Employee Dress Codes

[Sillyman]

My sister and my best friend both recently found jobs. I was leafing through their employee handbooks, and I noticed the dress code.

In both of them, they were very specific about which kind of socks employees needed to wear, down to color and brand.

What is this? When was the last time you were at a business and noticed someone's socks? Would it highly disturb you if your Dominoe's driver was wearing orange socks? Or would you give more of a shit about whether your pizza was cold?

Do wrong colored socks disturb people? Is it just too unproffesional to have the wrong socks? Would the corporate image be totally shattered if they wore brown socks instead of black?

 

[glamorilla]

i used to wear differnt color socks on purpose.

sometimes just becouse i'm out of pairs.

i had a sock addiction years ago.

it's a very painful memory.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

I can understand the sock thing... If the company has navy blue trouser and shirt, then bright pink socks may not fit the image of the company. But a matching navy sock would....

Unfortunatly companies can make the rules these days. If you don't want to follow the rules there is someone else to take your place....

 

[Kitte]

I dont get my work...We are not allowed to wear denim skirts..except on casual day??? I mean we are a relatively casual office...but no denim skirts...of any length...

 

[ksmybuttons]

Having always worked with a code of dress, I don't have a problem with it. They hire me, they want me to wear conservative clothing, I will. I want the job and am not going to let a pair of stockings get in the way...

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

In both of them, they were very specific about which kind of socks employees needed to wear, down to color and brand.

I can maybe see color, especially if they are referring to pantyhose or nylons for women to wear with dresses, or otherwise with a uniform for say a restaurant, but brand?

I suppose that this is just some company's way of making sure that they wear the right color socks. I assume this is for some kind of non-professional job such as a waitress, etc.

It is interesting to note that the more someone is paid, the less likely you are to run into rules where the company treats you like a child, especially with regards to a dress code.

It has been an interesting observation that over the last few decades, the more formal someone's business attire is, the less they probably make. We have come a long ways from the days when Texaco gas attendants wore a uniform with a tie.

I have seen some really poor work attire, but for the most part I think it is a good thing that work dress codes are quite a bit more relaxed than they used to be. And no, wrong color socks do not offend me.

 

[riff]

I think all dress codes are bunk.

ALL dress codes.

Of course from a company perspective, I can understand why they might want one- for marketing purposes- but other than that, they are bunk.

 

[IrishWolfhound]

A place I used to work had detailed guidlines for casual fridays. My favorite was that females were required to "wear proper foundation garments"

I could just picture the committee that wrote this sitting there for hours trying to figure out corporate-speak for "women gotta wear a bra". I kept it after I left just to remind me how dysfunctional a company can be.

 

[Sillyman]

"Employees must wear underwear"

Are they going to check?

 

[SimGuy]

The Sock Specification is part of the new


PRODUCT PLACEMENT Partnership Stragety!!

And you thought it was just limited to the movies.
Ha!!

After years of getting people to pay their own money to advertise name brands on their shirts and hats,


This is the next step.


boy, redwave is gonna love this post

 

[IrishWolfhound]

"Employees must wear underwear"

Are they going to check?

I volunteered to have that duty. I thought it'd be a great career move.

 

[riff]

I sort of have a dress code.

I even hate the "sorta" part.

 

[ksmybuttons]

Re: Re: Employee Dress Codes

It is interesting to note that the more someone is paid, the less likely you are to run into rules where the company treats you like a child, especially with regards to a dress code.

It has been an interesting observation that over the last few decades, the more formal someone's business attire is, the less they probably make. We have come a long ways from the days when Texaco gas attendants wore a uniform with a tie.

I have seen some really poor work attire, but for the most part I think it is a good thing that work dress codes are quite a bit more relaxed than they used to be. And no, wrong color socks do not offend me.

This may be true in the tech fields that you work in, but both medicine and law are dress coded. (If you work for a firm or company, does not apply if you are self employed...)

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: Re: Re: Employee Dress Codes

This may be true in the tech fields that you work in, but both medicine and law are dress coded. (If you work for a firm or company, does not apply if you are self employed...)

I have worked with both doctors and lawyers, albeit not in big firms, and I wouldn't say they had strict dress codes. Have you seen some of the scrubs/etc. that docs and nurses wear? I am talking floral prints!

Yeah docs and lawyers, the last vestiges of the "professionals" tend to be a bit more formal, and yeah tech fields tend to be just the opposite - but I attribute this to the fact that docs and lawyers still have a lot of public contact and therefore have to deal with first impressions. Us nerds are hidden in the back rooms and rarely meet clients. Indeed we are kind of expected to dress weird.

