# Do you notice what your coworkers wear? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396 "2016-02-28T15:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/41 "2016-02-29T06:08:10Z")
I notice only as much as is required to be sure staff are complying with the dress code. We do 99.99% of our work out of sight of the public and rarely have visitors so the dress code as become progressively more relaxed over time. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/42 "2016-02-29T08:07:01Z")
I really only notice when something seems inappropriate. We had one Registrar who regularly wore low cut tops and another who used to teeter about on high heels. She always made a racket when she’d click clack down the ward in the middle of the night. One of our current batch seems to have only one top. Or several tops, all exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/43 "2016-02-29T11:48:53Z")
Lawyer, so yes I do. If they are wearing Court dress, then they expect to be in Court today. If they are dressed smart causal (trousers with a shirt or sweater) then well they expect to work only at their desk, no meetings. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/44 "2016-02-29T13:44:51Z")
I’m fortunate enough to work in a "wear basically whatever you want"environment, so I notice what people are wearing in as much as I’m curious as to which obscure Game of Thrones character your T-shirt is referencing. When it comes to what I’m wearing, we suffer from Perpetually Cold Office Syndrome so I always have on the same zip-up sweatshirt. I literally wear it every single day. To the point where I took it off one time and a co-worker joked that she didn’t recognize me. I do wash it, and I wear different stuff underneath. Although if people DO comment on what I’m wearing it’s all behind my back so…you know…ignorance and bliss and all that ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/45 "2016-02-29T14:11:26Z")
I notice if something stands out, either a particularly nice outfit or something unusual, but mostly I don’t care. If you asked me what someone in my office wore the day previously, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I can barely remember what I wore. Once I wore the same outfit for a week - beige pants and a black shirt, different pants and shirt each day, but still the same basic uniform. If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/46 "2016-02-29T14:57:37Z")
I do notice because I’m interested in fashion, but I doubt I’d notice if a basic piece like a pair of black pants was being worn often. I wear my pants twice as well. In fact, I have a rule that I follow to help me know whether it’s the first or second wearing. I button and zip the pants before washing. When I take them off the hanger to wear them, if they’re still zipped, it’s first wear, if they aren’t, it’s second wear and they go in the hamper at the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/47 "2016-02-29T15:08:58Z")
Like **Dung Beetle** , I notice because I’m interested in fashion and I too would not notice if someone wore black pants or whatever repeatedly unless there was something unusual about them that made me notice they were the same ones. I don’t really register / judge “bad dressers”; I’m just really looking to see stuff I admire. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/48 "2016-02-29T15:25:29Z")
As a department head, I do, but only in terms of “is this person dressed appropriately”. And “appropriately” can mean different things on different days. If someone has a class to teach or meetings with people elsewhere on campus, they’re likely to be dressed better than they might be on, say, a day when they only expect to work on things in their workspace. That said, I’ve only needed do speak to 1 person in 4 years about inappropriate clothes, and that was a matter of the words on the t-shirt they were wearing. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/49 "2016-02-29T18:27:38Z")
As the HR lady, I do. I have to. I’m responsible for maintaining the dress code. Our dress code isn’t stringent, but we disallow flip flops, shorts, braless tops for women, etc. I also use my daily walk through to pay compliments such as “I like that color on you” or “what a pretty skirt”, etc. which serve two purposes: one, to alert people that I do pay attention; and two, to spread a little goodwill around. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/50 "2016-02-29T18:50:19Z")
I don’t notice what anybody wears. And I certainly _hope_ that nobody notices what\* I\* wear, because they will think I only own two shirts and two pairs of trousers. I hate shopping, and when I find something I like, I buy a bunch of identical items, in two colors. Usually khaki and olive for the trousers, blue and gray for the shirts. In the morning, I put on whatever is on top of the “clean” stack. I look forward to the day when we all wear uniforms, like on Star Trek! Then getting dressed will be a total no-brainer. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/51 "2016-02-29T19:08:53Z")
I am a manager at an IT company. I notice in the sense of being observant about people in general and noting the way they dress as part of their personality. I don’t notice in the sense of being judgmental and I certainly don’t notice in the sense of keeping track of what they have worn recently so I can play “Gotcha” if they wear the same thing they wore yesterday. Here is the kind of thing I notice: There’s a guy who works for me who will 90% of the time come back from lunch with food spots on his shirt that weren’t there in the morning. There used to be a woman here who far too often wore black stretch pants (kind of like yoga pants) and I think she outweighed me by 50 pounds. You can’t help but notice that. One of my peers consistently wears shirts with button-down collars and doesn’t button down the collars. One of my developers, a woman, showed up wearing a pair of sweatpants that said “Juicy” across the ass. I didn’t say anything to her myself but I never saw them again. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/52 "2016-02-29T19:34:51Z")
