# So, Blue Jeans are Inappropriate for the Office, but Leggings and Flip Flops are Just Fine?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 16, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088 "2016-09-16T13:59:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/61 "2016-09-19T01:51:20Z")
Also you don’t understand how hot it can get and the humidity.It only takes couple of minutes to sweat it does matter your car, store, office, work place, city bus so on have AC.
Just opening you front door is blast of hot air.
And Phoenix, Las Vegas and death valley is like walking into hot furnace. I would take Miami humidity any day over this.
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### Author:  [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/62 "2016-09-19T02:05:19Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> Hold on, dude. I’ve lived in NYC forever and am quite familiar with the streets of DC, Paris, and London.
>
> Here and in DC and London I’ve seen many attractive and stylish young ladies walking about with just a thin gauze over their pussies.
>
> Paris, not so much. Prague, even nakeder. Barcelona, just right.
The point is people in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London dress up more. It culture shock when you go to Florida or Hawaii and see so many people in t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts.
If you dress like that in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London you should carry sign saying I’m visiting your city. Why? Because people don’t dress like that even walking on the street, fast food, local store, grocery store, gas station,bar so on. You just don’t leave house looking like that any where.
The t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts are clothes for house, gym and beach. Not city wear.
Same thing for girls in leggings. These are gym clothes.
It just that in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London people dress up more. **Out side of New York city proper it can get really casual.**
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/63 "2016-09-19T13:33:42Z")
> [@sweat209](#):
>
> The point is people in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London dress up more. It culture shock when you go to Florida or Hawaii and see so many people in t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts.
>
> If you dress like that in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London you should carry sign saying I’m visiting your city. Why? Because people don’t dress like that even walking on the street, fast food, local store, grocery store, gas station,bar so on. You just don’t leave house looking like that any where.
>
> The t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts are clothes for house, gym and beach. Not city wear.
>
> Same thing for girls in leggings. These are gym clothes.
>
> It just that in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London people dress up more. **Out side of New York city proper it can get really casual.**
Wow. You need to get out more.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/64 "2016-09-19T13:40:43Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> I like wearing blue jeans because they are comfortable to me, and also they save on dry cleaning bills. Dry cleaning for a week’s wardrobe of blouses and slacks runs about thirty dollars.
I wore business casual for about a decade and never dry-cleaned a pair of slacks. And very few blouses (I own two silk blouses that I love, so yeah, those). Slacks like [these](http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/style-co.-tummy-control-pull-on-pants?ID=1518404&CategoryID=157#fn=BRAND%3DStyle%20&%20Co.%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D87%26ruleId%3D85%7CBS%7CBA%26slotId%3D5)from Macy’s are work-appropriate and machine washable.
Bosses have irrational likes and dislikes just like everyone else. I worked for one who only allowed jeans that were not blue on “jeans days”. Purple, pink, red, white, yellow, green, all fine. Blue? No.
I thought coloured jeans looked naff, so I never wore any jeans at all.
> [@](#):
>
> **sweat209:**
> It culture shock when you go to Florida or Hawaii and see so many people in t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts.
People in Florida walk around in t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops because it’s hotter and more humid than hell.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/65 "2016-09-19T13:53:16Z")
FWIW down here in tropical humid SJ, PR, the dress standards tend to be surprisingly overformal. Yet somehow I fail to find the 2-block walk from the parking lot to the office annex in business clothes to be some sort of Death March of Sweat.
Still even here “bluejeans”/sneakers are considered too casual while tights/sandals are OK
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/66 "2016-09-19T13:58:53Z")
First. Anybody with a username of SweatXYZ probably knows what they are talking about when it comes to the Deep South and humidity 🙂
Second, yes the humidity down here does suck donkey balls…and yes, even as thin healthy younger man I’ve experienced the drenched in sweat just walking from the car to store/workplace thingy…
Third. I had a crazy asshole boss (actually the boss of the boss of the boss sorta thing) that got all crazy about (among other things) a dress code.
I came DAMN close to expressing my Scottish heritage by revolting and wearing a kilt to work every day just to fuck with that fucker.
Happy ending of sorts. That fucker eventually got the shit sued out of him for a “sexual harrassment” claim. Most people thought the actual claim was bullshit BUT on the other hand he had gotten away with so much other crap that nobody cared about the facts of that particular matter.
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/67 "2016-09-19T15:09:00Z")
> [@sweat209](#):
>
> The point is people in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London dress up more. It culture shock when you go to Florida or Hawaii and see so many people in t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts.
>
> If you dress like that in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London you should carry sign saying I’m visiting your city. Why? Because people don’t dress like that even walking on the street, fast food, local store, grocery store, gas station,bar so on. You just don’t leave house looking like that any where.
>
> The t-shirt, shorts, tank tops, flip flops and basketball shorts are clothes for house, gym and beach. Not city wear.
>
> Same thing for girls in leggings. These are gym clothes.
>
> It just that in New York city, Washington DC, Paris, London people dress up more. **Out side of New York city proper it can get really casual.**
You have zero idea what you are talking about. I live in NYC and this summer has been brutally hot. Every day I see people in the street and in stores wearing t-shirts, shorts, flip flops, tank tops, etc. If you think everyone dresses up here at all times of the day you are insane.
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### Author:  [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/68 "2016-09-19T17:13:08Z")
> [@sweat209](#):
>
> I know lot people who moved to Florida and moved back north because they could not take the heat. Florida heat is just dead awful.
>
> You never been to Houston or Miami when your eyeglasses are all fuggy, clothes covered with sweat and that bad sticky feeling. And you just want to jump into that cold shower.
>
> I don’t anyone who lived in Miami who did not shower two times in day some times even more. And if you where out in public you come home and have shower.
