I like casual Fridays. Mon-Thu it’s business casual…seeing a guy wearing a tie at work is met with a :dubious: . I do think some people take business casual to the more casual extreme…I’ve seen t-shirts with Spiderman worn over skirts, but these are the younger workers, they’re not in my department, so what do I care?
That said, I do not think our front office receptionists are allowed to go Casual Friday. I never see them in anything but business attire.
[QUOTE=Leaffan]
Yep. In high-tech every day is casual Friday. Wearing shorts, tee-shirt and sandals is fine just about any day. Heck, some people dress like that for work in the winter here!
[/QUOTE]
One job, I asked about the dress code (there didn’t seem to be one, but I wanted to be sure). The HR person told me they “appreciate it” if we wore shoes in the public areas. Some kind of health code thing. But that was the extent of the rules.
[QUOTE=CairoCarol]
Don’t worry, I’m calm 
First, it seems only honest for me to mention that my son is not caused any problems by his birthmark - pediatricians are the only ones who ever mention it. It’s faint, and it just looks like he needs to wipe his face off. Which I suppose might be a problem when he’s older, actually - 10 year old boys are allowed to look like they washed up carelessly after messily consuming a bowl of chocolate ice cream, in a business setting it might be more of an issue. Whatever, it was too good an example to pass up, but I don’t want to give the impression that my son needs sympathy because he’s disfigured.
Second, it seems like what we’re talking about here has drifted away from casual versus formal. I’ve got formal clothes that show a lot more skin than the jeans and t-shirt I’d happily wear to work if permitted. But whether we’re really talking about casual/formal or covered/bare, I stand by my contention that a mature adult should be able to do his or her job when a coworker’s attire doesn’t match his/her aesthetic values. Man, I have seen some UGLY dresses, ties, and especially shoes out there that would pass most dress codes. Especially shoes. Shoes that make me want to VOMIT. But I get over it.
Third, and this may come as a bit of a shock, I don’t have a problem with places that do business with the public/business clients having dress codes (assuming they are fair and fairly implemented). I recognize that many people DO place a premium on social signals such as the ability to conform to certain norms through clothing. When I become your overlord, the world won’t work that way. Meanwhile, dress codes exist, and I can adhere to them if I need to.
Regarding someone having a tattoo with shocking language or depictions, that also represents a bit of drift. Having a swastika tattoo and having an unsightly wart are not morally comparable acts, and neither are the decisions to display or cover them up.
[/QUOTE]
Carol, addressing your second paragraph, what we’re discussing is American businesswear versus business casual ; formalwear, which, for women, usually shows a lot of skin, is irrelevant to this conversation. To help get everyone on the same page, the links in the previous sentence contain definitions of what’s what. Though others have mentioned ugly clothing, I haven’t. As I said before, I’m fashion impaired and can’t really tell if something’s ugly. I’m only discussing wearing either ill-fitting clothing or clothing that specifically shows off distracting stuff that business clothing covers. That’s why business clothing is expected at work: to minimize distractions.
You’re right, I and others should be able to do our work without being distracted by a naked muffin top or shoulder blade dragon tattoo but we can’t. In the office the other 4 days of the week, that’s not a problem. The fifth day people apparently forget that they’re at work, not at a party or a club. The need to minimize coworker distraction doesn’t disappear because it’s Friday. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s an offensive tattoo, unsightly wart, or hairy shoulder; if it’s covered Monday through Thursday, it should be covered on Friday, too. Many people at work realize this but there are a few who just don’t, like this person and these people.
PS-When you become my overlord, you’ll have to fire me because I’m not giving up my suits. They fit like gloves and make me look damn good. And I don’t have to worry about distracting anyone with my unsightly bulges, scars, or tattoos.