Girl shorts that meet dress code

[oswin]

So today is DD's first day of kindergarten! But we read the school dress code and shorts have to meet the fingertip rule. She only has a few pairs of shorts that meet this rule (she's tall and has long arms). All of her shorts are athletic shorts, it's what she likes. So can anyone recommend athletic shorts that have a slightly longer inseam? Seems like if I search for soccer shorts they tend to be longer, but wondering if anyone has favorites.

[mrsGreeko]

I guarantee they don’t enforce this part of the dress code unless her butt cheeks are hanging out.

We have the same stupid rule in our dress code and my girls rarely wear shorts that meet it. They’ve never been dress coded for it. And none of the other girls at the school are meeting that rule either. I wouldn’t worry about it, again unless her butt cheeks are hanging out.

[oswin]

mrsGreeko, good to know. I have no idea how strict they are here, I mostly didn't want her to get in trouble in the first week of school. She's got perfectly normal shorts that are on the short side but don't expose anything they shouldn't. I figure I'll still buy a couple of extra pairs of longer shorts.

[achi]

How short of the dress code do her shorts fall? If it's only a little bit I wouldn't stress about it. I highly doubt they're going to go ape shit over this in kindergarten.

If you do end up buying other shorts, you could always go for boys shorts since they tend to be a fair bit longer than girls. Especially if she likes the athletic style, it's easy to find solid coloured options. They just won't likely be pink or purple.

[smock]

Dress codes like this for kindergarten really frustrate me. It's already hard to find longer shorts for girls, but now the school is demanding a bunch of five year old cover up? WTF.

My DD is about to start kindergarten, too. Thank goodness our school district just introduced an inclusive dress policy that pretty much says cover your privates and you're good. It's actually against the dress code to claim students are a "distraction" because of their clothes.

[CloudBee]

If she likes athletic shorts, I would just buy Under Armor, Adidas, and Nike in black, from the boys section. They are identical, minus the short length and the open or curved hem on the side thigh. If she ever wears chino style shorts, I would order a pair or two from Land's End. Their girls are boys are nearly identical in length, however the girls are more fitted. (Makes NO sense to me.)

ETA: Is there a parent's group on FB for her school? If yes, post your question there. But I do think it's smart to go ahead and order a few longer pairs.

[hocus2]

Justice has long shorts in 3 styles (cotton, athletic, jean). They start at size 6.

I've been really happy with their shorts to be honest and now that my daughter is older the lack of more reasonable in-seam options is frustrating. I'm fine with 3 or 5 but I consistently found 1.5 inches in stores.

[oswin]

Aug 15, 2019 14:03:56 GMT -5 achi said:

How short of the dress code do her shorts fall? If it's only a little bit I wouldn't stress about it. I highly doubt they're going to go ape shit over this in kindergarten.

If you do end up buying other shorts, you could always go for boys shorts since they tend to be a fair bit longer than girls. Especially if she likes the athletic style, it's easy to find solid coloured options. They just won't likely be pink or purple.

Some of them are just borderline. I don't even know what kind most of her shorts are because we've gotten them all from the secondhand store and it's hard to tell how old they are or find more to buy new. And unfortunately she really likes the pink and purple things, so we'll see how boys shorts go. She's pretty opinionated about her clothing. I'm not looking forward to cool weather because all last year she wore leggings all the time, but the school dress code says leggings can only be worn under shorts or dresses that meet the fingertips rule. Which is dumb, because pants vs leggings is a completely arbitrary distinction - she has thick fleecy "leggings" that are basically tight sweatpants, are those going to be against the rules? 

We're in Texas, btw, so I'm not at all surprised at these dress codes. This is the land of sex education that is extremely minimal that your parents can opt you out of (at least in my area).

[VillainV]

Honestly, I would recommend looking in the boys section. Target, Kohl’s, Old Navy, etc all have shorts (athletic and chino style) that are fairly gender-neutral in style, and there isn’t any big difference between boys’ and girls’ body shapes at that age. They may even be less expensive.

[redheadk]

Ask people you know at the school. I think DD's has the fingertip rule and I've honestly never worried about it. It's never been an issue.

