Brisbane Catholic school wanting student formal dress prior approval gains support from hundreds

A Catholic school that enforced a strict dress code at its recent Year 12 formal has gained support by hundreds of concerned parents.

Students were outraged when Mary MacKillop College in Brisbane requested photos of the girls’ gowns to be approved prior their big night on Saturday.

The school also issued a formal booklet stating strict attire rules and had photographic examples of appropriate and inappropriate dresses.

Plunging necklines, low backs below the waist and high slits were among the banned outfits.

And while students were less than impressed, many parents approved of the rules.

One person wrote that conservative dresses for formals have more class compared to other dress examples looking like ‘swimwear’.

While another said, ‘people can’t seem to cope with boundaries and rules these days. Good on the school for having some standards for decency’.

Another punter wrote it wasn’t about telling women what to do and was common sense given the age of the girls. 

‘It’s a school formal with the majority of the girls underage one would assume,’ they wrote.  ‘No issues with standards for both the girls and the boys.’ 

The college copped more criticism this week when a graduated student complained that a group formal photo showed her cleavage had been altered in a school yearbook. 

Students said the religious school issued a formal booklet stating strict attire rules and had photographic examples of appropriate (pictured) and inappropriate dresses

The 2021 graduate, Olivia Aloisi, 18, said she was ’embarrassed’ by the doctored photo, and took her gripe to the school.

The former student said she was told the change was made for marketing reasons. 

‘I went to talk to the vice principal at the time and said ”that’s just not okay”,, and she basically said, ”well, you’re standing front row, and you’re in a low plunge dress – it’s just not appropriate if we want to use that photo as marketing material for the school”,’ Ms Aloisi said. 

A Brisbane Catholic Education spokesperson described the formal event, which took place last Saturday, as an outstanding success without incident where Year 12 students were ‘both beautifully dressed and beautifully behaved.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the school and Brisbane Catholic Education for further comment. 

Mary MacKillop College claims there were no processes in place to approve formal dresses