Honor Code Fashion

 I went around campus looking for people wearing outfits that I found interesting. I did this because I read a short history on the Honor Code here at BYU called "Ernest Wilkinson and the Transformation of BYU's Honor Code, 1965-71."

Wilkinson made the Honor Code as a response to the counter culture movements of the 60's and 70's. where hippies became the en vogue style. Wilkinson was a strict religous-right conservative who  took a McCarthy view to his Presidency here at BYU.

He focused his original Honor Code on appearances getting rid of beatnik-like styles on campus. He would also require women to wear dresses or skirts. He had a group of students who acted as secret police reporting violators. All in all I think that it was these actions that began the LDS youth culture's attitude of bending rules.Wilkinson had to always fight against students finding loopholes in his Honor Code.

I wanted to look at fashion on campus to see what students do
to abide by the Honor Code while being fashionable since what is fashionable isn't always Honor Code worthy. I came to two realizations.

1. Most men dress like I do when I wake up 15 minutes before class is supposed to start. That is they wear a BYU shirt and jeans. Most men try don't try to put themselves together, which isn't good in my opinion.

2. Many fashion forward women on campus do a lot of rule bending to abide by the Honor Code. Not to say it's bad because I have been consistently against the idea of an image based Honor Code and I'm not a huge fan of the idea that women should or need to dress modestly. The Honor Code is what it is and the rules are being bent by many.

 Another thing I learned is that I will never be a good photographer. My Dad's side of the family has this weird genetic disorder that is similar to Parkinson's that get's worse as we get older. It was really hard for me to take pictures of people in the moment.

These five photos were people wearing outfits I found to be interesting and followed our absurd Honor Code standards.