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Boyfriend jeans for work or for OTG/weekends only? ETA pictures.

Makrame

Veteran

I am curious how does everyone feel about the level of "casualness" that rolled up boyfriend jeans imply, and whether they can be work-appropriate. I am keeping the pair I had asked about earlier (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....-blouse-kr ) - they were only $15 so I figured I can keep them for weekend wear. But they look and feel so comfortable, I am getting an itch to wear them more often. And yet, it seems like the rolled-up hem implies a very casual vibe.

My workplace is generally casual - typical attire for men in the summer would be jeans and t-shirts/polos or khaki pants and short-sleeved shirts or polos. I generally wear bootcut or straight leg jeans, skirts, dresses. Somehow, rolled up jeans feel much more casual than that. Is it a weird quirk of perception or does anyone else feel the same way?

ETA: based on the wide range of reactions, I will probably refrain from wearing these to work. But here are some potential outfits incorporating suggestions from this thread.

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Dressing

32 replies

Latest reply was from sarah

harmonica

Veteran

I think much depends on your work environment. Rolled up jeans are more casual, but how about pairing it with a dressier top, some jewellery and a blazer?

I don't think anyone would mind at my working place, but I'd think it was too casual for me. I'd like to be a bit more dressed up for work - sort of.... getting serious thoughts done with serious / pulled together outfit

Makrame

Veteran

Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking - might be OK for my workplace in general but does not quite feel like what I normally would wear. I am just curious whether it is just me. Especially since I am constantly wearing denim clamdiggers with silk shirts to work - how are boyfriend jeans any more casual, right? And yet somehow they seem different.

Anonymous

I think it's the underside of the rolled hems actually. It makes them look really cute and beach-y. Less dressy than a hemmed clam, IMO.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I'm glad you asked this Madrame - I'm wondering the same thing. At my work, which is normally business casual attire (sometimes more corporate attire depending on the events of the day) but on Fridays, we have what is called Denim Days. We are allowed to wear jeans as part of a charity event. I've worn bootcuts and skinnies on Denim Days but an unsure if BF is just too casual.

Sara L.

Veteran

I think boyfriend jeans can look good on casual Friday but need to be paired with something a little less casual. I would add that there should probably be little or no distressing on the denim to be work-appropriate. My test for casual outfits is to imagine if I would be uncomfortable if one of my clients stopped by for an unscheduled meeting.

citygirldc

(website)

Veteran

I'm currenlty wearing my new bf jeans to work with a striped top and wedge sandals (photo to come later) since it's casual the month for me. I have a jacket/blazer that keep at work for emergency meetings to dress up the outfit, etc.

Gaylene

Veteran

I think if you had any contact with the public, I'd put rolled-up, boyfriend jeans in the same category as yoga pants. Unless it was a retail outlet that catered to a very young crowd, I'd wonder what was going on if I walked in from the street, even on a Friday.

A few months ago, I had an appointment with my lawyer on Friday afternoon. I walked into the office and started looking around for the receptionist. A girl came towards me, but I thought she was either a client or part of the cleaning staff. Nope, she was the receptionist! Casual Friday, but, really, clamdiggers and a sports bra?

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

I can't imagine wearing my BF jeans to work, but I work in a conservative office. Even though we just instituted Jeans Friday, they were very clear that it would still need to be nicer attire on top, and a clean, untorn, nice pair of jeans on the bottom. So I have trouser jeans and bootcuts for work, and my BF and faded jeans for weekends.

Diana

Veteran

I wear mine to work but I am a postdoc and not the PI. Still, I think for a "lab day" (as opposed to teaching or admin meeting or something) it would be fine. I'd wear them with a blazer. I think as long as they are a clean wash without holes it would be ok.

I am wearing mine at the conference today with my nic and Zoe blazer and am one of the most dressed up here, including all the PIs. So I'd say they are totally acceptable attire for GRCs too! ;). Granted, the most common attire here appears to be cargo shorts and gear sandals.

Anna

The best work wardrobe advice I ever heard was "Dress for the job you WANT rather than the job you have". So if the person in the job you want wears such casual attire, it's a go. If you're happy with the job you have, and your coworkers dress very casually, then it's a go.

