Thanks, ladies. It really does mean a lot. For those in education, I can relate. My mother works as a teacher and deals with that ridiculousness all the time. The whole " teachers come to work wearing things that would be considered to be in bad taste at the gas station so we are tightening the dress code" thing . . . and usually the first victim are jeans! So the people that were dressing like they were homeless switch to cargo pants, ugly chinos, or leggings while the rest of the staff struggle to find durable, breathable pants.

Suz, you nailed it on the head -- it feels personal.

I do wear button-shirts on occasion, but only on days I can guarantee that I won't need to be handling textiles, which can be a crapshoot. Perhaps I need to think about scrubs or a change of clothing. I'm just irritated because I pretty much deal with dirty or delicate artifacts 35-40 hours a week at work and am rarely seen outside of collections' spaces by the public and I really shouldn't have to bring extra clothing to change in and out of on a daily basis! Plus, adding layers is only gonna make me hotter, which is an ongoing battle with the organization.

I have no problem trying to find other tops as alternatives, but since we have approximately a month left of hot weather I certainly am not going to spend my Fall clothing budget on "fixing" this.

Currently my supervisor is out on medical leave and the part-time replacement only works 1 day a week with me and is a temp. My director has told me to let it go (i.e. that she isn't going to go to bat for us). As far as my organization paying for anything, it is a nonprofit and I regularly have to buy my volunteers, interns, myself, and the junior collections' employee supplies like pencils and office supplies since they can't come out of the project budget and the institution doesn't provide them without constant nagging.

Beyond that, I'm not sure where I would keep changes of clothing at work since my office is on the 4th floor (making my car an unpractical solution) and I'm currently not even provided with a place to put a coat or purse. I regularly have to share my desk with others, so a purse and coat can't sit there and I've been alotted half of a desk drawer for filing. I'd have to bring a storage bin and rotate items home for laundry depending on how dirty of the task and what items have been exposed to.

I think I will start a thread asking for suggestions on "dressing up" my fall/winter work wardrobe in practical ways.

The frustration comes from having worked in collections' spaces almost exclusively for the last 3 years and never having this issue . . . . when collections' spaces are cooled and heated appropriately I dress smart casual with appropriate layers to take on and off and generally don't have to worry about insanely treacherous stairs or getting "you must wash everything immediately" filthy. When I've worked in dirty and or hot/cold situations like on collections' moves, I've been provided with protective equipment and been allowed to dress appropriately for the heat or cold and the dirt/job so long as clothing was in good condition and presentable.
The weird combo feels ridiculous.

That is very frustrating Elly: my commiserations. I think LBD has some very good suggestions for how to deal with issue head on.

Otherwise, is there some way you could add a bit of embellishment (an applique or embroidery or lace edging or something else flat) to your tees so that they 'pass'? It's ridiculous you'd have to do that though.

I hate to suggest polo shirts but maybe?

Sometimes I feel dress codes are just thinly-veiled misogyny; yours is in this vein, to me. And I agree that clean, stylish jeans and a tee look better than a dumpy company logo polo shirt from 1994 and ugly dockers.

No solutions in addition to the good ideas you're receiving here, but sympathizing. Frankly, this kind of dress code, applied abruptly in midstream as you've described, would seriously annoy me. If this is typical of how this organization operates, is it maybe time to look around for other work? Or is there still enough positive there to make it worthwhile to stay? (You don't have to answer that on a fashion blog; it's just that if I received that sort of policy change, I know I'd be weighing the pros and cons of staying there.)

I don't have any good advice just wanted to say i'm sorry you are having to deal with this because it sounds a bit unreasonable considering your work environment. Hugs!

Windchime -- unfortunately I'm starting to feel like this is how my organization operates. I have one year left in the position before my project finishes and am trying to decide how much I can take/am keeping an eye out.