Work dress code question for the ladies

L

lynn

New Member
Hello, ladies, here's a question for you gals: what do you usually wear to work??

I've never given it much thought until today. Our office is somewhat relaxed in the sense that eventhough our dress code policy strictly says business casual, as long as we aren't way out of line, it's acceptable. Lately, i find my direct superior has been dressing more and more....how should i put it?? Exotic?? She has gone from totally conservative (ie, long sleeved dress shirt) to tops you will only see in clubs (low cut, open back). I feel a bit uncomfortable for ladies in a business environment (esp when you're seeing a lot of client) to wear something so....non-traditional? Just the other day I was meeting with a consultant who wore something with an extremely low neckline and when she sat down, she was basically giving everyone in the room a great view of her cleavage.

Now back to my reason for this question. I was talking to my boss this morning in her office. She was sitting down, I was standing in front of her. Again, she was wearing something very low cut so you guys can imagine what i'm seeing. It's rather weird because our office has a/c blasting 24x7 and she has a personal heater in her office that's forever turned on b/c she felt the room was too cold??!!! O.K., I admit, i'm a fanatic when it comes to the environment and it kind of annoys me to see unnecessary waste of electricity. But either way, if the company isn't complaining, i don't have the right too either.

So what i'm really curious to know is, what do you ladies usually wear to work (esp those who have a desk job), maybe i'm just being a total prude, but i'm interested to know what the rest of the world thinks.

Thanks. :wink:
 
When I worked as a receptionist and later as preschool teacher, I had to wear "office casual" as a bare minimum. No jeans except on Fridays, no tshirts except the company tshirt on morale days, real shoes (no flip flops). As a teacher I had the extra regulation of having to wear skirts or dresses.

Since the company I worked for as a recep had a major contact with Sony Japan, we had to be extra professional - no suits daily, but I needed to keep a blazer or jacket on standby (just in case). I usually wore slacks and a nice button up blouse or a mid-long skirt with same.

Add to that that I was teaching dance at the same time, and i had to be professionally dressed about 18 hours out of every 24. UGH!
 
Let's just say i dress the EXACT OPPOSITE as I would in a salsa club. Non of my co workers would ever recognize me at a club, and non of my salsa friends would recognize me at work 8)

same thing with makeup, hair, etc. I don't mix biz with pleasure
 
I work in a business casual environment so I'm usually wearing dress pants or a skirt (never anything shorter than slightly above knee-length, and even then that's rare) and a nice top. I may wear a company or vendor polo shirt, but that's also extremely rare. Like DM, I keep a suit jacket handy in case of a last minute meeting. On Fridays, I'm a bit more relaxed...it's rare that I wear jeans though.
 
We've got casual friday so i can get away with wearing jeans once a week. But for the remainder of the week, i'm stuck wearing dress pants and shirts - now, b/c i do a lot of running around, i usually wear runners, a bizarre combination to go w/ black dress pants, yes, i know.
 
We are a new and still relatively small company so we don't really have dress code. I have to be physically at the client site 1 afternoon per week, so then i make sure to wear something business casual. Fridays are jeans day, pretty regularly.
In previous jobs, i have had to wear upper business class outfits, although that was mostly at financial institutions.
 
I work in a very small office (boss and me!). I dress nicely (skirt/top/sometimes suit) when he's there. When he's not, usually comfortable pants, but never blue jeans, and a casual top. Boston is very, very conservative. You really don't see many women with low-cut tops or short, short skirts in offices (although there are some). I used to get such a kick out of watching Ally McBeal because NO way do female lawyers dress the way they did on that show. But, sex sells, I reckon'.

On the subject of wardrobe; I always try to have at least 1-2 suits/interview type outfits for each season, plus some basic skirts/tops, which I always, always, always buy on sale (or Marshall's). It is very hard to have business attire, casual going-out wear PLUS dancewear in my closet. So, I tighten the purse strings with business attire as much as possible.
 
Maybe your supervisor and the client you mentioned dressed that way to confuse any men they were dealing with and cut a better deal for themselves...
 
I usually wear business casual, friday I will dress down a bit, but I don't wear jeans, don't like jeans... Sometimes wear a suit, but usually business casual is enough in my office
 
DancingMommy said:
When I worked as a receptionist and later as preschool teacher, I had to wear "office casual" as a bare minimum. No jeans except on Fridays, no tshirts except the company tshirt on morale days, real shoes (no flip flops).
Click to expand...

Same here ---

But to show my age, I remember when slacks were NOT ALLOWED at the office (early 70s). Then one day the word spread that the telephone company (there was only one back then) was allowing their women employees to wear pant suits. Then the big insurance comany in our town passed the new rule allowing slacks with matching tops (suits), finally my company relaxed its dress code and we all celebrated by going shopping for new clothes.
 
I remember those days. :) And I was a mere embryo, lol. Seriously, I remember it was a MAJOR no-no for women to wear slacks at anything more formal than grubbing in the garden. ;) And church? Beelzebub's Ski Resort would've been under construction first. I don't think I wore pants to church until I was..... Ummmmmm in my late 20s (almost 30).
 
Swingolder said:
Same here ---

But to show my age, I remember when slacks were NOT ALLOWED at the office (early 70s). Then one day the word spread that the telephone company (there was only one back then) was allowing their women employees to wear pant suits. Then the big insurance comany in our town passed the new rule allowing slacks with matching tops (suits), finally my company relaxed its dress code and we all celebrated by going shopping for new clothes.
Click to expand...

So....what did the ladies dress like before slacks were allowed?? Full length skirt everyday??
 
I read an old fashon textbook that was describing a huge debate over whether ladies should be allowed to show their ankles...
 
Wouldn't that be difficult if you have to climb the stairs?? I gave up on full length skirts because I used to trip over them all the time.....
 
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