Jonesy

Veteran

I think for an academic setting (depending a bit on your particular one, of course) they are okay. Echoing Diana, I wouldn't wear them to teach, but certainly for other occasions I think they are fine, especially if you pop on a jacket with them.

Anonymous

I have worn mine to work at the university, but I probably wouldn't wear them on days I teach. The anthro department has the full range of casual to dressed up, so I think just about anything would fly here.

I distinctly remember when I was here as an undergrad, having a prof teach an archaeological theory class wearing a red Che Guevara t-shirt and black straight leg jeans and leather thong sandals!

Desmo April

(website)

Veteran

Fine at my job but I work in publishing in SoCal near the beach--pretty much anything goes.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I have two pairs of BF jeans - one regular size that I've hacked two inches off and roll up and then one pair a size up that I have not shortened and am going to wear full length with chunky heels or boots. Do you think the lack of the roll and seeing the underside of the denim would make them more presentable in a work setting?

Makrame

Veteran

Great range of responses! I guess my "casualness meter" was not completely off since it sounds like many consider them to be uber-casual.

I never wear denim on teaching days (at least when teaching medical students; graduate teaching is a different beast). We have one semester of intense teaching schedule per year, and after it was over, I realized I was so tired of no-denim days, I jumped right into white jeans, colored denim, denim clamdiggers, denim skirts...

Shannon, I definitely think it makes a lot of difference to me whether or not they are rolled up.

Sylvie

Veteran

I work in tech-land and I wouldn't wear bf jeans unless I was wearing something formal on top, like a blazer. BF jeans are so casual, that I can't see myself wearing them to work as part of a completely casual outfit. They need to be bumped up to at least smart casual.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I agree Sylvie - I think for a work environment, even on a casual day, you need to "dress up" the top half to counter balance the casualness of the lower half. I think it might be an interesting outfit to have the BF jeans on with a button up shirt tucked and belted and a blazer over top.

Gaylene

Veteran

Interesting reading the responses because my first reaction was an unequivocal NO to boyfriend jeans at work. But, after reading some of the responses, I can see, if you are working in an uber-casual setting, they might be OK under some circumstances. (A statement I still have hard time believing I actually wrote!)

Part of my job involves helping students make the transition from classroom to workplace. And, while I do think guidelines can be broken quite successfully by some, I really believe that, for most people, dressing well is a much better career strategy than trying to bend the guidelines in the name of fashion-- especially when it comes to dressing down. Adding traditional work-wear items like blazers and heels to uber-casual, or going-out wear, like distressed and boyfriend jeans, sweat/yoga pants, short-shorts, sequinned micro-minis, flipflops, and the ilk does not transform those garments into office wear. If anything, it adds a weird vibe-- as if you stopped off at work after the hanging out at the beach or a party.

Part of my reaction is because I keep hearing from executives and HR people who ask me why students dress so inappropriately at interviews and on the job. My response is that they truly don't think what they are wearing is inappropriate; it's what they always wear and what magazines encourage them to wear to be "in fashion". What my students need to add to those two considerations is "and how is what you are wearing going to be judged by someone who is encountering you for the first time".

Makrame

Veteran

Gaylene, I think you have a very interesting and valid point (especially since I see graduate students in shorts and flip flops half the time, which would not be appropriate attire for most workplaces). I would say that I generally tend to dress on the dressier side of the spectrum for the uber-casual world of academic research labs, which is why I was wondering whether my fashion radar may be off, and I am wrong in thinking that boyfriend jeans signal casual wear. I was thinking of wearing boyfriend jeans with silk blouses or maybe blazers, nothing very casual, but even so I was not sure it would be appropriate.

Our animal care department once had to send around an e-mail to remind researchers that wearing Crocs is not equivalent to wearing closed-toe footwear as required by safety rules.

Diana

Veteran

Gaylene, that is an interesting point but I'd add that in the academic science world there is a sort of bias against dressing too well or too formally. It seems to signal some sort of corporate or businessy vibe that doesn't seem to go over very well in academia. I'd say that the overwhelming majority of people in the academic departments dress in a casual or smart casual manner, definitely nothing too slick or formal. In that sense, BF jeans might even be a better or more appropriate choice than a suit, for example.

I work in an academic department at a medical school that is also surrounded by hospitals (which have both medical and academic departments) and there is definitely a dichotomy between how the doctors dress and how the academics dress, and neither group would want to be caught dead mistaken for the other. Of course it gets tricky when you are in a situation like having to teach medical students....

