Pretty much. From what I heard only one guy said he thought it was “perfect” but did so while staring at her chest and pretending to drool (he was joking).
I think the official category for her outfit is “club wear”. Perfectly suitable for the dance floor at a rave, but not so much in a corporate boardroom.
ETA: Mind you my girfriend has a terrible time finding corporate outfits under $500 (seriously) that aren’t either old-ladyesque or club wear.
I know what you mean. My problems lie in the “I’m too old to wear what Diosa wears” category, but I’ve found that if I shop around on the web, most stores are showing pre-put-together outfits. I can usually find something suitable amongst all the pieces they show. Ann Taylor Loft is just one example: http://www.anntaylorloft.com/catalog/category_outfit.jsp?N=1200048&pCategoryId=245&categoryId=246&Ns=CATEGORY_SEQ_246
Now, I don’t claim to be able to wear all those options, and some I think are just a little to trendy for most offices, but it’s a starting point.
Banana Republic is another one. Again, they don’t all work, but there are pieces and styles that you can at least get your bearings on what’s out there in the way of career clothes. Banana Republic
Working in DC I have the pleasure of experiencing the influx of Skin-terns™ every season. Some of the things that get worn for the first few weeks until an appropriate dresscode is established and adhered to is
innn…credible. 
What looks good at the club may not fly in the workplace… not that I’m offended!
Another option is to, you know, focus on the work the person does and not the clothes they have on.
At my last job I left the building at the end of one casual Friday in the summer. In the elevator with me were 3 or 4 women who worked together on another floor, and one of them was wearing- no, she was abusing- a pair of capri pants that were at least two sizes too small, complete with muffintop, a pair (I shit you not) of stripper shoes (clear plastic heels, maybe 4" high), a crop tank top (with major cleavage), and what looked like a very open weave knit shawl. The shawl wasn’t so much being worn as it was draped over her shoulder as if her hands were full and she had nowhere else to put it.
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head upon realizing that she actually dressed for work that way. As corporate counsel I nearly said something to her, but I figured her department head had already covered it with her and HR.
It was at that exact moment that I became a fuddy-duddy.
Sure, except for the fact that most companies have dress codes and most people are too stupid to comply with them. Otherwise, that’s a good system.
As I have not heard of any flying pigs being sighted recently, this isn’t going to be happening any time soon.
Well sure, we could compare it with pigs. Or we could change our attitude and realize we are there for work, not to judge people based on what they wear.
On a related note …
once I was in a neighbourhood known for being somewhat sketchy. Lots of empty storefronts, drug dealers and consumers, etc. (Great eating, tho. Best pubs, roti and Tibetan food in the city, IMHO. Bonus points to anyone who can guess the hood from those clues …)
I was waiting inside a restaurant for our take-out to be ready; my friend went out front to have a cigarette. The following ensued:
Random crackhead: Hey, can I buy some crack off you?
My friend: What, do I look like some kind of crack dealer?
Crackhead: Actually … yeah, you do.
Hard to focus on the work when they are mostly NOT wearing the clothes. Or wearing something really inappropriate – and males can be serious offenders on THAT side, too,
*
ETA: * AND, McNew’s last line. Being observant of an appropriate dress code IS part of the work performance to be judged upon.
I’ve been waiting a long time to tell this story in an appropriate thread.
When I worked in a call center, we had a dress code that forbade strapless or sleeveless tops, required the torso between neck and knees to be covered, and prohibited any attire that revealed underwear. I noticed one day that one of my new team members was wearing low-slung jeans and a thong that rode up out of her pants about six inches. She was new, so I waited until she went on break, called her into my office and quietly asked that at lunch she change her clothes so her underwear didn’t show. She became angry and snapped that I shouldn’t be looking at her ass, then walked away. I went to my supervisor, a woman who’d started just a few days before, and asked for advice. The female colleague (still one of my best friends ever) had me walk with her to the break room and point out the offending agent, who was sitting with her back to us chatting with a group of other employees. My supervisor walked up behind the girl, reached down and hooked her finger under the waistband of the exposed panties, right at the back, and pulled up sharply, then whispered in her ear, “You need to change your clothes. And the next time you back-talk a supervisor, I’ll walk you out the door.” I was stunned – even though she was a woman, it was unthinkable that she’d actually grab an employee’s underpants! She then strode out of the break room, and I followed her; as we walked back to her office, she said, “I can’t wait to tell my husband about this. He hates those trashy outfits she wears all the time.” It took me several minutes, but I eventually put it all together. We didn’t have dress code problems in our section for a long time after that.
