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Cardigan compromise: Missouri House discusses 'right to bare arms' in 'ridiculous' dress code debate

State Rep. Ann Kelley (R-Lamar) said a grammatical error in the old House rules caused confusion for the clerk in enforcing the women's dress code.

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — The Missouri House attracted the national spotlight last week when a mundane discussion over House rules burst open into a heated floor debate over a women's dress code in the legislative workplace.

The 27-minute debate focused on an amendment to the women's dress code that clarified which outer garments would qualify as a suitable second layer to cover their dresses or tops. The issue appeared tailor-made for Democrats, who peppered Republicans with a string of complaints in floor debate and in media interviews that followed.

A news alert from the Associated Press went out over the wire service informing the masses about the tougher dress code women will face on the House chamber floor. Opinion writers at the Washington Post ribbed Missouri Republicans for "saving us" from the scandalous sight of barren shoulders. Vanity Fair declared the proposal would order women to "show less skin."

Democratic rhetoric described Missouri Republicans as "oppressive," painted their dress code requirements as "dangerous" and evoked images of conservative policies restraining women's liberty. 

"We are fighting -- again -- for a women's right to choose something, and this time it's whether she, how she covers herself," State Rep. Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson) said. 

Proudie challenged the initial proposal that she said would've created a new restriction prohibiting women from wearing a cardigan over their dresses.

"There seems to be an idea that if we're not in blazers in the Missouri House that women are just walking around with spaghetti straps and halter tops, which absolutely is not the case," Proudie told 5 On Your Side in a Sunday interview. "We've always had to cover our arms."

Proudie's protest landed her on cable news airwaves. MSNBC booked her for an interview to recap the controversy.

"We shouldn't really have a dress code at all," State Rep. Peter Meredith (D-St. Louis) said. "I think it's up to my constituents whether I'm acting professional in here. They are who I work for."

"You know what it feels like to have a bunch of men in this room looking at your top trying to decide whether it's appropriate or not," Minority Whip Ashley Aune (D-Kansas City) chimed in.

Republicans argued the Democratic lines of attack were threadbare. State Rep. Ben Baker (R-Neosho) called it a "staged faux outrage performance."

State Rep. Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove) said the policy would continue the practice as it was in the 1980s. 

"I looked through my grandpa's pictures the other day," Kelly said about the elder legislator in her family and concluded that "the same decorum then prevails now."

State Rep. Ann Kelley (R-Lamar) sponsored the measure. She said a grammatical error in the old rules caused confusion for the clerk in enforcing the dress code.

Credit: KSDK

"You were told a jacket is required on the House floor," Kelley said during debate. "But there are some people interpreting this [to mean that] if you were wearing a skirt or a sweater, you did not have to wear a jacket."

Kelley defended her proposal in an email to 5 On Your Side. 

"For the past 200 years, there has been a dress code on the house floor in the chamber and this is not changing," she wrote. "It is still expected members dress professionally with a jacket." 

Crowdsource fact checkers lent her an assist on social media. Twitter's "Community Notes" tab said Kelley's amendment merely sought to "clarify an ambiguous, poorly worded dress code."

Proudie contends the legislature should focus its time and attention on more meaningful priorities.

"If we would all focus on our own constituents and our own closet, I contend the quality of life for Missouri is would improve substantially," she said. 

In the end, the crisis was averted. Lawmakers reached a cardigan compromise. Members will be allowed to wear cardigans after all. 

Nothing in the House rules would prohibit members from wearing a straitjacket.

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