Steve Urkel, the nerdy neighbor from 90’s sitcom Family Matters, has become the inspiration for a high school fashion solution.
This unlikely fashion icon– famed for his thick-rimmed glasses and high-pant-wearing style– has inspired Westside Middle School in Memphis, Tennessee to develop an ingenious solution to a trend which has long plagued schools: sagging pants. WMCTV reports that in a bid to get students looking tidy, principal Bobby White has teachers armed with zip ties patrolling the halls for sagging pants. When a guilty student is identified, the teacher quickly fastens the zip ties to the belt loops and raises the pants up to the waist and beyond.
(For fashion advice on what not to wear in the office.)
At Westside Middle School the act is known as being “Urkeled”. And there’s even a Steve Urkel poster that sits on the student notice board as a warning to those who dare to let their pants sag. Jadarius Walton, a Westside Middle School student said, “I thought it was a joke, until I got ‘Urkeled'”.
(See photos of actual celebrity style icons.)
In defense of his strange clothing policy White said, “there’s something right about looking right, acting right, beginning to think right.” Students seem to be taking Urkeling seriously as in the first weeks one teacher had Urkeled an average of 80 students per week. But now its dropped to a mere 18.
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While here at NewsFeed we may have a soft spot for Urkel, we can’t quite see zip ties catching on in the office.