A Student Was Reportedly Reprimanded for Wearing a Shirt That Showed Marilyn Monroe’s Shoulders
A student in South Ogden, Utah, reportedly received a dress-code violation not for her outfit but rather for the dress that Marilyn Monroe — who was pictured on her sweatshirt — was wearing. According to a report from Fox 13, a 13-year-old student at South Ogden Junior High was sent home from school last week as a result of an image on her top, featuring the late actress and the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
In the image, Tupac stands by Marilyn Monroe, who is wearing a black off-the-shoulder dress. The dress, as it turns out, would have been against dress code, and, as a result, the teen was reportedly reprimanded for the violation. When the teen's mother, Katie Fabert, challenged the vice principal on why the sweatshirt was not approved, he reportedly explained, “If Marilyn Monroe on the shirt isn’t in South [Ognden Junior High’s] dress code, then the shirt isn’t in South’s dress code.”
Fabert describes the vice principal's interaction with her daughter as somewhat confrontational on his part, explaining, “He just kind of got in her face, and I just kind of looked over at her — and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. She added, "I was like, 'Alright, let’s go.'"
After the teen took the following day off from school, her mother told the news outlet that the had principal called her to say that the shirt, in fact, did not violate the school’s dress code policy, promising to review the guidelines with the teachers and staff. Her issue, though, is the way in which the situation was handled, telling Fox 13, “This whole thing just got out of hand. It was a sweater, and they made it something … and she felt bad,” adding, “I mean, it’s something that she really loved.”
In a statement to Fox 13, the school said it was still reviewing the situation, writing, "We did have an issue yesterday with a student wearing a shirt that an employee thought was in a violation of the dress code. The student was asked to wear something different. The principal is in the process of reviewing that decision. We will work closely with the student and their family to appropriately resolve the matter."
Teen Vogue has reached out to both the school as well as to Katie Fabert for comment.*
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