can you wear black?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

agzg, are you channeling ellebud now?

You have become my new source for signature inspirations. In the past 24 hours you've had a couple of GREAT ones.

aside: I'm done with my smileys for the week (thetygerlily put me on a 12 step program to get over my fear of smileys). And now that this thread is off on a dirt road...

LOL I guess so. I always knew I was destined for interwebs fame.

The reason why I've been thinking a lot about what is or is not office-appropriate lately is because I've built a pretty good (if small, because quality ain't cheap) work wardrobe, with lots of cute blouses, sweaters, dresses, and well-fitting pants, and I'm completely baffled at how lax with the dress code folks are in my office.

Like, it specifically says "no flip flops" but I often hear the tell-tale "smack, smack, smack" of someone wandering past. Also, when did leggings become office-appropriate stand-ins for pants? Why is no one addressing this? Why do I have to see your cleavage and worry if you're going to fall out of your shirt every day?

It also says you have to have some sort of sleeve on a blouse, even just a small cap sleeve, and there are folks wandering around here in glorified tank tops. Sure, some of my dresses are sleeveless, but this is why the fashion gods came up with cardigans!

I try not to judge based on what people are wearing, because when I started here I definitely had a sub-par wardrobe (nothing inappropriate, just cheaply made and/or ill-fitting because that's what I could afford at Marshalls), but really, some of these folks are pretty wealthy and I just don't get it. I know it's summer and hot so you might not want to wear a suit (and we're definitely not a business professional office), but how hard is it, even lacking funds, to throw on a polo and an office-appropriate khaki skirt?

Of course, it's mostly the women struggling with the dress code, but that's because they have more freedom with the dress code than men. It's not hard to mess up "no shorts, shirts must be collared unless it's Friday." I'm afraid if more people are breaking it and it's not addressed on an individual level, they're going to force us all to wear polos and slacks and my sartorial tastes will melt like an ice cream cone on a hundred degree day.

ETA: This is the dress I'm wearing, but of course my shoes are much more attractive than those clod-hoppers.