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I totally understand the reasons people want to dress a certain way and don't care at all if one coworker wants to wear a suit to work and another prefers a hoo
by rurp 5y ago
I totally understand the reasons people want to dress a certain way and don't care at all if one coworker wants to wear a suit to work and another prefers a hoodie.
The issue is when people want to impose their dress code on others, especially for non-client/customer facing roles.
Putting a large emphasis on the dress code has downsides as well. The more focus people spend worrying about their attire and judging others, the less focus they have for more substantive matters. It's an easy crutch to dismiss someone for dressing "wrong", a crutch which plenty of lazy employees and managers are happy to latch onto.
I think de-emphasizing dress codes encourages a more productive workplace.
- ask_b123 5y agoBut at the same time, having a dress code could let people worry less about their attire and be able to focus on other matters. Here I'm thinking specifically of school uniforms. It can be easier to be able to just wear the uniform rather than having to choose what to wear every day. That said, I probably wouldn't like to work at a place with an overly stringent dress code.
- secludedrelish 5y ago> It can be easier to be able to just wear the uniform rather than having to choose what to wear every day. If someone really has so much trouble deciding what to wear ... just get a bunch of gray t-shirts and sweatpants/blue jeans. You (or the parents for a young child) are free to make your own uniform. However, if someone feels the need to express themselves through clothing, they are free to do so.
- vineyardmike 5y agoI have 9 identical black tee shirts. I have 4 identical pairs of jeans. Roughly half the week I wear this. So easy to not think about it, and I’ve never had a coworker mention it to me, and only one even noticed it. That said, if you’re not a school girl and it’s not the first week of work, I hope you’re not so focused on your clothes that you can’t focus enough on work.
- brewdad 5y agoOut of college, I interviewed at a finance firm where it was made clear to me that the junior people wore blue dress shirts and only the senior people wore white. I didn't end up getting the job but I consider it a bullet dodged. It was like a white-collar McDonalds where you had to "earn" the white collar.
- a4isms 5y agoIt may amuse you to know that in some prisons, the guards wear dark-coloured shirts, and their supervisors wear white. The nickname “white shirt” is used for supervisors. Think of that the next time someone says their dress code is for managers to wear white shirts! —— There is a historical reason for dark-coloured clothes being associated with people of lower social status/rank. In earlier times, poor fabrics didn’t dye bery well, so the only way to get an even tone was to use a dark colour. To get a white fabric or pastel shade (like cream), you needed to start with better fabrics, higher-quality dyes, and have the dying done by experienced craftspeople. The result was that light-coloured clothes became associated with wealth and prestige. This has carried through to this day, even if the rationale for it has been obsolete for a century or more.
- a4isms 5y agoI personally favour not having a dress code. It’s just that I don’t dismiss dress codes as having no purpose. They have a purpose, it’s just not one I agree with. In a related area, PayPal once no-hired an otherwise qualified engineer because when asked what they do for fun, the candidate replied “shoot hoops,” and PayPal’s cultural belief was that “No PayPal engineer shoots hoops.” I would never work for a company with cultural filters like this, but I can understand their reasoning even if I deeply believe such workplaces are toxic monocultures with a side of racism.