Flat?  Linguini straps?  Fettuccine straps?

I agree with you 100 per cent Chaos.  I couldn't send my child to a mainstream school.  I would have hit the roof.

If the prudish have their way, little girls and teen girls would be wearing burkhas - all in the name of freedom, of course.

These prudes that make up these dress code rules are probably the same ones who wore micro-minis back in their day....just what is wrong with spaghetti straps anyway? 

I don't get the spagetti strap rule myself, but i can tell you how it's been relayed to me. 

I teach grade one, and my little girlies are always coming to school in little sun dresses, that look cute on them.  And they're always getting sent home, or notes home, or whatever because of them.  It was explained to me that the teachers of the older students want us to instill this rule before the kids hit puberty, so that they don't have to embarrass them by suggesting that maybe they're showing just a little too much cleavage, and don't quite have the coverage they should have.  Also, there's the danger of clothing blowouts--those spagetti straps aren't very strong.  The teachers of adolescents dont' want to be in the position of having to have the argument of...well... they wore it last year....

One of the things parents need to understand is that the dress codes are usually set by parent councils.  So, if they want to overthrow or change it, don't talk to the teachers, go to a parent council meeting, and state your case.

The other fight i end up in every year is the bloody hat thing.  My position is that we want the kids to wear the hats outside at recess, in summer for sun and in winter for warmth, and if we insist they take it off at the door, rather than on their rack, they lose them.  And older kids don't want to take them off because they are embarassed by the damage it does to their precious hairdos.  Would it kill us to let them wear them indoors?  I dunno.  Some teachers feel very strongly about it.  I could care less, and I figure i've got bigger wars to win.  but i'm not in charge.