Posted on 03/02/2014 11:32:32 AM PST by Kaslin
The first thing you should know is that I'm guilty. I am a part-time professional dress code offender. I wear jeans to work when I don't plan on interviewing anyone that day. I used to keep a pair of flip-flops under my desk. For all I know, they're still there, buried under something else. When I told co-workers I'd have to confess to my sartorial sins, I thought they'd tell me: Nonsense, you always dress well. I was wrong.
In my defense, I clean up well for editorial board meetings.
I like to think I dress well for a newspaper writer. But face it; that's a low bar. I have a kiddie work wardrobe for the newsroom and an adult work wardrobe for the outside world.
Yet I'm also guilty of being glad when I read in the San Francisco Chronicle that the San Francisco County Superior Court has decided to enforce its 1996 dress code. No tank tops. No cutoff shorts. No beachwear.
I figure it's a good thing for the public and journalists to be able to tell court staff from the defendants. A few years ago, Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik wrote after she served on a jury about watching litigants and witnesses in a criminal trial -- "slumped, mumbling, sockless, with pants drooping, necklines gaping." They didn't seem to consider appearing in court "important enough to take seriously."
Like fashion, fashion crimes change. San Francisco County Superior Court CEO T. Michael Yuen told me he decided to enforce the dress code to prevent staffers from wearing sneakers, jeans, spandex and hoodies to work. About 90 percent of court staffers interact with the public, and it's important that they project a sense of respect for both the public and the judicial system.
"This is not a gym," quoth Yuen. "We're also not a night club."
Yuen speaks affectionately of the tradition of requiring proper attire before the bar. California state law requires that judges wear black robes. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, barristers have to wear wigs in court. In San Francisco, male lawyers can and have been made to wear ties before a judge.
The goal, court spokeswoman Ann E. Donlan explained, is not for 400 McAllister to be headquarters for the fashion police but to educate a professional workforce. In December, Yuen sent an email to personnel that noted many employees were dressing too casually and reminding them of the 1996 policy. Since then, supervisors have sent home two employees to change their outfits.
"Management goes out there, and they say the workers just want to come in in flip-flops," union organizer and former San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly complained. Daly suggests that management is using the dress code to punish vocal rank and file and that it has been used "almost exclusively against women." Yuen would not disclose the gender of the disciplined staffers.
Some might find it odd that in what was a clothing-optional city until recently, officials would bar casual wear in the halls of justice.
Then there's the social justice angle. Is it even fair to make court clerks show up for work attired better than tech billionaires who uniformly sport jeans and hoodies? Yuen answered that most tech workers do not interact with the public but most court staff members do.
Because it's in San Francisco, Yuen did not implement the policy lightly. Managers took close to a year to consider obstacles and prepare. What about the cost? Yuen replied that the lowest salary for an entry-level job is $47,000 a year. The midrange is in the $70,000s. Court staff can afford decent duds.
One instance that led to new enforcement of the old policy involved a woman who went to pay a traffic fine. She complained upstairs that she wasn't sure whether the clerk in a hoodie really worked for the government. Since the December email, Yuen says, managers tell him that fewer members of the public are asking to speak to a supervisor.
It seems clothing can enhance or undermine a worker's authority.
Most staff members, Yuen told me, are "going above and beyond expectations."
Of course, I was wearing a suit to the interview with Yuen, so I showed him a photo of what I had worn to work the day before. "Would you send me home if I showed up for work like this?"
"I don't think we would send you home," Yuen answered.
Phew. Yet I wonder whether maybe I should step up my game. Not that I'll stop wearing jeans when I can get away with it, but maybe this story should make people ask whether they could do a better job of presenting themselves.
Yuen seems pleased. But I have to warn him: If someone offers him the job of CEO for the Chronicle, the dress code won't play well in the newsroom.
to make going back to work easier after the weekend, i have what i refer to as my “Monday” clothes... something easy to wear, but something that looks professional... in cold weather, it is usually a sweater dress or sweater and pencil skirt, black tights and shoes or boots... if i choose the boots, i will often forgo the tights... in any case, none of the pieces need ironing, the they are comfortable... and will top off with a fitted jacket, usually belted, unless it’s a blazer... in warm weather it is a dress, often made of jersey—no ironing, and comfy cozy like pjs... and slip-on wedges or pumps... no hosiery of any kind...
