Michigan high school student Mireya Briceno was sent home from her prom due to this "inappropriate" dress. Photo / Facebook, Mireya Briceno
A Michigan mother is demanding an apology after teachers kicked her daughter out of her senior prom for wearing a dress they say violated the dress code.
But Connie Briceno says her daughter's backless floor-length dress was far less revealing than gowns worn by other girls who were allowed to stay at the prom at Muskegon High School last Friday.
She described her daughter Mireya's initial excitement after she dressed in the US$300 blue-and-white polka dot gown and posed with her boyfriend and friends for photographs ahead of the party.
Her mother told Mlive that she thought her daughter looked "classy and elegant".
When the couple headed to the prom, Mireya wore her boyfriend's jacket because it was cold outside and then took it off once they were inside the venue, the publication reported.
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But to Mireya's surprise, after she had been at the dance for about an hour, a staff member approached her table and told her to leave because her gown violated the dress code.
The teenager headed to the parking lot to call her mother and tell her what had happened.
She said she left before asking why some students in less appropriate dresses were allowed to stay because "she just didn't want to cry in front of everybody", her mother told Fox17.
The school's principal told Fox17 that when they asked if Mireya had worn a jacket inside because she knew her dress was too revealing, she said yes.
But the teenager denied this was the case.
"I never agreed to 'breaking' the dress code," she wrote on Facebook. "That was definitely a lie."
She went on: "I wouldn't be as upset if they were fair with the rules, but they weren't. I saw plenty of people with the same style dress as me that stayed.
"I went through being embarrassed & my night was ruined."
Her mother is just as angry.
"I would like an explanation," she told Fox17. "I want to know why she was pointed out, why her and her boyfriend had to leave and why other girls were not.
"It's her senior prom, she'll never get that night back."
Muskegon High School Principal Brad Perkins told Mlive that he has only received positive feedback for the decision to ask the girl to leave.
He added that two other girls were also asked to leave but returned to the prom after changing into different dresses.
He said staff let students know the dress code before the dance and they must sign a form saying they understand it before they can buy tickets.
According to an image of the code shared to Twitter, students are allowed to wear backless dresses but cannot show any part of their midriffs.
Mrs Briceno said that while her daughter's dress did show her sides, but that other girls wore dresses with sheer panels in the front, but were not asked to leave.
The teen gets another chance to go to prom next month as she will be attending her boyfriend's at another high school, but she will not be wearing the same dress, her mum said.
- Daily Mail
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