Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2009
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2009
When I was 15 I got a job as a cashier at the local IGA. We got a spiffy smock to wear over a polo shirt and “dark pants.” On about my third day I went to work with black jeans on. Nice, new black jeans. Now remember, I stood behind a counter where no one could see my legs anyway, but my manager scolded me for my “unprofessional dress.” I think I quit two days later without even returning the smock.
I just don’t see the point of dress codes for work. Now I understand dressing appropriately. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that PJs are ok for the office and I woulnd’t put on an old prom dress to give a talk (hmm, maybe I should try that sometime). I know that some clothes are more appropriate for certain situations. But if you work in an office where you only interface with other employees why the heck should you have to dress up?! Who are you trying to impress? Do employers really think that a tie will make you a better colleague? One look at Washington proves that a tie doesn’t make you honest, helpful, or even hard working.
Wouldn’t it be better to let people wear what makes them feel most creative? Productive? Comfortable? I vow to never again work in an environment where I’m told what to wear. I also vow to never be the kind of employer who treats his/her employees like children and tells them what to wear.
So ditch the tie! Ditch the shoes that make your feet hurt! Be yourself and make them all deal with it!
Unless, of course, you like the tie…then, well… wear it!
More Options ...
Categories
Tag Cloud
Blog RSS
Comments RSS
Void « Default
Life 
Earth 
Wind 
Water 
Fire Light 
Previous 
Next 
Comment Meta:
Last 50 Posts
Back
I think my biggest concern, or reason I started out wearing the business-casual attire was that I was taking over management of a group of 20+ students. This might not sound like an issue at first, but I had graduated no less than four weeks before taking the position, and need a way for the students, patrons, and other staff to differentiate me from being a “student”.
Now, a year into the job, I’m feeling more confident about my own skills and position, that I can cut loose and wear what I want. Wow, that sounds like a tag line to a sappy infomercial.
kevinoshea
I have always struggled with this issue. Fear of not being taken seriously or being judged, has won out over me expressing myself most of the time. I’ve always wanted to die my hair a bit of wild color, but never have, because of work. I have tattoos, which remain hidden for the most part, because people tend to judge. They are beautiful tattoos, nothing with flames and skulls and daggers, or anything like that. My style of dressing would toward goth or punk, but in no way inappropriate.
I now work at a University in IT. I could be doing anything from crawling under a desk just to put a CD in their hard drive to helping a VP with their Smartphone. I still feel a bit of pressure to try to look “professional,” what I consider to be conservative, really.
Perhaps the problem is really just all in my head. I just turned 40 years old, and although I look older for my age, I still feel like the youngest person in the office…kind of like a student.
When I saw that Sarah Robbins, “Intellagirl” was coming to MTSU soon for a conference, I was immediately struck by her pink hair and thought. Wow, finally someone with some spunk. I once vowed I would never work at a job that told me what to wear, and although no one ever does, one usually just tries to follow suit. (No pun intended).
I am just hoping that after the newness of being here (I started about 5 months ago and moved from San Francisco, CA to Murfreesboro, TN), will wear off and I will have proved myself enough to show people that just because I may prefer to dress fun or different, doesn’t make me any less capable.
Maybe by summer I can have some pink hair too!
You go girl!
Alana: I hear ya, lady! On one hand you want to fit in and look the part. On the other hand you want to be yourself. What’s sad is that those two things are often very different things.
Frankly, I think my hair, for example, is a way for me to weed out folks who wouldn’t like the way I think. If you can’t handle my hair you certainly won’t like my ideas. Maybe it’s hurt me now and then, I’m not sure. What I do know is that I’m happier being myself and if that means losing an occasional opportunity…well, I’m ok with that.
You’ve always been the rebel!
In the first few months of my new job at Coventry I wore a suit to all the meetings with the executive people here – I even bought a new one because my old ones didn’t fit me any more (!) But then in a conversation with one of the associate deans here I discovered that he took that as a sign of a lack of confidence, that I’d be judged more competent at my job if I wore what I felt comfortable in. So it’s been jeans and tee-shirts ever since.
I did change out of my camos and biker boots this morning after second thoughts (I have this almost OC drive to dress randomly) and probably wouldn’t wear any death metal tee-shirts to work, but apart from that, I think I get taken _more_ seriously if I don’t wear a suit.
And I definitely thought the couple at the back of that conference room in Birmingham would be interesting to talk to because one of them had a pink streak in her hair, (which proved to be true) so those sorts of things are useful clues to the rest of us too.