[virginia]

I’m in Texas too and our schools definitely adhere to the dress codes, if shorts look too short a teacher will measure and send the kid to the nurse. We also have no leggings as pants (yoga pants count as leggings 🙄). And no sleeveless tops. They are all strictly enforced, it’s very annoying as a girl mom.
My girls just don’t wear athletic shorts to school because of it, I get Bermuda shorts from Justice, JC Penny, sometimes Costco has some that are just long enough. Or for a more comfy option they do Capri or regular leggings with a skirt.

[1yeartogo]

Aug 15, 2019 21:04:10 GMT -5 virginia said:

I’m in Texas too and our schools definitely adhere to the dress codes, if shorts look too short a teacher will measure and send the kid to the nurse. We also have no leggings as pants (yoga pants count as leggings 🙄). And no sleeveless tops. They are all strictly enforced, it’s very annoying as a girl mom.
My girls just don’t wear athletic shorts to school because of it, I get Bermuda shorts from Justice, JC Penny, sometimes Costco has some that are just long enough. Or for a more comfy option they do Capri or regular leggings with a skirt.

The no leggings as pants rule is weird to me for elementary. My daughter literally cannot wear normal pants of any kind (too skinny), so she basically only wears leggings fall-spring. I would fight a rule like that.

[abs]

Aug 15, 2019 21:04:10 GMT -5 virginia said:

I’m in Texas too and our schools definitely adhere to the dress codes, if shorts look too short a teacher will measure and send the kid to the nurse. We also have no leggings as pants (yoga pants count as leggings 🙄). And no sleeveless tops. They are all strictly enforced, it’s very annoying as a girl mom.
My girls just don’t wear athletic shorts to school because of it, I get Bermuda shorts from Justice, JC Penny, sometimes Costco has some that are just long enough. Or for a more comfy option they do Capri or regular leggings with a skirt.

Really?!  No leggings as pants?  My kid would have nothing to wear in the winter.  No sleeveless?!  It's 100 degrees why on earth not? We are in Texas and none of those apply here.

OP I would honestly not worry.  As long as the shorts look reasonable we've never had a problem.  DD wears a lot of athletic shorts and the soft cotton shorts from Justice.  Both are just above her fingertips but no one has ever said anything.  The only dress code that is consistently enforced is no spaghetti straps and no sandals on PE day.

[kath16]

basketball shorts will be generally longer than soccer shorts

[pbandj]

This continues to be a problem in the older grades, so I am always on the lookout for longer shorts. We have found some at target that are reasonable. My daughter often wears capri or knee length leggings for comfort.

Search for midi or bermuda shorts for girls:
Gap Factory - www.gapfactory.com/browse/product.do?cid=1129396&pcid=1108148&vid=1&pid=436394001

Justice - www.shopjustice.com/clothes/bottoms/shorts/P-10432?inseam-length=8%22-bermuda

Target - www.target.com/p/girls-5-gym-shorts-c9-champion-174/-/A-54153714?preselect=54141906#lnk=sametab
www.target.com/p/girls-knit-midi-shorts-cat-jack-153/-/A-54018945?preselect=53878567#lnk=sametab

[egishere]

For those suggesting boys basketball shorts would your girls actually wear those?!! I know my 7 yr old girls would say nope. I'm pretty sure we have the same rule about fingertip length but its definitely not enforced at our elementary school and from the looks at what I see hs kids wearing probably not enforced there either unless they can see butt cheeks.

[goldengirlz]

Aug 15, 2019 14:05:39 GMT -5 smock said:

Dress codes like this for kindergarten really frustrate me. It's already hard to find longer shorts for girls, but now the school is demanding a bunch of five year old cover up? WTF.

My DD is about to start kindergarten, too. Thank goodness our school district just introduced an inclusive dress policy that pretty much says cover your privates and you're good. It's actually against the dress code to claim students are a "distraction" because of their clothes.

Seriously, this. The irony of how hard it is to buy clothes for girls that don’t “sexualize” or demean them and then the intense focus on covering them up — those mixed messages are at the heart of purity culture and I’m over it. I’m glad school districts are increasingly over it too (maybe not in Texas but certainly there’s been a movement here toward “no shame” dress codes.)

