# How would you dress for work, given your druthers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227 "2008-10-16T16:54:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/21 "2008-10-16T19:05:54Z")
I like being dressed like a grown-up (suits or skirts, real shoes, etc) to work in an office. I don’t dislike wearing jeans and sneakers to work in an office. I am exceedingly unfond of “casual Friday.” I actively dislike Casual Thursday \*and \*Friday. I hate, with the burning fire of 2 or 3 white-hot suns, a workplace dress code that allows everything (including flip-flops, shorts, spaghetti-strap tops, colored jeans and sneakers) but prohibits blue denim in any form. ---
**Author:** ![Finally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/67e7ee/32.png) [@Finally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finally)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/22 "2008-10-16T19:32:54Z")
I would be found at my desk in pajama pants an a sweatshirt. I get to start working from home next month and you’ll find me showered (I have a system, at my last job I worked from home for 8 years) but back in pj pants and slippers. Only requirement is panties (I AM at work after all). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/23 "2008-10-16T19:39:42Z")
Ideally, I would wear jeans, a Hawaiian shirt and running shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/24 "2008-10-16T19:48:21Z")
I puts me druthers on one leg at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/25 "2008-10-16T19:54:51Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Our office is casual all the time. I wear casual Docker-type pants, Docs, and either pullover or button-up long or short sleeved shirts. I could wear jeans, but it doesn’t really matter to me. Sometimes at work I slip off the Docs and wear Birkies instead. > > I have to put on a suit and tie when I go to court. Which I find stupid and uncomfortable. Given my druthers, I would never wear a tie for any situation. I hear you man. The tie is not your friend. I’m usually in khakis or cords, sometimes jeans with a sweater or button up, sometimes sport coat sometimes not - Keens or birks ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/26 "2008-10-16T20:00:31Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > 100% cotton sweatpants, t-shirt, plus sweatshirt if needed for warmth. Solid colors. Cotton socks and crocs. If we all wore this, clothes would be so completely not a hassle, distraction, or power play. When I am CEO of Spry Megacorp this will be the uniform. And why is this less tyrannical than requiring people to wear suits/ties/dress shoes or the female equivalent? I would feel horribly uncomfortable at work in such attire–unfocused and sloppy. (I am not saying that everyone thus attired would look sloppy, just that **I** would feel sloppy and unready for any kind of office work dressed like that.) If I were still working in a office, my preferred work attire would be an attractive top or sweater with slacks, clean jeans or a skirt, with attractive but comfortable shoes, sandals, or boots. Maybe an uncomplicated dress from time to time. With the skirts: Tights in winter, bare legs in summer. I never liked working in suits, dressy button-front shirts/blouses, or fussy dresses. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/27 "2008-10-16T20:01:57Z")
Pretty much how I dress now. Preppy Brooks Brothers type clothing or suits when required. I like getting dressed up for work. I hate working in places where people dress slovenly or cheaply. The way I see it, if a place can’t pay it’s employees well enough that they don’t have to shop at Target, I don’t want to work there. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/28 "2008-10-16T20:02:39Z")
If I really had my druthers, I’d be in at work in Jeans and a T-shirt every day. My business slacks have no pockets and that bugs me, because it means I need to keep stuff in my bra. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/29 "2008-10-16T20:06:11Z")
Jeans, comfortable shoes and some kind of shirt. Jacket as necessary. Which, oddly enough, is exactly what I do wear at work 89+% of the time :). Another ~10% of the time I’m in a lab coat ( tolerable ) and rather less than 1% of the time I’ll put on some combination of coveralls or work pants/shirts, steel-toes, rubber boots, rain-gear, hard-hat, face-shield, respirator, tyvek suit, etc., ( all provided ) for truly dirty/hazardous work. Generally I see nobody but one co-worker some days and once or twice a week for an hour or so, my boss. Mostly I wear what I want, which suits me fine. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/30 "2008-10-16T20:11:05Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > If I really had my druthers, I’d be in at work in Jeans and a T-shirt every day. > > My business slacks have no pockets and that bugs me, because it means I need to keep stuff in my bra. I always have to keep my stuff in my bra…wait, nevermind 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/31 "2008-10-16T20:11:18Z")
Our office is “business casual”, though there’s a definite emphasis on the “business” half. Given my druthers, I’d keep the dress code as is but revoke the no-jeans-except-on-Fridays rule. I happen to own a couple of pairs of fabulous dark denim slacks that are stylish yet comfy, and it pains me to ignore them for 80% of the working week just because of fabric discrimination. Paired with a nice top and appropriate shoes, they’re actually quite professional-looking. As much as I’d love to show up at the office in jeans/t-shirt/sneakers, that look tends to make me look like I’m still under 25, and no one would take me seriously… which is something I’ve had problems with in the past, even dressed professionally (I deal with a lot of crusty old-man IT types, who have trouble believing a young woman with an arts degree has any worthwhile knowledge in her head). ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/32 "2008-10-16T20:18:25Z")
