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New dress code at work

Anonymous

The ag. college has decided, at long last, to institute a dress code. It's business casual, with no jeans. No problem, except that I do have one pair of jeans that are very dark and are styled like trousers. I was told they're fine. (Thank goodness!) Thankfully, the examples they gave were in line with what I wear anyway. I will, however, have to find a few more pairs of dress pants for the winter months when my legs get so cold.

Dressing

18 replies

Latest reply was from

Colette

Veteran

Whew! I thought I was going to be reading that you needed an entire new work capsule. I hope you are you happy about the change.

abc

Veteran

Same as collette. If you run cold you could wear pantyhose or tights under pants. Could be something to keep in mind if you shop for new ones.

Anonymous

I'm very thankful that I won't need a new wardrobe, but I know some people who will - including my boss. It will be interesting to see how these people manage to put an acceptable wardrobe together. I'm not sure that some of them really know how. I honestly don't care if I wear jeans or dress pants. I'm comfortable either way, and I've been moving away from jeans lately anyway, just because I'm getting tired of them.

JAileen

Veteran

I'm surprised an ag college doesn't allow jeans. That seems very odd to me. I'm glad you don't have to change anything, though.

Anonymous

It seems odd to me, too. That's why I say a lot of people are going to have to buy new pants, tops and possibly shoes. I have enjoyed wearing jeans to work from time to time, too, and I think this restriction is a bit too much. On the other hand, you should see what some people wear to work! They had to draw the line somewhere. This, of course, applies to people who work in the offices. They want us to present a professional image.

Anonymous

P.S. No flip flops, either. That's gonna cramp my style, lol. (I only wear them to the beach.)

catseye

Veteran

This is very odd. I used to teach in a business college and we didn't even have a dress code. Jeans should really be accepted , if there is no holes.

Anonymous

I agree. We're not even on campus.

Cococat

Veteran

Goodness, a dress code would mess with my head after having to wear restrictive school uniforms for much of my childhood. I would want to rebel.
At least your dark jeans are acceptable.

Anonymous

Seems like your college might be looking for additional funding and wants to dress to impress.

Anonymous

One of our staff members told me today about some of the things she's seen people wear in other county offices. We concluded that there must have been some complaints to the powers that be, who in turn decided to hand down these rules.

Nebraskim

Veteran

I'm surprised the tenured faculty have to abide by this. A dress code would never have flown among our tenured faculty. And frankly some of the "get ups" worn by faculty, professional staff and office-service staff was abysmal at my university. One woman, who has since retired, often wore off the shoulder white flouncy cotton eyelet tops in the summer over a similar skirt that reminded me of a square dance outfit.

Anonymous

Well, my DH is tenured (also in ag) but has never worn jeans to work (or anywhere else, for that matter; khakis are his casual pants); but his office is at the university. I think it's a little different for folks like me who work in rural areas. My office is in the middle of a cow pasture, for crying out loud. Customers love to call the university and complain, and I suspect there might have been complaints about the ones who were dressing way too casually for any type of office. This has made it bad for the rest of us.

Anonymous

Dress codes are implemented when a subset of people stretch the limits of reasonable dress attire to the breaking point.

I witnessed it in my office. A small subset of staff raced to the bottom of the heap. If shorts were acceptable (and they really weren't), then they wore their absolutely worst pair of stained, ripped shorts (idk) with flip flops. Of course, no one took them seriously as a professional (and then they bitched about it).

Finally, management had to implement a dress code just to rein in the outliers. Just the idea of dress code raised the hackles of everyone and they rebelled at the idea of "being told how to dress." I was of the ilk that they really did need to be "told how to dress."

This has all blown over in our office, but some hard feelings remain.

Anonymous

I just found out that this new dress code only applies to office managers and secretaries; not to the higher ups. So my boss can continue to wear t-shirts and faded, worn-to-death jeans, and old tennis shoes. GRRRR!!! And it's not that I don't like to dress nicely. I do, and aside from jeans once in a while, I already dress the way they now say they want us to dress. It's just the thought of it not applying to people in higher positions that gets to me.

Anonymous

If everyone your boss supervises is dressing more professionally, he or she will stand out like a sore thumb. I'll be he or she starts to dress more appropriately as well ... if only as a reflex.

Anonymous

In most offices, it's the higher-ups who are supposed to set the tone for the office. Which I guess they've been doing, apparently. So now, the lesser-paid people have to spend more money for clothes because they've been dressing like the higher-ups, and the higher-ups just keep on dressing down (which seems only practical, since you're in the middle of a cow pasture). That's a pretty messed-up policy, and downright undemocratic, too.

Anonymous

I've been dressing better than my boss, and like the way they dress in the on-campus offices, since I started working there. My present boss. Who has been here for 4 years, hasn't started dressing better, and some clients have asked if he's the expert they're supposed to talk to. I've had to reassure a good number of folks. I don't think he gets it. That said, I see nothing wrong with my dark trouser jeans. I was told it's ok to wear them, but I probably won't because I don't want to take any chances. I'm just thankful that my everyday attire is smart casual. That's the only change I'll have to make. I still think it stinks that our superiors aren't required to adhere to this dress code. It could be possible that the person who said this only applies to certain people might be wrong. That wasn't the way I took it when it was presented to us at the training. I was at the same session she was at, yet we each heard differently.