That said, since she likes athletic shorts, I agree with trying the boy’s section. We often shop for boys shoes since it’s so hard to find pragmatic girl’s shoes.

[goldengirlz]

Aug 16, 2019 11:41:22 GMT -5 egishere said:

For those suggesting boys basketball shorts would your girls actually wear those?!! I know my 7 yr old girls would say nope. I'm pretty sure we have the same rule about fingertip length but its definitely not enforced at our elementary school and from the looks at what I see hs kids wearing probably not enforced there either unless they can see butt cheeks.

Yes, some (many?) girls would have no problem with this. Is it really so shocking that some kids are no longer getting clobbered over the head with the message that girls must be peak girly all the damn time?

[hocus2]

Aug 16, 2019 11:41:22 GMT -5 egishere said:

For those suggesting boys basketball shorts would your girls actually wear those?!! I know my 7 yr old girls would say nope. I'm pretty sure we have the same rule about fingertip length but its definitely not enforced at our elementary school and from the looks at what I see hs kids wearing probably not enforced there either unless they can see butt cheeks.

  My kid would wear boys shorts though I might hem them since they are so long. She's pretty much fine with any length (I prefer 5 inch or longer) as long as it is her preferred colors like blue or black.

[virginia]

Aug 16, 2019 7:41:56 GMT -5 abs said:

Aug 15, 2019 21:04:10 GMT -5 virginia said:

I’m in Texas too and our schools definitely adhere to the dress codes, if shorts look too short a teacher will measure and send the kid to the nurse. We also have no leggings as pants (yoga pants count as leggings 🙄). And no sleeveless tops. They are all strictly enforced, it’s very annoying as a girl mom.
My girls just don’t wear athletic shorts to school because of it, I get Bermuda shorts from Justice, JC Penny, sometimes Costco has some that are just long enough. Or for a more comfy option they do Capri or regular leggings with a skirt.

Really?!  No leggings as pants?  My kid would have nothing to wear in the winter.  No sleeveless?!  It's 100 degrees why on earth not? We are in Texas and none of those apply here.

OP I would honestly not worry.  As long as the shorts look reasonable we've never had a problem.  DD wears a lot of athletic shorts and the soft cotton shorts from Justice.  Both are just above her fingertips but no one has ever said anything.  The only dress code that is consistently enforced is no spaghetti straps and no sandals on PE day.

Yeah it’s very annoying. Two years ago they changed it to this, previously they could wear leggings as pants and sleeveless tops that were 3 finger widths wide. We’re going backwards over here 🙄
Its 100 degrees here and they won’t let the Elementary out for recess because it’s too hot and my middle schooler brought a sweatshirt to school today to cover her butt so she could wear yoga leggings.

[oswin]

Aug 16, 2019 12:52:17 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Aug 16, 2019 11:41:22 GMT -5 egishere said:

For those suggesting boys basketball shorts would your girls actually wear those?!! I know my 7 yr old girls would say nope. I'm pretty sure we have the same rule about fingertip length but its definitely not enforced at our elementary school and from the looks at what I see hs kids wearing probably not enforced there either unless they can see butt cheeks.

Yes, some (many?) girls would have no problem with this. Is it really so shocking that some kids are no longer getting clobbered over the head with the message that girls must be peak girly all the damn time?

Shocking, no, but I feel like it's been changing a lot. For instance, when I was a kid I was anti-girl stuff, so I'd be the one wearing long workout shorts from the boys section. But DD is very comfort focused in her clothing choices (i.e. hates jeans, nothing on her head except a hair tie, etc) and her favorite colors are pink and purple. Also she's super active and noticeably muscular for a 5yo, so she's not exactly a girly girl. We've finally entered the world where it's possible (as in not unexpected) for girls to wear "girl" colors and "girly" clothing while being strong and active. 

Meanwhile, almost every single picture of a girl wearing shorts on Target's website (shopping for shorts) you can see that they're nowhere near meeting the fingertips rule (but mostly the shorts are perfectly reasonable lengths).