Since I was responsible for creating the dress code, this one’s easy. Men: dress shirt and tie, dress pants, dress shoes. Jackets optional. Women: Business attire. Hose must be worn with dress or skirt. No open toe shoes. Dress slacks and blouse also acceptable. Staff wanted casual Friday but the one time I agreed to try it I couldn’t believe what people came to work wearing. Torn jeans, flip flops, belly shirts with piercings. I wish that was just one person but nope. I wouldn’t go to the market in what some people consider casual attire. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/33 "2008-10-16T20:21:31Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > 100% cotton sweatpants, t-shirt, plus sweatshirt if needed for warmth. Solid colors. Cotton socks and crocs. If we all wore this, clothes would be so completely not a hassle, distraction, or power play. When I am CEO of Spry Megacorp this will be the uniform. Gods of earth and air! That would be sheer hell for me. COTTON SWEATPANTS? I cannot write in pants held up only by elastic and will murder anyone who tries to make me do so. Try to make me work in crocs, and I’ll murder you twice. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/34 "2008-10-16T20:34:34Z")
I am in charge of my dress code. I wear jeans and hiking boots since I work in the field. If I’m going to be around a lot of heavy equipment, I’ll wear the steel toes. I wear cotton button-down shirts with my logo on them. Long sleeve right now, short sleeve most of the rest of the year. It looks a little more professional than random t-shirts, and I have pockets. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/35 "2008-10-16T20:40:29Z")
Jeans and a Hawaiian shirt. I’d love to work someplace where I’m not being frozen most days. Nothing really seems to make a change to my productivity. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/36 "2008-10-16T20:50:08Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > Jeans and a Hawaiian shirt. I’d love to work someplace where I’m not being frozen most days. Nothing really seems to make a change to my productivity. You’re not fooling anybody, Thunderian. I have spies keeping track of the seven Dopers whose survival is necessary to my plan to destroy New Zealand, and they have provided [these](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2380859130_c1ebb7c534.jpg?v=0)[three](http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs12/i/2006/271/9/4/Kiom_O_is_Lion_O_by_yunni.jpg) [pictures](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/1860041226_a3362eb5ae.jpg?v=0)of you at work. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/37 "2008-10-16T20:55:09Z")
[quote=“Monstera\_deliciosa, post:26, topic:468227”] And why is this less tyrannical than requiring people to wear suits/ties/dress shoes or the female equivalent? /QUOTE] Who said my goal was not to be tyrannical? 😃 If anyone finds other shoes more practical than crocs, they would be welcome to wear them. But none of this trying to get stuff done in heels and filling landfills with dead pantyhose. Pants held up only by elastic a problem? I really can’t picture this, because elastic by definition stretches to your size, whereas other pants can have a waist that is too loose. But, for you, Skald, we can get the kind that tie. Or we can special-order you some with belt-loops. Or you can wear suspenders. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/38 "2008-10-16T21:02:07Z")
[quote=“Harriet\_the\_Spry, post:37, topic:468227”] > [@Monstera\_deliciosa](#): > > And why is this less tyrannical than requiring people to wear suits/ties/dress shoes or the female equivalent? /QUOTE] > > Who said my goal was not to be tyrannical? 😃 > > If anyone finds other shoes more practical than crocs, they would be welcome to wear them. But none of this trying to get stuff done in heels and filling landfills with dead pantyhose. > > Pants held up only by elastic a problem? I really can’t picture this, because elastic by definition stretches to your size, whereas other pants can have a waist that is too loose. But, for you, Skald, we can get the kind that tie. Or we can special-order you some with belt-loops. Or you can wear suspenders. Well, it’s not like I wouldn’t be plotting against you anyway. I mean, this is me we’re talking about. So you might as well give me a reason. **Suspenders** with sweat pants? You must be feverish. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/39 "2008-10-16T21:32:36Z")
nick and nora pajamas, or silk pajamas, and a tee shirt. the tee shirt is so the pajama top can be worn as a jacket or blazer. when going out side sneakers can be added, inside i would go with animal slippers. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227/40 "2008-10-16T22:24:17Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You’re not fooling anybody, Thunderian. I have spies keeping track of the seven Dopers whose survival is necessary to my plan to destroy New Zealand, and they have provided [these](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2380859130_c1ebb7c534.jpg?v=0)[three](http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs12/i/2006/271/9/4/Kiom_O_is_Lion_O_by_yunni.jpg) [pictures](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/1860041226_a3362eb5ae.jpg?v=0)of you at work. What’s your beef against New Zealand? It’s beautiful and it doesn’t have nearly as many horrible critters as Australia. And [this](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q103/silvercat17/pirate-garb.jpg) is me at work. actually [this is](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q103/silvercat17/me2-6-12-08.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-dress-for-work-given-your-druthers/468227.md?page=3)