Hee hee. Pantihose and it’s too hot in here?? That’s my definition of hell.
I want to add that to the list, but having banned the Clip Clops. I figured I was being selfish in taking all the good to ban items.
A dress to the tips of the fingers could show unmentionables, unless it’s on Orangatang Girl. In that case you may consider requiring skin visable beyond the sleeve and skirt line
No showing of tatoos. It grosses many people out.
Let 'em wear jeans. Please.
Y’all, remind me not to ask for a job wherever Doug is!
Add in the policy who should follow it. I’m sure nobody expects the maintenance guy to wear a suit, but sometimes people forget those little details.
You may need different paragraphs for different situations. I’ve worked in many companies where you expected different dress in an office building, while visiting a customer, or in a factory. I know your company doesn’t have factories, but if someone has to go visit a printer’s it may be a Bad Idea to do so in too-dressy clothes.
Evidently, unbeknownst to me, I worked in a kindergarten once. It was an office with a pretty standard dress code that excluded jeans except on Friday. About 10 employees, total.
I was the computer geek. I am a girl. On days when I would be running cable, doing hardware upgrades, etc, I would get an Ok to come in jeans. The other girls went freakin’ bonkers. Now, the fact I was crawling around under their desks, up on ladders getting into the ceiling, etc, did not occur to them. Nor did it occur to them that I had ripped the hems out of several dresses by crawling under the desks on prior occasions.
Completely Bonkers. I was always tempted to come in in a mini skirt and assume the “damn cable came undone” position under their desks… but alas, no.
Let folks who’s jobs require it, dress in a manner that is appropriate. Don’t make the lady running the 1890’s press machine wear flowy, scarfy frou-frou wear. If they are truly exposed to the public then they should dress professionally, even if they have no idea what that means.
Who the hell thinks it’s ok to wear pajamas to work anywhere else but a brothel?
Here are some suggestions from an article I did for our company newsletter on what constitutes biz casual:
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If you would even consider wearing an outfit to a club, a beach party or a barbecue, it’s not “business casual”
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Wrinkled clothing is not “business casual”; pride in your appearance and the fit of your clothing is important – as is pride in your work.
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Choose your business casual clothing with the same eye to quality as you would if you were purchasing a business suit.
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Take your cue for dressing from the highest-ranking male/female in your department. In addition to knowing your business, dressing the part is an integral part of success; they are where they are for a reason.
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Dressing down does not mean “working down”; your attention to detail & dedication to your job should be the same regardless of the dress code.
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Shorts of any kind – no matter if they’re tailored or paired with a jacket as a suit – are not permitted under WFS’s “business casual” policy.
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Underwear is called underwear for a reason – it belongs under your clothing.
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Over-dressing is as inappropriate as under-dressing; leave the rhinestones and satins for after-5 occasions.
VCNJ~
[Edna Mode] No Capes![/E.M.] 
while we’re at it…
no neckties of any kind, employees wearing ties will be given a choice of removing said offending object and burning it in the sink, then pouring the ashes in the toilet, after taking a good, solid defecation on the ashes, the toilet will be flushed, or immediate termination…
(can you tell that I HATE ties, I think I might have been to subtle )
Hell, even I wouldn’t work in a psychic torture chamber like that. It was a lame (and unmarked) attempt at satire. :dubious:
I thought it was pretty good.
Once upon a time, I had a job where I occasionally wore PJs to work.
Of course, that was also a job that was requiring me to come in at 11pm in a ridiculous split shift agreement that had me on shift from 9:30 am - 3:30pm and then again from 11pm to some unspecified time between 1am and 4am. The early portion was only for weekdays, but the evening portion was 7/365. Also, I never, ever interacted with clients or the general public, entered the building via the backdoor (unmarked and in the parking lot - it opened up 10 feet from my office!), and only rarely had face-to-face interactions with even other office personnel. I only wore PJs (and by PJs, I mean full flannel pants and a tank top with appropriate undergarments) on the evening portion of my shift (unless that portion bled over into the morning). I will also point out that for the evening portion of the shift, I was also the only person at all in the building.
Since the company was too cheap to arrange to hire a second shift to cover the night work, my position was they could cut me slack in my wardrobe for that shift. This was particularly true as that shift arrangement guaranteed that there was no time period in which I could get eight straight.
I’d like a cite for this, preferably a nice link to a photo?
They are grown ups. This isn’t high school. So, I hope a dress code isn’t nessesary. Yes, you have had a couple instances of bad attire choices. Might I suggest a general email regarding it? Something like “we are trying to project a certain image here, dudes, so dress appropriately!”
Either that or order a Harris Tweed sportcoat with suede elbow patches for one and all, and have it be a uniform. 
(whenever I think college, writer or publisher, I think of those coats. Own one myself, in fact)
I am with Harmonious Discord- no damn flip-flops! I’d also discourage ties. Dress shirt, chinos/slacks, and sportcoat (when customers are around) should be fine for the publishing industry. In fact, even jeans look OK with that combo, if they are clean and no tears or holes.
:rolleyes: per request
Two words.
Naked Fridays
DrDeth, you are overrating grownups. Given what seems a simple and reasonable dress code for a professional environment, there is a decent-sized minority that will always try exploit “loopholes”.
And while I understand that some find ties distressingly uncomfortable, a matched shirt and tie with neutral slacks always looks professional.
These two are a bit contradictory to my way of thinking. Point 5 suggests that dressing down need not, and should not, imply that the output of work is diminished in quality or quantity just because someone is wearing denim.
Auntbeast, I can understand their yammering a bit. Even if you had a good reason and excuse to wear jeans, others would see it and wish they had the same privilege. I know it would irk the hell out of me, especially if I was in a position with no customer contact. “Business casual” to my way of thinking means dressing about like you would for church, temple, or mosque…not casual at all. You’re probably guessing by now that I can’t stand, HATE khakis and similar pants. They never fit me right. I’d almost rather have to wear a tie but be allowed to wear jeans. Which reminds me of another point–it’s possible to wear jeans but still dress up your image with nice shirts, blazers, and so on.
I also find it more than a bit disturbing that you had to go to the boss and get what amounts to a “jeans pass”, if you knew you were going to be doing installations and hardware fixes. What if you had to do some emergency installations and you didn’t have a jeans pass that day?
Generally, I think pictures are a good idea. For instance, my company’s dress code said that silk T-shirts were OK for men, and I couldn’t figure out what that means since I didn’t know if I’d ever seen one.
Also on this point, I hope a pair of Dockers and a dress shirt is not the reason my boss is where he is. (I actually do know it’s not the reason.)
My favorite company’s dress code:
Company-issued uniforms must be worn. White outfits while in the office, gray outfits when working off-site. Sweatshirts may be worn under short-sleeved uniform shirts in cold days. Heads must be covered in regulation caps, bill of cap must be in front unless working in the hazard unit, where a helmet may be worn, and backward, to accommodate protective mask.
(Source: Any Professional Baseball Team)