These days, as I am thinking about making the transition from postdoc to faculty, I am trying to build my work appropriate wardrobe not necessarily by adding really formal pieces (like suits or trousers) but more by adding things that look grown up but still approachable if that makes sense (like colored blazers that I would wear with dark jeans and blouses).

PS - I find it hard to judge the appropriate level of dressiness sometimes in academic departments because there is the impression that once you get tenure, anything goes. =P Some people get way crazy and eccentric once they have the job security!

Gaylene

Veteran

Diana, I totally agree that wearing corporate dress in an academic environment would get me some strange looks. And I agree that, after getting tenure, some the outfits that I've seen on colleagues can rival anything that I've ever seen on a student! (Like one of my colleagues who showed up in his PJs and a ripped suit jacket he had found in a second-hand store. The rest of us were too stunned to look away.) But I think there is a wide range that exists between a corporate suit and that outfit worn by my colleague.

My concern, however, is how easily casual dress can turn to inappropriate dress. When I first started teaching at the university in the early 80s, dress pants and a jacket was pretty standard attire for the younger staff. With the advent of casual days, dress codes changed to the point where I now feel totally comfortable wearing dark jeans and a structured cardigan when teaching my grad student seminars. But, even with the move towards more casual wear, younger staff members who interpret this trend too liberally and show up in uber-casual jeans, a tank top, and flipflops don't do themselves any favors. We tenured staff may not say anything, but it often is the subject of comments behind closed doors, with some of the most negative remarks coming from the worst dressers, oddly enough.

I've always maintained that, if you are truly brilliant, you'll get the position regardless of your clothing or personal grooming. But, if people are looking for a way to weed out candidates, personal appearance influences the decision process, even if it's not directly articulated. It may not be right, but it happens. That's why I tell my students to think carefully before they start trying to expand the fashion boundaries of their workplace.

DonnaF

Veteran

My understanding is that BF jeans are generally faded + rolled, or faded + distressed + rolled. I would first ask whether faded jeans are appropriate in the particular workplace, then whether faded + distressed are. I am in my late 50s, which may make me sartorially pretty traditional, so I find them overly casual in all but a few workplaces, but work retreats would be okay. I find non-casual sartorially edgy (but modest) looks much more work appropriate. JMHO. YMMV.

cciele

Veteran

I do think, as others have mentioned, that it all depends on your workplace environment and your comfort level. Also the type of bf jeans. I would wear mine to work with a silk button down and blazer and heels with no problem. Mine are not distressed or faded though. May we see potential outfits?

cciele

Veteran

Oops double post

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I wouldn't wear rolled jeans to work unless I worked at a fishmongers or a beach restaurant. I think it's the rolling that has the casual, weekend, vacation vibe more than the jeans silhouette per se.

sarah

Veteran

This is SUCH an interesting thread. I recently jumped on the bandwagon and got some BF jeans, and Iove their comfortable slouchiness. But I really don't think I'd be comfortable wearing them to work, and I tend to dress on the casual side. I do wear jeans (not to lecture, except in black or white jeans), but somehow, especially with the baggy crotch and butt, I just don't feel like I could feel comfortable at work in them.

Echo

Veteran

Unless a person works somewhere exraordinarily casual or in a fashion-forward industry, I cannot see BF jeans being appropriate for work, even on a casual Friday. I also think it depends on your intent in the job you are in. Like someone else mentioned, if you intend to move up at all, I wouldn't even consider them. Dark denim will always come across better and as less questionable than faded and/or distressed (both of which are hallmarks of BF jeans).

Makrame

Veteran

Very interesting thread, for sure.

It would not be atypical for men in my type of position to be wearing khaki shorts, sandals and a polo shirt to work in the summer. No casual Fridays here (or maybe every day is casual Friday).

Suz

(website)

Veteran

So interesting.

Of course I plan to wear my BF jeans to work.

But I work at HOME!!

I don't think I'd have worn them to teach, when I was teaching. Jeans, yes...but not super faded slouch rolled jeans.

So it might depend a bit on the style of your boyfriend as well as on your job. Diana's boyfriend's are slightly darker wash and less baggy overall. So they could work more easily in an academic environment.

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