken class, it’s nice to see someone insisting on a smidgeon of panache – and with a bit of luck it just might catch on elsewhere.