Sometimes a person’s clothing can be a distraction. While their quality of work might not drop (though there have been studies that say too-casual dress and lower work quality are at least a little related), they can be dressed in such a way that other people have difficulty concentrating.
Well, the whole point of a dress code is to make it easy for the other employees to focus on your work and not on what you’re wearing. Exposed bras and belly rings are distracting.
Certain clothes are for specific situations. Everyone knows this. If you’re going out to a club, you’re not gonna wear your rattiest pair of cutt-off and old flip flops. For a first date, you generally won’t be wearing sweatpants and a stained t-shirt. For a boat party, you’re not gonna wear a fancy top and heels. For work, you shouldn’t be trying to seduce anyone and should look put together and competent. It’s not rocket science.
I do agree what’s popular now makes it tough to find appropriate clothes, particularly in the stores younger women frequent. A lot of the tops out right now are cleavege baring baby-doll camis that don’t look particularly porfessional and expose bra straps. But fashions are changing. Waistlines are rising and knee lengths skirts are making a come back.
Also, if you work anywhere you interact with customers, clients, the public, etc you represent your employer, and the company. Thus, they get to tell you what is and what is not acceptable for people representing them.
If someone doesn’t like it, they can seek work where their dress means nothing.
That’s the beauty of working at home. No one’s the boss of me! However, I was just told I have to make a week-long trip to a new client’s office. I’ve been stressing over what to wear, since I haven’t done the career clothes thing in a looong time. Then I solved the problem. I bought new stuff. Real careery, too!
Good story, Sunrazor!
I always thought the reason I had so much trouble buying office clothes was because I live in a college town. We’ve got club wear and we’ve got grandma clothes…not too much in between.
Stripper heels and a ‘hangin-out’ thong?
Well, what you wear matters. I hate to say it, and I am a jeans and t-shirt girl myself, but when I go to the office (which is business casual) I wear nice slacks and a top that doesn’t show too much cleavage and won’t ride up and show my underpants when I bend over. I refuse to even consider wearing a skirt to the office because there is too much opportunity for zany mishaps (the possibility of leaving the restroom with your skirt tucked into the back of your panties or falling and having your skirt end up over your head lead me to believe that pants are a better option.)
As much as I would love to wear my V-neck tee to work I know it isn’t appropriate and could shade the way people in the office view me and my work, making it difficult to get raises and promotions in the future. This girl in your office probably still believes that her future with the company is based solely on her performance and not what other people think of her. I wish she was right, but most of the time that is not the case and other people’s opinions do play a part in how far you can advance in your career path with a particular company.
I guess I’m not alone then - I can’t believe the number of women at my work who show up in capri pants, tank tops, and platform sandals or flip-flops. I swear, they look like they’re heading to the beach. We don’t have a dress code per se, and it’s understood that when you do a presentation or a briefing, you dress professionally, but dayum!! And it’s not just the fresh-out-of-college girls.
I fear they’re going to get us a dress code - well, them and the guys who wear the too-long jeans with the ragged hems. I just don’t get it. I wear jeans, but they’re clean, not faded, and definitely not raggedy.
940 days till retirement. Now get off my lawn!!!
That’s why I try and shop at places like La Cache. I find some of the cutest shirts there that aren’t total slutwear. I also have a sizeable collection of cami’s in various colours because so many shirts are cut just too damn low. That way I can co-ordinate them and still look presentable.
Where I currently work dresscode is really casual (eg jeans every day, inoffensive t-shirts, as long as I’m not falling out of them and they are neat and clean I’m good… when I first started here as a temp I was way overdressed) but I’m slowly stacking up professional clothing for when I get an accounting job and it can be tough. Not just because of the styles, but being tall and ‘plus size’ makes it hard to find clothes that fit right in regular stores. The longer shirts are a blessing for me, and thankfully the only tall girl store in the city has some nice business clothes that aren’t slutty.
I have a fair amount of professional wear. It was not easy to find. I don’t wear it, though, because my boss pretty much doesn’t care what we wear as long as we don’t come to work naked. Actually, he probably wouldn’t mind that either. However, I still don’t wear any of the stuff described so far as bad clothes for work.