>
> Houston, New Orleans and Miami have really high humidity. If you don’t sweat there is some thing wrong with you but than you probably always cold.
>
> Nothing like have nice cool shower after being out side in high humidity.
I’m not going to play the I’ve-been-more-places-than-you game, but I have been to all of the above, some on a regular basis and live in the mid-south. If I were you, I’d get a physical, because you have more issues than a dry cleaning bill.
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### Author:  [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/69 "2016-09-19T17:23:42Z")
Not to derail this thread but is this a Mid-west/East Coast thing? If I arrived to work with anything but bluejeans on my boss would probably be worried that I am interviewing for other jobs.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/70 "2016-09-19T17:27:52Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#):
>
> Not to derail this thread but is this a Mid-west/East Coast thing? If I arrived to work with anything but bluejeans on my boss would probably be worried that I am interviewing for other jobs.
Same here. We’re practical in the Colorado mountains. As long as your clean, who cares.
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### Author:  [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/71 "2016-09-19T19:22:46Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#):
>
> Not to derail this thread but is this a Mid-west/East Coast thing? If I arrived to work with anything but bluejeans on my boss would probably be worried that I am interviewing for other jobs.
I was thinking it’s more of an industry dependent thing. And I think **sweat209** really is way more heat sensitive than the average bear. I’m in Florida and all the men where I work(the slobs I mentioned in my previous post are almost all women)wear long sleeve dress shirts (with, I assume t-shirts underneath) and you don’t see anyone walking around with giant pit stains or anything. Not to say that it isn’t sometimes pretty unpleasant here but not everyone is dressed in beach wear. You get used to it.
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/72 "2016-09-19T20:05:30Z")
We have no formal dress code for teaching (except, perhaps, “don’t be _fully_ naked”) and what a circus it is!
For the most part, women dress to teach: dress pants, blazers, silk or buttondown shirts, scarves, and dress shoes.
A few of the younger women do the leggings/yoga pant thing, but usually pair with a nice shirt and an artsy scarf.
Some men have their “khaki” uniform: Dockers, a different short-sleeve plaid shirt for each day, and some variant of Topsiders.
A few guys go “Mr. Chips” and wear tweed jackets, buttondown shirts, and jeans (and yes, I know Chips wore an academic gown).
And, this being academe, we have a contingency of males who wear their torn Brian Eno concert shirts (ca. 1981), jeans from the same era, and hippie sandals.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/73 "2016-09-20T12:52:32Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#):
>
> Not to derail this thread but is this a Mid-west/East Coast thing? If I arrived to work with anything but bluejeans on my boss would probably be worried that I am interviewing for other jobs.
Or maybe industry-specific? I work near Boston, for a software firm. My VP wears flannel shirts, jeans and LL Bean boots.
I wear jeans – or leggings – and sweaters for half the year.
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### Author:  [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/74 "2016-09-20T15:29:21Z")
Just another vote for leggings and the like being ok under certain circumstances. Obviously not in a upper-echelon law office, but something like [this](http://ind3.ccio.co/4C/Y4/47/lcu98986black0.jpg) or [this](https://cdn.lookastic.com/looks/v-neck-sweater-denim-shirt-leggings-ballerina-shoes-tote-bag-sunglasses-original-5233.jpg)? I don’t see the issue. Ok, so I’ve been wearing things like that for most of my life, in multiple environments. 😃 Never had a complaint.
ETA: I also have no problem with jeans in an office environment, as long as you (and the trousers) are overall well-kempt. Dark, neat jeans with a nice shirt and a blazer is a classic look for either gender.
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/75 "2016-09-20T19:36:58Z")
If you really want to wear jeans in a place where blue jeans are banned, just get some in another color. That’s what I did to get around a school dress code back in the day.
Apparently the specific prohibition on the blue colored ones go to back in the day when only poor manual workers wore them and they usually got grubby.
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### Author:  [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/76 "2016-09-21T12:42:16Z")
About five years ago our office went from business casual to jeans (as long as jeans are appropriate for what you’re doing on the day). But NO SNEAKERS. Now they’re finally letting us wear sneakers. Weird.
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### Author:  [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/77 "2016-09-22T16:25:57Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#):
>
> About five years ago our office went from business casual to jeans (as long as jeans are appropriate for what you’re doing on the day). But NO SNEAKERS. Now they’re finally letting us wear sneakers. Weird.
See you one silly assed dress code stipulation and raise you one. We had one once that specified no WHITE sneakers. So we all ran out and bought black.
To the OP-there is a nice tho’ spendy product called Downy Wrinkle Release. I suspect it’s just Downy fabric softener in a spray bottle. But if you get your stuff out the dryer, hang it and spray with this stuff, it comes out pretty good.
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### Author:  [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/78 "2016-09-22T21:09:30Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#):
>
> It’s terrible. in our office it’s
> Men: shirt, tie, trousers, shoes
> Women: Whatever you like
> Drives me mad.
And then the women complain it’s too cold in the office, and the AC gets set at 28C and us men are roasting! :mad:
---
### Author:  [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/79 "2016-09-23T17:37:55Z")
Today in my office:
Man in shorts and flip flops
Man in shorts and grotty Teva-type sandals
Woman in short shorts and shower slides
Woman in leggings and waist-length T-shirt
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-blue-jeans-are-inappropriate-for-the-office-but-leggings-and-flip-flops-are-just-fine/766088/80 "2016-09-26T13:20:48Z")
So okay, I tried the washing, drying, and hanging up on one of my cotton blouses yesterday…
…and it looks like I slept in it, especially around the collar.
I can’t imagine what a pair of slacks would come out like.
Back to the dry cleaners. But I will be buying more t-shirt like tops that do wash well. At least, I’ll buy them as soon as I have money to do so, which won’t be very soon, because of all the dry cleaning bills.
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