Florida teen says she was denied entry to prom for wearing a suit
Sophie Savidge says she was told her suit was in violation of Mason Classical Academy’s dress code when she arrived for prom.
A Florida teenager says she was denied entry to her public school’s prom because she wore a suit, which the school says violated its dress code for formal occasions.
Sophie Savidge, a 16-year-old junior at Mason Classical Academy, a top-ranked charter school in Naples, arrived at Vanderbilt Country Club for the school’s prom Saturday evening with her mom, Holly Savidge, and friends. But Sophie was turned away, Holly said, after Nissa Mitchell, the vice principal, told them Sophie’s suit violated the dress code. Holly said Sophie was told she could come back to the dance only if she went home and changed into a dress.
“I was so upset,” Holly told NBC News on Wednesday. “I said, ‘Sophie doesn’t wear dresses. She doesn’t like to wear dresses — it’s just not her.’ And [the vice principal] said, ‘Well, unfortunately, those are the rules.’”
Sophie Savidge had previously worn a suit to her school's Valentine's Day dance.Sophie said the incident made her nervous because she had never spoken to someone from her school’s administration. “But I was also really shocked, because I didn’t think that it was going to be a problem,” she said of wearing the suit.
Mason Classical Academy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. However, it said in a statement that it has “clear dress code guidelines for all dances.”
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