Updated. The first time I read this, I thought it was parody: Independent Brigham Young University publication The Student Review reports that BYU-Idaho has banned skinny jeans as part of its honor code guidelines against "form-fitting clothing." Skinny jeans: trousers of the devil? Don't tell Mitt Romney. 
 
 "It's useful for us to realize that fashions will come and go. There will always be some tempting new style," University Vice President Henry J. Eyring explained in September. Fun fact: According to Wikipedia, Eyring is a member of Romney's extended family. 
 
 Anyway, I'm 95% sure that this Student Review article is not a joke, just a straightforward dispatch from the strange, sexless world of Mormon higher education. There's a 5% chance I just don't get Mormon humor, though. [BYU Student Review, image via Gap.com] 
 
 Update: BYU-Idaho's skinny jeans kerfuffle is, indeed, real. After I requested a comment from Eyring, he responded twice, and looped his two BYU-Idaho colleague Kevin Misayaki into the conversation. 
 
 from: Henry Eyring 
 
 to: Maureen O'Connor 
 
 cc: Kevin Miyasaki 
 
 date: Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 5:43 PM 
 
 subject: RE: Gawker Media Question: Skinny Jeans Dear Maureen: I appreciate your interest in BYU-Idaho. I'll share your questions with my colleague Kevin Miyasaki, who will know the answers better than I. Thanks so much, Henry 
 
 from: Kevin Miyasaki 
 
 to: Maureen O'Connor 
 
 cc: Henry Eyring 
 
 date: Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 6:29 PM 
 
 subject: RE: Gawker Media Question: Skinny Jeans Dear Maureen: Thank you for your concern and interest. I hope my response satisfies your question, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. We have not identified "skinny jeans" as a specific violation of the dress and grooming standard. We are aware of the incident and the Student Honor Office is working with the Testing Center to address the issue. The wording in the BYU-Idaho dress and grooming standard regarding formfitting clothing is as follows: 
 
 "Clothing is inappropriate when it is sleeveless, strapless, backless, or revealing. It should not have slits above the knee or be formfitting." The foundation of this standard comes from "For the Strength of Youth" which states, "Immodest clothing includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and other revealing attire. Young women should wear clothing that covers the shoulder and avoid clothing that is low-cut in the front or the back or revealing in any other manner." The Testing Center has not made any new standard, nor has there been a ban of a particular piece of clothing. The effort of the Testing Center as well as with other employees and students is to encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code. I hope this is responsive. If not, please feel free to contact me. Kevin Miyasaki 
 
 Student Services and Activities Vice President 
 
 200 Kimball 
 
 Rexburg, ID 83460-1640 ||||| New policy receives mixed reactions --- 
 
 *UPDATE* 12/7/2011 BYU-Idaho responds to testing center policy on skinny jeans 
 
 Trends come and go, but the skinny on BYU-Idaho’s most recent addition to the honor code shows one trend going more quickly than some students would like. 
 
 Students at Brigham Young University, Idaho recently encountered a new sign in the university’s testing center that read simply, “No skinny jeans.” 
 
 The popular clothing item is something many students at Brigham Young University would not think twice about; however, it has become a somewhat polarizing issue at BYU’s Idahoan affiliate. 
 
 In a September question-and-answer session students and faculty, Advancement Vice President Henry J. Eyring was asked whether skinny jeans are in violation of the university’s honor code, which states that clothing should not be form-fitting. 
 
 “It’s useful for us to realize that fashions will come and go,” Eyring answered. “There will always be some tempting new style.” 
 
 But are skinny jeans the gateway style to more scandalous attire, or a legitimate clothing option with a bad rap? 
 
 “Skinny jeans are really form-fitting, like jeggings, which are technically leggings,” said BYU-Idaho student Rachel Taylor. “They show a lot of curves.” 
 
 Taylor said she knew of one student who had been asked to leave the university’s testing center because she was wearing skinny jeans. 
 
 “Some girls wear skinny jeans that are just too skinny … so they ask us not to wear them,” she said. 
 
 Other students disagree, though, saying the ban on skinny jeans goes too far. 
 
 “I think it is pretty ridiculous,” said BYU-Idaho student Zach Cooper. “We already aren’t allowed to wear shorts or flip-flops, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if they banned skinny jeans as well.” 
 
 “This school is crazy.” 
 
 Despite the alleged craziness, Cooper said he has come to accept the strict dress and grooming standards. 
 
 “It’s nice that everyone is dressing relatively nice,” he said. “At first I was rebellious … but I’ve adjusted and come to accept it. It’s not really a burden anymore.” 
 
 In fact, it can be helpful at times. 
 
 “Some girls are trying to wear skinny jeans three sizes too small — it’s a good idea to not wear them at all,” Taylor said.
– Sorry, hipsters, your style may be too risqué for Brigham Young University's Idaho affiliate. That location of the Mormon school is tussling over skinny jeans, after the school's Student Review reported Monday that the university's testing center had begun a campaign against them, complete with a flier posted in the center reading, "The 'Skinny Jeans' style is NOT appropriate attire." That article implied that the jeans had been banned from the school, but a BYU-Idaho VP says that isn't the case. The honor code already bans form-fitting clothing, but "we have not identified 'skinny jeans' as a specific violation of the dress and grooming standard," he said in an email to Gawker. "We are aware of the incident and the Student Honor Office is working with the Testing Center to address the issue." And it's apparently really an issue: One student tells BYU-Idaho's campus paper, the Scroll, that the testing center wouldn't let her take a test there last month. "I got in line and the guy said that I couldn’t take a test because my pants were too tight,” says the senior. "I thought he was joking at first." (The center has apparently since loosened its policy.) The skinny jeans issue has occupied a gray area for a while—when asked about them in September, another university VP said, "It's useful for us to realize that fashions will come and go. There will always be some tempting new style."