Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Crown Heights School Warns Moms To Ditch Leggings And ‘Loud’ Nail Polish

A Hasidic girls school in Brooklyn is demanding mothers of students appear more “modest” next school year.

Some of the things the administration is forbidding? Leggings, denim and “loud” nail polish.

In a letter to parents from Crown Heights Girls’ School Bnos Menachem, director Motty Gurary explained the rationale for the changes: to “create a ripple effect in the community at large.” The local website Crownheights.info posted a copy of the letter.

The new rules require women to “completely cover” their elbows feet and neckline and refrain from wearing leggings, tight clothing or denim. “Nail polish should be conservative/soft colors,” the letter reads.

“As a group, we can make a significant difference if we try. We should not throw our hands up in despair, but rather, should unite to show our children that there is a better way,” Gurary wrote.

Going forward, applications to the school will have to be accompanied by a signed agreement — from both fathers and mothers — to abide by the new rules, though the rules appear to only apply to women.

“It should not be hard to meet these requirements, as our students need to keep similar rules,” the letter reads, “and it is imperative that the home and the school follow the same standards.”

Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.