[goldengirlz]

Aug 16, 2019 13:37:06 GMT -5 oswin said:

Aug 16, 2019 12:52:17 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Yes, some (many?) girls would have no problem with this. Is it really so shocking that some kids are no longer getting clobbered over the head with the message that girls must be peak girly all the damn time?

Shocking, no, but I feel like it's been changing a lot. For instance, when I was a kid I was anti-girl stuff, so I'd be the one wearing long workout shorts from the boys section. But DD is very comfort focused in her clothing choices (i.e. hates jeans, nothing on her head except a hair tie, etc) and her favorite colors are pink and purple. Also she's super active and noticeably muscular for a 5yo, so she's not exactly a girly girl. We've finally entered the world where it's possible (as in not unexpected) for girls to wear "girl" colors and "girly" clothing while being strong and active. 

Meanwhile, almost every single picture of a girl wearing shorts on Target's website (shopping for shorts) you can see that they're nowhere near meeting the fingertips rule (but mostly the shorts are perfectly reasonable lengths).

Oh, believe me, I wish there was more of a middle ground! I was just reacting to PP’s ?!?!-ing the idea that anyone would suggest the boys’ section.

[egishere]

goldengirlz, it's not shocking at all and I didn't mean for it to come off that way. Neither of my girls are super "girly" but I know they would not want to wear the same type of athletic shorts their brother wears even if they were plain black.

[mrsGreeko]

Aug 16, 2019 14:11:26 GMT -5 egishere said:

goldengirlz, it's not shocking at all and I didn't mean for it to come off that way. Neither of my girls are super "girly" but I know they would not want to wear the same type of athletic shorts their brother wears even if they were plain black.

One of my girls might wear boys shorts now in 5th grade, but she definitely wouldn’t have even considered the idea in kindergarten. And my 13 year old never would have entertained wearing boys shorts, she was very particular about her clothing from about 18 months. You’re not the only one wondering about the suggestions to just buy boys shorts.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Aug 15, 2019 13:57:23 GMT -5 mrsGreeko said:

I guarantee they don’t enforce this part of the dress code unless her butt cheeks are hanging out.

We have the same stupid rule in our dress code and my girls rarely wear shorts that meet it. They’ve never been dress coded for it. And none of the other girls at the school are meeting that rule either. I wouldn’t worry about it, again unless her butt cheeks are hanging out.

my dd’s school ENFORCES this which is a pain for my long armed, long legged 10yo

[CloudBee]

Aug 16, 2019 14:24:08 GMT -5 mrsGreeko said:

Aug 16, 2019 14:11:26 GMT -5 egishere said:

goldengirlz, it's not shocking at all and I didn't mean for it to come off that way. Neither of my girls are super "girly" but I know they would not want to wear the same type of athletic shorts their brother wears even if they were plain black.

One of my girls might wear boys shorts now in 5th grade, but she definitely wouldn’t have even considered the idea in kindergarten. And my 13 year old never would have entertained wearing boys shorts, she was very particular about her clothing from about 18 months. You’re not the only one wondering about the suggestions to just buy boys shorts.

How would they know which department they came from? Same black mesh, just longer. I’m not talking baggy past their knees like in the 90’s.

[ribollita]

My daughter refuses to wear black shorts from the girls section, lol. Pink, purple, brights only. Nothing wrong with that either- just because [some] girls like those colors, doesn’t make them bad or less than.

I would push back on the dress code FWIW and have at a camp.

[pooh8402]

This was the worst when I was in school, up through high school. I was skinny with long arms, so most shorts were not fingertip length on me. What was also BS, was that I was a cheerleader, and on Fridays, we wore cheer uniforms all day and those skirts were waaaaay shorter than fingertip. I was excited when Bermuda shorts became a thing around my senior year.

I would push back on this.

[Deleted]

My daughter is wearing the longest exercise shorts we could find in the girls department last year. They're 1'' above the bottom of her fingers, they seem long to me but they wouldn't pass that dress code. I'm so glad this isn't our dress code, no clue what she would wear.

[bugandbibs]

What about these from primary? DD2 and DS both love their knit shorts from there that are longer. We haven’t tried the mesh ones, but they come in lots of colors.

www.primary.com/shop/kids/the-performance-short?color=azalea&ref=plp_pdp_g3_6&size=4-5