Why You Secretly Love Dress Codes

When employees start arguing with each other about appropriate office wear, it can explode into accusations of harassment and bad feelings. Take a post at Reddit where a woman wearing a top with “thin straps” had a man come up to her and tell her to cover up–but he’s barefoot. She responds that she’ll cover up her shoulders if he starts wearing shoes in the office. “If I have to watch his hairy toes at work, he can deal with the sight of my shoulders,” writes Reddit User Longjumping_Draw_864.

Are you in agreement that, while wandering the workplace, everyone should have shoes on their feet? What about on an airplane?

An anonymous Delta Flight attendant told The New York Times that she has passengers boarding with no shoes on. Better to be walking around with no shoes, though, than the author’s experience of finding a woman’s foot next to his ear on a flight into Paris.

If this discussion sufficiently grosses you out, it’s time to admit something: you secretly love dress codes.

To keep reading, click here: Why You Secretly Love Dress Codes

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4 thoughts on “Why You Secretly Love Dress Codes

  1. You can object to people rudely propping their bare feet next to your head on a plane without loving dress codes. I don’t love dress codes. They’re all too often arbitrary and capricious and end up discriminating against one or more minorities, including women. I’m an old lady. During the 60’s, we fought against the smothering, constrictive, conformity of the 1950’s, in favor of freer, more varied, ways that individuals could express themselves. Some battles — such as those against rigid hair standards — that we thought we had won, continue to have to be fought; e.g., the various Crown Acts being enacted. Explain, again, please, why an earring on a male student, or his hair extending below his collar — or the sight of a girl’s knees — would be considered “distracting” in a modern-day public school. And yet, we, frequently, hear about school dress codes, ridiculously, prohibiting those very items. Uniforms do help, in appropriate situations. However, the underlying principle should be common sense. If someone shows up looking truly indecent — or otherwise offensive or distracting — that can be dealt with in a humane, confidential, professional manner, with or without a formal dress code.

  2. If a woman can wear a skirt or a dress, so can a man.
    If a man has to wear a tie, a woman should have to also.
    There should not be separate men’s and women’s sections of a dress code.

    As grannybunny says, (and this is one I admit I had to learn and adapt to myself as a supervisor) if a woman can wear large (fake) diamond studded earrings, a man should be able to also.

  3. I love dress codes in a very humorous way. My favorite dress code is don’t get arrested and don’t make us write a dress code.

    The most amusing (to me) one I’ve experienced was fifteen years ago and it felt like it was from the 80s. They’d only started “allowing” women to wear pants in the late 90s. I suspected they changed the global dress code instead of actually talking to people. These are just the parts I remember, it was much longer. They were aiming for the professional end of business casual, a lot of folks just wore suits.
    – no golf shirts unless you’re golfing that day
    – (men only) – v-neck sweaters must have collared shirts underneath
    – no leather pants, skirts, vests, or blazers
    – no flip flops, no spaghetti straps
    – open toe or open back shoes are acceptable, but not open toe and open back
    – hose must be worn with skirts (not enforced, but it was still written)

  4. Contrary to the other comments, I like having a uniform standard for clothing worn for work, but I also agree that there needs to be an allowance to allow those individuals who insist on “expressing” their “individuality style “ while wearing the standard clothing requirement. I just hate wasting money on clothes that are not practical for the job, On that note, uniform standards should not be based on specific gender look but what the business is presenting to the public ( logo, color scheme, etc). Sometimes every single article worn has to be explained for those individuals who feel “oppressed” in wearing certain items of clothing like shoes versus no shoes. I never understood hairstyle requirements beyond the standards of hair covering in a job that involved food safety handling.
    Save your nice clothing for away from work time and concentrate on doing the job rather being in a fashion show.

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