I work at a chemical plant, and we do have uniforms or coveralls for when you’re in a process area, but most of my co-workers are engineers or chemists. They neither notice nor care what someone is wearing, as long as they’re wearing the appropriate safety clothing. I wear jeans + long-sleeve t-shirt under my labcoat, and it’s surprising when someone comments on it - mostly “you look so weird without your labcoat” and the occasional “ooh, gray jeans: _fancy_”. I usually wear the same jeans two days in a row if they’re still clean; no one has ever commented. I understand a few of the women who work in the office areas have lamented that no one ever notices when they dress up. > [@Sahirrnee](#): > > When I find something I like I will buy multiples. I found a pair of shorts I liked so I bought 3 pairs in black and 3 pairs in navy. Several of my co-workers wanted to know why I wore the same pair of shorts day after day. Before we were required to wear safety uniforms, I was puzzled by one engineer’s puffy winter coat. It was patched with duct tape, then “healed” (no more duct tape), then got shabby with duct tape again, then “healed” again… I finally asked what was up and learned that his wife had bought a _half-dozen_ of the coat he liked and put them in storage. So when one was too old, he just pulled out the next version and carried on. Engineers. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/53 "2016-03-02T01:47:58Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > When I find something I like I will buy multiples. I found a pair of shorts I liked so I bought 3 pairs in black and 3 pairs in navy. Several of my co-workers wanted to know why I wore the same pair of shorts day after day. We had a co-worker like this at my old job. When we required business attire he wore a lght gray shirt, dark gray pants, and dark gray tie every day with the same black oxfords. When we went business casual, he dropped the tie. There used to be rampant speculation about just how many sets he owned. Maybe seven years ago, he added a pair of light tan pants, so we figured something happened to a pair of the gray and he couldn’t find an exact replacement. As in that case, you mostly notice the outliers. I work in a warehouse now and aside from noticing most people dress like slobs, everyone sort of blurs together. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/54 "2016-03-02T16:55:56Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I work remotely. I can only see shirts, and that’s only when we have video meetings. I really, really hope they are all wearing pants. Beyond that, I don’t pay any attention to coworker’s clothing. I have had 6 am video meetings with the overseas team where my hair is done and I’m wearing an appropriate work top…and jammie bottoms. And slippers. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Which brings me back to my original question, with the following possible considerations: > [ul] > [li]Noticing one person in particular[/li][li]Noticing cleanliness more than clothing choices[/li][li]Noticing something brand new to their wardrobe[/li][li]Wondering how their mother lets them go out looking like that…[/li][/ul] > > Is this even on your radar? Yup, I notice some people more than others. I also notice cleanliness (not an issue, thank gopod). We don’t see too much that’s awful, but I want a workplace rule that requires guys (especially those with moobs) to wear a t-shirt under their regular shirt. I don’t want to see the moobs jiggle (and would like the moob-guys to wear a t-shirt), nor do I want to see nipple. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/55 "2016-03-02T17:15:08Z")
I notice when it’s inappropriate. Like when the girl in another department wears stretch pants with little hearts all over them on a “business casual” day. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/56 "2016-03-02T18:14:45Z")
Member of management, dress is very casual. I usually wear dress slacks and a button-up shirt, no tie. Sometimes wear jeans. Some wear nice shorts. I don’t really pay attention to most, but there is one guy from upper management I notice who looks like a clown. He not only occasionally wears shorts, but they are gym shorts along with a tank top. Looks like he’s ready to hit the gym, but by the looks of him, he hasn’t had physical activity in years. There used to be a manager here who rotated two polo shirts. Yellow one day and green the next. Not sure if he had multiples of the same colored shirts or if he had only those two shirts. If I bumped into him on the weekend, he would be wearing one of those shirts. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/57 "2016-03-02T19:10:08Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > I usually only notice when something is severely out of place That’s generally the rule with me as well; if something’s out of the ordinary, then I’ll notice it. Over time, I do notice patterns though; there are a couple guys on the other side of the floor who have a preference for wearing sports team polos, and there are a handful of ambitious types who wear stuff with the corporate logo often enough that it seems rather brown-nosey. Or the woman (don’t know her name) who is “80’s Woman”, because of the big hair and acid-wash tight jeans. She’d be right in place at a ca. 1986 Poison concert… except that it’s 2016, and she’s probably in her early 50s. But day to day, I couldn’t tell you what she wears, or how that differs from the day before. Our dress code seems to be “No shorts, wear shoes, and nothing raunchy or inappropriate.” I’m sure there’s a published one somewhere, but over working here for nearly 8 years, what I describe is the de-facto one. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/58 "2016-03-03T17:15:59Z")
I notice and often wonder if some people own a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/59 "2016-03-03T19:10:56Z")
If you wear the same business casual outfit 3 days in a row, I am definitely not going to notice. If you wear tights, a cami top, and some Uggs to work, I will notice that! ---
**Author:** ![NVME702-redux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a183cd/32.png) [@NVME702-redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NVME702-redux)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396/60 "2016-03-03T20:52:40Z")
I work in HR- but not as an enforcer. I travel throughout the building that we share with two other companies but we keep 3 floors for our company’s use. I can tell by a persons dress if they are part of IT, our collections call center or part of the auditing team. One of the ladies in our office wear beautiful scarves every day of the week, and I’ve never seen a repeat as of yet. She had surgery on her wrist and she color coordinated her support glove to match her scarf each day! Loved that! I just worry that I wear too much black that people would think I wear the same thing every day. Tons of black slacks with different leg widths, black cardigans, black shrugs; I think the only color I wear is with my blouse. I accent with my accessories like jewelry and heels. We have perpetual Arctic Office- so my blanket like serape is kitty soft, but in black! (like my heart) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-notice-what-your-coworkers-wear/747396.md?page=4)