Still, I know society in general is dressing down when I see that my father now goes to church without a tie - the guy who still dresses up in a suit and tie to go out to dinner at a Denny's - and I think for the most part it is a good thing.

 

[ksmybuttons]

The dress code doesn't have to be totally inhibiting or totally conservative. There are still ground rules. You represent the company you work for if they have hired you and therefore you follow their rules. If you don't want to follow the rules, then they have the right not to have you work for them.

One of my friends who has her own business does exceptionally well financially. She can work in sweats at home, but when she meets her clients, she is dressed to their style. She has to sell herself to them and they pay the bills...

 

[PacificBlue]

In my opinion, dress codes are important. 'Some' people take corporate casual to the extreme. Like it or not...how you dress/look makes an impression.

 

[cybergirly]

A place I used to work had detailed guidlines for casual fridays. My favorite was that females were required to "wear proper foundation garments"

I could just picture the committee that wrote this sitting there for hours trying to figure out corporate-speak for "women gotta wear a bra". I kept it after I left just to remind me how dysfunctional a company can be.

A couple of years ago I was the "new" manager in my dept. An employee comes in wearing a white t-shirt. Well she was very well endowed and her tshirt was thin enough you could see the color of her nipples through it. I being the newbie got the job of telling her she had to go home and change. Poor girl had no idea.

This is why companies have dress codes.

 

[IrishWolfhound]

A couple of years ago I was the "new" manager in my dept. An employee comes in wearing a white t-shirt. Well she was very well endowed and her tshirt was thin enough you could see the color of her nipples through it. I being the newbie got the job of telling her she had to go home and change. Poor girl had no idea.

This is why companies have dress codes.

Pink or brown?

 

[Sillyman]

In my opinion, dress codes are important. 'Some' people take corporate casual to the extreme. Like it or not...how you dress/look makes an impression.

What, they show up naked? In a teddy? In a Batman costume? What?

How you look makes an impression, naturally. But there is taking this too far, especially with some fucking thing as minute as socks. I don't judge the performance of anyone, doctor, lawyer, accountant, waitress, whatever by what color their socks are. Do you?

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

I am not saying that people shouldn't dress decently, and that appearance doesn't count when you have someone who meets with the public, but there are a large group of people out there who never see the public. It used to be dress codes were just another way to control people, now this is much less true, and I think it is a good thing.

Should companies be able to define reasonable dress codes? Sure. By reasonable I mean not requiring women to wear bikinis to work, etc.

Should companies do it just because they can? No. Most companies need some kind of dress code just to make sure that people show up in something that doesn't offend, distract, or is unsafe, but for most people who do not meet the public a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers is more than adequate. Getting down to what color and brand of socks is allowed should be a rarity reserved for someone with a lot of public contact, such as in a restaurant or in retail.

It was not so long ago that tech companies had fairly strict dress codes that mandated a suit and tie. I am sure everyone has heard of EDS and IBM where it was not just a suit and tie, but a black suit, white shirt and black tie. At EDS, everyone was clean shaven.

Now techies are allowed to concentrate on their work in comfort, and they are recognized for the quality/quantity of their work rather than how snappily they dress.

 

[Lasher]

I don't judge the performance of anyone, doctor, lawyer, accountant, waitress, whatever by what color their socks are. Do you?

You don't necessarily judge their performance that way, but then if someone makes a poor enough first impression then you're not even going to give them the opportunity to perform now are you?

 

[riff]

First impressions can be very very misleading.

 

[Sillyman]

You don't necessarily judge their performance that way, but then if someone makes a poor enough first impression then you're not even going to give them the opportunity to perform now are you?

But why would I make a first impression on sock color? That's just anal. If I see my lawyer in a three piece suit and purple socks, I'm not6 assuming this guy is so much of a rebel as to not be able to handle my case.

 

[Lasher]

But why would I make a first impression on sock color? That's just anal. If I see my lawyer in a three piece suit and purple socks, I'm not6 assuming this guy is so much of a rebel as to not be able to handle my case.

It would be enough to bring his judgment in to question.

If I were hiring someone in a professional situation I would expect them to behave like a professional. You're trying to make it sound like this guy wearing purple socks is the only thing he's done that's unprofessional, but the thought that would be in the back of my mind is that if he's wearing purple socks into his first meeting with a potential client, what else is he going to do that is the result of poor judgment and when is he going to do it?

It wouldn't see this as being any different as someone who has a typo or misspelling on a resume, or someone who speaks poorly during a business call. You can only judge people with the information they present you, and someone who presents themselves poorly in a business enviroment is going to pay for that.

 

[Sillyman]

Merp.