Day 21 Dressing 9 to 5 style

Yes, more work chat, so exciting I know!

Does your office or work have a dress code?  Momma Kiss talks about hers here.  It got me thinking how lucky I’ve got it now.  It hasn’t always been so lax.

There were the cheap red polos and poor fitting pants at Sonic, similar atrocities at Wendy’s.  (Oh GAWD, I’ll NEVER wear cheap Top Siders ever again!)

I got in a personal style rut for a good 10 years that I blame on being an athletic trainer in college:  sweats or warmups and oversized T-shirts.   But the perks of the job made up for it (just think of the access I had to the locker rooms of the various teams…..hm, I might have revisit THAT!)

Also whilst in college I was a life guard.  Yup, red swimsuits ala Baywatch!  Too bad I didn’t have the knockers for the gig.

Then there was the bartending.  No particular dress code there.  These were the days before the low rise jean and the whale tail.  I did quickly learn what got me paid.  I came to work one day in a short black shiny lycra dress.  No bling, no plunging neck line, just a little tight and really short.  My boss recommended I buy 5 more.  It was definitely a money maker.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself working at a call center.  (Quite the let down from being store manager of a major clothing chain and while less stressful, not near as fun as working for a dotcom in San Francisco)  I mentioned this place was a call center, right?  No visual contact with our clients, EVER!  Still, the boss (pompous ass that he was) insisted we dressed for an office.  No jeans EVER, no open toed shoes, nothing shorter than a short sleeve.  Miserable thing was that he didn’t pay enough for us to dress very professionally. It really was quite a sad place.  Think lots of polyester (no, come on, not me!) and mumus (again, NOT me.)

Thank the powers that be that I found  my current job (by way of the call center.)  Now I’m compensated well enough to dress to the nines every day if I wanted and am so grateful I don’t have to.  I wear (nice fitting) sweats once a week but mostly its jeans and whatever top I can find to fit my desperate efforts at being fashionable.  Of course I know when to bust out the sexy little number (when I need to ask for time off or ask for a raise.)  It’s all good.

Do you have a dress code?  Would you change it?

9 Responses to Day 21 Dressing 9 to 5 style
  1. Jessica
    April 21, 2010 | 10:04 am

    "Whale Tail" Bwahahaha! I haven't heard that term in years.

    I'm a nurse in the ER and on a public health board for the county. Either getting bled on, puked on or barfed on while wearing scrubs or all fancy in heels and suits when meeting with the mayor or in the lab.

  2. Jodie Kash
    April 21, 2010 | 10:09 am

    Working from home, it's what I slept in the night before or worked out in that day. I miss the dressing up; big girl pants that button are good for the ego.

  3. Red Shoes
    April 21, 2010 | 12:57 pm

    Supposedly, no dress code here at Alluvial Flood Plain State University… but…

    I did get a letter of reprimand and seriously yelled at for wearing my Red Converse Chuck Taylors to commencement and to work…

    Of course, the bastard doing the worst amount of the yelling was sporting the world's WORST hairpiece… I wonder if that dead possum on his head ever got him laid…???

    I doubt it…

    After that dean left… and the new one came in, the new dean said it was ok for me to wear my red shoes to work once again…

    :o D

    ~shoes~

  4. Christiejolu
    April 21, 2010 | 2:43 pm

    I work at a preschool. So my dress code is fairly easy going. But we also recommend wearing clothes you don't mind getting ruined. Especially on days we are painting.

  5. MLBarajas
    April 21, 2010 | 2:55 pm

    I work in a small office (6 people total) and we have a dress code. We are suppose to wear dress pants and a nice shirt monday thru Thursday and jeans on Friday. We rarely ever see anyone other than each other and 5 of us are family. I have slacked a little since I've been pregnant but the boss (my dad) doesn't seem to be too upset as long as I don't look sloppy.

  6. Jaime
    April 21, 2010 | 8:59 pm

    we have a dress code. a new one. thanks to yours truly… because of me, we must not wear sheer shirts, short skirts or display cleavage.

    i can't really do much about the last one… i offered to have breast reduction surgery if they would pay for it. surprisingly, they didn't take me up on the offer.

  7. Kelly
    April 21, 2010 | 10:24 pm

    We do have a dress code in our office. It is 'business' attire, except when we have appointments or know if someone is coming into the office. Then it's 'professional business' where we have to wear a jacket and there are the extra special times when we have to wear full suits (usually for Board meetings). I work for a non-profit and laugh when people ask me if I am a volunteer. Would I be wearing a suit to meet you if I was a volunteer??!?!?!

  8. MommaKiss
    April 22, 2010 | 9:29 am

    Ooooh, lifeguard AND a trainer? No wonder you have a nice bootay ;)

    Dress code. I slacked on mine today. Shhhh, don't tell the CEO that I'm commando!

    thx for linking, by the way. You're like my number one fan :)

  9. D. Ryan
    April 22, 2010 | 12:14 pm

    I've had to dress up for most of my jobs. Like you, I wasn't paid enough to do so. I hated the no open toe rule the most. I only owned two pairs of closed toed shoes at the time. (I was a flip flop girl) Tennis shoes and a pair of ugly shoes. Pain in my butt.

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