I've worked in environments where suit and heels were the norm and now at 43 I work in an environment where I can wear shorts in the summer and jeans and sweaters in the winter.
I work in IT and occasionally have to go into situations to find network connections that can be rather messy. And in the fours years I've worked for this company they've never figured out climate control.
I work more efficiently in comfortable clothing, and while not every day has me on the front lines of tackling malfunctioning equipment I don't have to worry about ruining something nice when I do.
I'm wearing shorts and a loud, Hawaiian shirt. (I take my tag line quite seriously!)
Great!!! Nothing is more annoying that having some over paid corporate executive decide that his minions must spend a fortune on clothing worn no where else in order to receive their chump change of a check...
My spouse works for a company with such a code..she makes about $25K a year yet is expected to present a 'professional' (read expensive) appearance on her piddly salary.
If a company wants their employees to wear expensive wardrobes, they should pay a wardrobe allowance. The employee gets nothing at all from the scam.
Now lets speak of lunatic office managers who keep the office temperature at 65% winter or summer...because their offices have windows and they get warm...poor babies.
I work in the IT field and dress seems to getting more relaxed every year. Monday I worked in nothing but boxers and a t-shirt.
(Remotely from home of course)
"Tie Tuesdays": that's an interesting concept, especially since, as a high school teacher, I have for 29 years worn a suit every Wednesday. I find the wide variety of standards for business dress fascinating and liberating. Unlike some on here, I am also intrigued by the amount of flesh and underthings people are wont to display (I said "intrigued", not "bothered").
All other days of the week, I wear black 501s, a golf- or broadcloth shirt, and comfortable shoes. The Wednesday suit thing started out as a way to mark the middle of the week with something special to wear. Hey, it's like anything else these days, especially here in the West: you could be at a car race, church, a restaurant, or a wedding -- and you're sure to see someone dressed in high fashion and someone else in hiking clothes. It's not really much of an issue any more; and I'm OK with that. I think everyone has a choice on how "impressive" they want to be; and I really believe in "dress for success". People do notice.
That reminds me, has anybody lately "dressed up" (suit/tie - fancy dress for ladies), to go on a date? I know my wife and I tried it a few times on "date night", and got the funniest stares
...maybe it's because we were at the Sizzler...
The necktie is the mark of the assistant night manager at Burger King. It is the collar of a wage slave. It's an accursed remnant of the bloody rags the Huns wore around their necks as they raped and pillaged their way across Christian Europe.
Now that I am a partner in my organization, I wear only Tommy Bahama shirts. The people who work for me wear the dog collars. It's good to be king.
-ccm
Depends on what I'm doing...
When I was in Iraq, the psycho site lead ALWAYS wore khakis. I wore jeans every single day while I was in the AOR, all 366 of them.
Now it depends. At this time I wear jeans just about every day with a collared shirt simply because there is a chance that I'll be working on cabling or fiber runs. But if I'm sure I won't be, like when I'm building a server or something in that vein, I'll wear khakis from time to time.
I try to dress halfway decently; if not, I just don't feel like I work as well or am taken seriously when dressed like a slob.
Exactly, and it will cycle back in. And out again. I think my BIL would like to wear a suit, at least once in a while, but it's polos and casual dress pants and he conforms.
It's amazing how stable the format of the male suit has been. Look at old movies from the 40's. Someone wearing one today would not look all that out of place. When something becomes that static for so long, death cannot be far behind.
I'm in IT and I wear a tie 3-4 days a week. Maybe a quarter of the guys in the office do. We seem to get the majority of the promotions, but that may just be a coincidence.
When I started, the women would wear dresses and heels and makeup and do something nice with their hair. Sue me, but I miss it. The flip flops and grunge look just isn't one-tenth as appealing to the eye. Well, I suppose the nice look is more work with less comfort, so it would be selfish of me to expect it. But still, does aesthetics count for anything anymore?
Ain't THAT the truth.
Shalom.
bah. dress codes are womens way of saying "remember 20 years ago when you guys made more than us? now we make sure you have to spend more money on clothes"
guys around here have to wear nicer clothes, i wear a button up and khakis everyday. but the women, aside from the fact that not a single one knows what size/ age she is, can wear anything but plain jeans (coloured jeans are ok). so i see the women wearing halter tops, miniskirts, capris, shorts, half of them will be in something sleeveless, low cut or both, and there's the couple large women that wear stretch pants. mon-thurs i'm expected to have my tats covered up, but any woman can wear clothing that reveals her ankles and any tattoos around them.
what bugs me most is my office is secure, with NO public contact. should be able to wear anything we want.