Office fashions No-Nos?

No fishnets on the men (that I've noticed), but one fella in our office had a thing on last week that kinda looked like a shirt with a built-in corset - so fishnets are probably not far behind.

A man wearing capri pants (I had a whole thread on this last year).

Flip flops

Was this the same outfit?
I've worked with alot of boys who would love to have worn this ensemble to work.

I think it depends on where you work and what you're doing. In my last job, a mining office, jeans were worn by some of the younger women, plus tight, cleavage-exhibiting tops. I always thought that was inappropriate for that office but then maybe I'm getting old.

Where I am now, working in a kitchen with a bunch of 20 yr old males, they all wear pants that hang so low you can see their boxers.

The young female servers all wear hipsters with tops that are short enough to advertise their tattoos.

Another thing I notice is some of the young men wear diamond earrings in both ears. I've never seen that downtown

No - usually it is the women guilty of inappropriate wear. Men wearing capris is just wrong.

I completely agree - certain clothes is fine depending where you work.

If you work in a conservative business office - fishnet stockings with red high heels is inappropriate whereas if you work in the combat zone it is completely acceptable.

What about the cashier I saw many years ago in a dept store who keyed in my charges with at least 2" long talons? I was amazed she could do up her buttons, let alone punch her cash register. I did scrutinize my bill, however, to make sure the numbers were right. God knows how she managed to get it right.

There was this one woman who I had to train in accounting. Imagine using a computer keyboard and 10 key with long nails just as you noted. She used the top of the pencil's eraser to key.

And then there was the woman who wore short shorts in the dept of commerce at a local university and sat cross-legged on her chair. That might have been permissible in the back office but she was the receptionist

They instantly instituted a dress code

interesting thread...

Not so much about the clothes, I find what Bella posted as good examples off office casual, I'd probably where pants instead of the skirt, but, same principle of clean cut.

Now, where I'm differing or conflicting with others are in such things as nails, hair, etc.

Personally, I don't like the look of ultra long nails on women, but I notice the trend of today seems to be what I consider athletic short, and no color. That's not me either. I'm in between, like a little longer past the fingertips, and depending on th e season, can get quite bright.

I don't tell you could tell someone with long, long fingernails to cut them down, unless they are specifcially hindering their job. Color? Where them plain or wear them wild, as long as they are clean and well manicured, that's your individual style.

Hair? I have an even harder time drawing the line. One person may find someone with a cute spiky, elfin look inappropriate, when I think that's really fine. Chucky hair? Streaks? Super short? Again, your hair is such an intricate part of you you are. Recently I met with someone in our company who has gorgeous healthy shiny black hair, to die for...she had put in 3 or 4 roayl blue streaks. Honestly, I though it was gorgeous, and it didn't take away from her professionalism one iota. I don't work in some fashion magazine industry either. Being sexually provocative is one thing, expressing yourself is another.

Working in a conservative industry - when it was in style I used to have spiked hair. I was planning on interviewing so I grew my hair out. On an interview (of a job I ultimately got and accepted), I interviewed with the VP - she had spiked hair! After the first week of working their, I went back to my spiked hair look. It was not extreme though and the current style.

Also, at my last job I had a difficult person working under HR-wise. She came to me one day and asked if it would be o-k to have her hair dyed some crazy color (blue or red - not a natural color). I called HR and asked their opinion. They said we should suggest against it, but cannot dictate hair style. I spoke with her and basically said, it wouldn't give you a professional appearance and I suggest against it, but it is not restricted. Pretty much upfront about how people would view her. She did decided against it.

Times change, what would have been considered "wild" even 5 or 10 years ago, is now simply "edgy"

I suppose if you were in the public eye, working at a very conservative business, it would be wise not to dye your hair purple.

That'd be true in a lot less conservative places.

I dunno, it kind of reminds me in the Bird Cage, when Nathan Lane was wearing a very conservative suit....and pink socks.

He said "Well, one Does want a hint of color"

I guess I have to say if it seemed your individual personality was trying to be quashed in order to conform to some mold, I'm not comfortable.

It's not easy to determine where the line is at times, but there are many degrees between someone working in a music store and a prominent attorneys office.

One place I do have a personal problem is with tattos that can be seen. ug...especially on women. That's just too permanent.

One of these days, in about 50 years, you'll hear all these people saying "WHY did I do that?!"

I know. I tried to tell my stepdaughter this but she laughed me off. We'll see...

I work in IT and don't meet customers face to face. I do go to the occasional meeting but mainly I just sit and type (a lot). So it's biz cas for me, actually more casual than the pics shown. I tend to wear khakis and a long tunic or a button-down shirt, and black penny loafers. Light makeup, usually no jewelry but my wedding ring, hair in a ponytail. I've had to crawl under my desk so getting too much more dressed up is just plain unwise. I just ordered a bunch of stuff for summer - crop pants and ballerina flats, plus I already have no sleeve button-down shirts and twinsets where the sweater worn under is sleeveless. The building is air conditioned so a layer is good anyway. I also keep a cardigan in the office.

The men in my office who are at my level dress comparably (except, uh, they don't wear any makeup). The folks above us sometimes wear suits but usually wear biz cas, but more along the lines of the posted photos, though the women usually don't wear skirts unless it's some big honkin' you gotta look good type of meeting. Then we all wear suits.

That sounds like every office I've worked in, jes... biz cas but dress up when you need to. I've never worn jeans to work, though - just doesn't feel right. I like the khaki idea.

When I was working in the advertising department of a major retailer several years ago, there was no dress policy and we wore pretty much what we wanted, not having any contact with the general public. A new Creative Director came in, took one look at the staff, many of the copywriters especially, and issued an immediate dress code. No more jeans.

It was a blessing. Our staff was very fashionable anyway but we'd gotten lazy and complacent and it was a pleasure to see everyone wear beautiful clothes again and emerge from the habit of wearing jeans every day.

My company is fairly conservative. There's no actual dress code except that it's business casual, and jeans are ok on Fridays. The big-wigs and attorneys wear suits now and then.

Other than that, the only people who are dressed up are the secretaries. They seem to egg each other on to be more and more dressed up. Skirt/suits, hose, heels, pearls for god's sake. Fridays they wear jeans and heels. And they find a way to let other women know if they're not toeing the line well enough. Several have brought up my clothing choices with me.

Screw 'em. I wear Dockers or khakis and nice t-shirts or similar. Especially these last couple of years when I've replaced my wardrobe several times over. And sandals in the summer - well ok, April thru October. And yes, my toenails are polished. Can you tell I have some issues with this?

Yes.