I’ve seen this mentioned on several different boards in discussions on appropriate office attire–some offices have mandated no open toed sandals for women (I guess only for women LOL maybe for men too, though!). So why would open-toed sandals be inappropriate? Because you couldn’t wear pantyhose with them? Which leads to why couldn’t women go with “bare” legs in the summer/hot season? Most of the dresses that I wear are well below my knees, most hit at mid shin (half-way between knee & ankle), though some are nearly ankle length. Honestly, if men knew what wearing pantyhose during warm weather (temps above 70-75 degrees fahrenheit) was like, they’d understand why I’m asking this question!
If this is not the appropriate place for this question, please have a mod move it, btw. Hopefully, though, someone “in the know” will answer.
Is there likely to be some sort of universal ‘why’ behind this; my thoughts would be:
-Safety; that dropped stapler or letter opener could very easily injure your unprotected and delicate tootsies.
-Hygiene/appearance; your toenails probably look wonderful, but once the floodgates have been opened, the managers then have to deal with anyone who decides to show off their skanky ingrown infected toenails on a case-by-case basis, resulting in hurt feelings and accusations of unfairness.
I think it’s separate from the pantyhose issue (and can/does anyone mandate the wearing of pantyhose?). You can wear hose with open-toed sandals that don’t have thongs, though it may look goofy to some.
I was under the impression that open-toed shoes (not just sandals) were perceived as blatantly sexy, like see-through blouses, and considered inappropriate for that reason.
Although exposed toes are more easily damaged than shoe-covered toes, I doubt that safety is the rationale here. Many shoes provide little or no protection against serious damage, such as from something heavy enough to sever or crush toes. And I just don’t see most businesses giving a rat’s butt about safety beyond what OSHA dictates to them.
Most of the time they say you can’t wear sneakers or demin. I think it has more to do with them being sandals than a safety issue. Picture a stereotypical business outfit, even a business casual outfit, and 99% of the time I’m sure it doesn’t include sandals or sneakers.
Workers Compensation agreements generally mandate no open toed shoes and require it be part of a policy. This gets you into a “lower rated” group. Your rating and accident history determine your premiums.
As for hose, well, if a dress code requires ties and jackets, it also usually requires hose.
I believe such shoes are percieved as too casual for business dress. These days, though, it is only the unwritten rules of fashion that enforce such dress codes in most places. (However, the military does require hose with uniform skirts [on women]. Then again, AFAIK, they also require t-shirts under shirts for men.)
IMHO, the EEOC and so on would love to get their hands on “dress code” cases, especailly where such a code targets a specific gender. I think this is why most commercial outifts rely on “professionalism” and peer pressure to enforce unwirtten dress codes.
Seems to me that if you work in Information Technology, you have to dress visibly casual, more so than standard business attire (as described throughout this thread), or else you’re percieved as old-school and thus not with current knowledge or skill levels (and thus on the way out the door). Sneakers, t-shirts, jeans, and on women sandals are IT fashionable simply because they’re NOT business-professional acceptable.
I work in Florida, and we wear open-toed sandals all the time at work. We have casual Fridays, but I have worn long pants with sandals, or a dress or a skirt with sandals. It depends on the dress. I’m wearing a dress with a jacket today, and that would not be appropriate with sandals. I think it also depends on your job…I’m at a desk all day, so business attire is necessary. The guys in the engineering dept who have to crawl around and under and through are allowed to wear jeans and polo shirts.
(hijack) I will NOT wear those backless shoes (mules?) I think they’re ugly, tacky, and hardly better than bedroom slippers. Just MHO… (unhijack)
I know its definitely a legal issue where I work, but then, I work in a lab, where nasty things can, and do, get spilled. Just today I got concentrated sulfuric acid on my shoe after being startled by someone, and although my shoe now has a funny stain (not showing too much, though - and they were just sneakers, since 10hrs standing is a bit long in dress shoes) its not nearly as bad as it would be if I had dropped the stuff on my bare toes - or even on pantyhose! I also now have a hole in a pair of cords for the same reason…
I vote for the “too sexy” idea, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, although what proportion of men is driven wild by the sight of a woman’s toes, I have no idea. And even when we have casual Fridays, none of the guys in my office ever wear sandals, so I think it’s mostly an issue of women’s toes.
Eh, my boss, a woman, wears open-toed shoes all the time to the office. I don’t think she wears them when she has appointments outside the office, but I might be wrong. I wear sandals occassionally to the office in the summer. No big deal.
My old job did - up until they laid us all off 2 years ago. If you were wearing a skirt, you had to wear pantyhose, stated it in the policy. Also, no open toes or open heel shoes.
LOL! Still no “authoritative” answer to the question, though. I’m glad a lot of employers seem to have toned down dress codes, or at least turned a (mostly) blind eye to some things. I’ve seen some very stylish and yes professional-looking (not the right term, but you should know what I mean! LOL) open-toed and sling-back shoes that for the life of me the only reason I could come up with that they would be banned would be for “sexiness” of the style! Lord help us, someone might see a ladie’s tootsies or the bare back of her heels!
I’m so glad I work from home. My only pair of shoes is a pair of Birkenstock sandals, and I don’t own any pantyhose. Heh.
Open toed sandals are sexy? Ack! In who’s opinion??
I hate dress codes, though my favorite past job had a pretty strict one: thong (made of bathing suit material, not underwear material as per state law), matching/coordinating top, 3" minimum heels, makeup, and latex covering your nipples ;D