Things have certainly changed, when I was young supervisors in factories were required to wear white dress shirts with a tie, dress slacks and dress shoes, wingtips were common. In ‘72 I took a job as a tech rep repairing printing equipment and was expected to dress that way to work on machines. “The only way the customer should be able to tell you from a salesman is that you carry a leather covered tool kit and the salesman carries a briefcase.” Now people wear sneakers and jeans and a short sleeved shirt or T-shirt to a funeral.
I took a load of crap from people when I took my most recent job at a mfg company. I insisted on wearing a sports coat every day. No tie, just a jacket. I just wanted to look professional. I got respect from some and grief from others - even when I did the jean thing on Friday (with a jacket). It’s my firm belief that it makes me feel better knowing I don’t look like a slob and that I earned respect from others for it. I’ve kept it up, but haven’t seen any rub off effect yet.
The kangaroos want the court to be more courtly...
If only judges had respect for their Constitutions…
In the tee vee series Mad Men you can see the younger generation come in with slobbish attire in sharp contrast to the suits and ties of the original staffers.
People always suspected that I was going for a mid-day job interview if I wore a suit at one of my offices.
You should see the get ups other women lawyers wear to court. Mules with ugly toes hanging out, no hose, stretch pants, long knit dresses dragging on the floor.
I try to keep up my end, I wear dresses and blazers, hose and heels, closed toe, closed heel. And the dudes with pony tails oh my so freaking ugly and all that facial hair. Clean up. Shave.
Love fitted jackets, pencil skirts, etc., and you cannot go wrong with black tights and shoes or boots. It’s such a chic look and provides elongation of the leg.
But I have never been able to get with the no-stockings look. Nope, no way. To me, you just don’t stick bare feet into dress pumps, even if your legs are utterly perfect. It’s just not done. If it’s hot, it can be done with a pair of high-heeled sandals....not pumps.
And I’m not advocating the suntan colored hosiery out of the egg...it’s possible to pay more at a department store for a pair of stockings that are very sheer and attractive.
It's button-down where I work so I fully suit up like in "Mad Men." It's still cool to see how people sort of snap to attention when you walk into their place of business during the day. I find I always seem to get better tables in restaurants and faster service, not to mention the attention of the ladies.
One pet peeve of mine has always been sneakers. Unless you are playing tennis or jogging around the neighborhood, they just look awful on grown adults. Makes you look like an overgrown kid who still lives with his mother. When I'm wearing jeans, I'll wear some boots with them in the winter or boat shoes/sandals in the summer. Not the open-toed sandals either unless I'm at the beach (and never with socks!).
Yes, it does seem that women in the workplace have much more latitude in how they can dress. At my work, it’s suits all the time for men. During summer, I might wear a light colored suit but that’s about as daring as I’m allowed to get. The women on the other hand get to come to work on a hot day in a light blouse, skirt and sandals. They still can look professional but they are so much more comfortable!
When summoned for jury duty I always wore blazer, slacks, dress shirt & necktie which resulted in my always being selected by prosecution and excused by defense unless defense had used up their challenges. I seldom sat on a jury.
But if I have to go to the county courthouse for ANY reason I still suit up. Stands to reason you get served better that way. What’s not to understand?
They make lawyers wear ties to keep their foreskins from slipping up over their heads.
Well, the undertaker business is probably special in that regard... j/k!!
"Management goes out there, and they say the workers just want to come in in flip-flops," union organizer and former San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly complained. Daly suggests that management is using the dress code to punish vocal rank and file and that it has been used "almost exclusively against women."
OK, do the math on that one. LOL.
nope... not for me... the days of sheer stockings are no longer... besides, i wear open-toed in the summer... or kitten-heeled slip-ons... or mules... i know very few women who still wear hosiery... i have also let go of the slip... cannot remember the last time i wore one... i do love tights, however... in the winter, when i wear something in a lighter color, i wear skin-toned fishnets or flesh-toned lace tights... i do pay a lot for my tights...
i do have lovely legs and feet! :)
At the local courthouse here, near Washington, D.C., all the women lawyers wear black pantsuits. Sometimes gray but mostly black. I was friends with a prosecutor and asked her about the suits. She said most of the women wear mid-priced suits—Banana Republic, J Crew, Tahari, Ralph, sometimes Brooks Brothers. Few of them bother with expensive suits because they just get ruined. I find that if I wear a black pantsuit to the courthouse, no matter if I’m there as a witness or a potential juror or to pay a traffic fine or make a complaint, I’m treated much better because everyone assumes I’m a lawyer too. Or I might know someone who knows someone.
You should see the get ups....
Have you checked out the teacher’s dress lately??
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