Go on…do it! You *know * you want to!
My point is that you people are no different from a bunch of old Muslim biddies trying to cow all other women into dressing in sacks while in public. The standards are different, the rationale is different, but the underlying motivations are EXACTLY the same.
I can tell by the, um, crispness of some of your responses that you recognize that I have you by the truth. Deal.
I understand. All that clarity and reasonableness is off-putting to some people.
Uh… no.
Matching your dress to fit the business image of your company is about presenting a uniform appearance that fits your company’s business identity. Or that meets health and safety requirements for the workplace. If you work at Walmart, you have to wear the blue apron: that’s the dress code to which you agreed as a condition of employment.
Your perspective is a little askew.
You are incredibly wrong.
Policemen wear uniforms. Prostitutes wear uniforms. Well, let’s call it gear. Prostitutes gear up a particular way so that their prospective clients can recognize them and know who to approach for the kind of service they’re looking for.
People who are not prostitutes should not wear prostitute gear. If they’re medical personnel, they should wear medical gear. If they’re office-dwellers, they should wear office gear.
The reason this is not blindingly obvious to everyone is that there’s a whole fashion industry out there trying its very best to confuse everyone into buying a whole lot more clothing and much more expensive clothing than they need.
Yes, Og forbid that any social rules exist.
After being asked for my opinion of the new intern, a few years back, I was rather at a loss, because she was a nice girl, but her attire was . . . wow.
Very tight, very short pants. The material was opaque, but very thin. I must admit, I don’t remember her top, or shoes. We have a supremely casual workplace dress . . . well, it isn’t a code so much as a plea not to wear clothes with holes in them. So, I really didn’t care. But, in the end, I had to say something.
So, I answered, "I am reminded of the words of that noted fashion guru, Iggy Pop, who said, “‘Baby, baby, we like your pants.’”
Tris
For a brief time there was a television version of the Michelle Pfieffer movie, Dangerous Minds. It starred Annie Potts as Luanne Johnson.
I remember one episode where Ms. Johnson was having her students prepare for mock job interviews, and one girl came dressed highly inappropriately. She got very offended when one of the girls told her she looked like a skank.
Ms. Johnson took her aside, told her she looked very pretty, if she were going to a party, and that she looked almost too pretty, and the interviewer might get jealous. After getting her ego stroked a bit, the girl agreed to tone down her outfit.
Now, what may work for inner city girls may not work in the workplace. But there is professional attire, and non-professional attire. I don’t wear my heels and skirts to go to Home Depot, and I don’t wear my paint-splattered shorts to the office. There is a time and a place for everything.
Damn Anarchists!
Yep, that’s right. In fact, we plan to have women (and men, we’re not sexist here!) who don’t dress according to our standards beaten to death in the streets.
Please, quit trivializing the very real suffering of brutally oppressed women by equating it with a professional dress code. A person who does not dress appropriately at work is, at worst, not going to be hired when compared to other people with an idea of how to present themselves well. He won’t be promoted into a more responsible position, next to the person who dresses to represent the company. He or she will never, ever be beaten to death as a consequence of not dressing professionally while at work.
The motivations are completely different. The Taliban wished to exert absolute control over every aspect of women’s lives, public and private. Companies just want to do business efficiently and profitably, and projecting a professional appearance contributes to those goals. Companies don’t care what you wear while grocery shopping or mowing the lawn. I can’t believe I have to explain this.
My office is across the street from the Justice Center. This means that I get to see many examples of people, particularly young women, who confuse “fancy” clothing for professional attire. Many ladies will be walking past my office to get to the justice center for court hearings. Some don’t bother to wear more than barely enough to cover up: shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. Surely, the judge will be impressed by their cavalier attitude towards appearances. Less problematic are the ladies who walk past looking like they’re heading off to a “Pimp and Ho” themed party. Tight, slinky dresses barely long enough to maintain decency, plunging necklines and acres of decolletage, Bare shoulders and midriffs, etc… But at least they made an effort to dress for the event. I don’t necessarily hold it against them since they may not know what would be proper to wear and might not even have something suitable.
Across the other street is the federal building. Last week, I had to go in there for the first time since I moved here to give expert testimony. At the door to the banruptcy court is a sign stating that a coat and tie are required and ones hearing may be rescheduled if you don’t comply. I find such a sign to be a sad indicator of how far we’ve sunk. It used to be understood that one dressed appropriately for a Federal Court case.
Thank you for stating what was on my mind but I couldn’t get out quickly. And let me second this.
.
I did !!! I spilled coffee on my spats.
So much for neater, cleaner, more professional. 
You office types whining about dress codes. I worked (for a very short time) in a hospital that had just aquired a “hired gun” nursing director to cut their nursing budget. One of the first things she did was implement a dress code.
For the regular floors: white dresses with white stockings, standard nursing shoes, no jewelry, not even wedding rings, hair off the collar. Best of all, white underwear(!) panties to be full coverage, no bikinis, bras to also be full coverage.
ICU was the same except white scrubs were acceptable.
I quit, rather than have my panties inspected.
On the other side, I was a head nurse for a short time in an LA hospital. The hospital was a half block from Sunset Blvd and 2 Blocks from Hollywood Blvd. Real hookers dressed like nurses hung out around the hospital.
One day I was to get a float nurse to cover a sick call. I swear, she was one of the street girls.
She had on a gold and white head band, with her hair cascading over it, a white, but sparkly, low cut Danskin leotard, a swirl skirt in the same sparkly, stretch material that didn’t cover he ass, (it was maybe 10" long) white, patterned stockings, not tights or pantyhose, stockings with a garter belt, and clear plastic 5" platform heels. You could see through the whole outfit. I could see her back tats.
I sent her home.
Here’s another place to check out for professional clothing Wintersilks They started out selling ski clothes, but have expanded.
I’ll be happy to give you some make up pointers… 
You know you want to…
Pointers on the make-up?
Why, you’re too kind !
The dress code thing is crazy… but… nurses dressed like hookers dressed like nurses sounds an awful lot like a Jerry Springer episode.
I’m not saying that’s a bad thing… I’m just sayin’.
I admire your gumption. You quit rather than having to drop trou at the 6:45 a.m. nurses report. Me, I’d have had a pair of tighty whities on JUST for the Inspection, then hit the head and torn them off to reveal my Mankini underneath !!!
:eek:
Cue music: “Bow-chicka-wow-wow…”
Considering my rotund profile, more likely the theme from “Halloween”
:eek:
Cue music: “Scree!-Scree!-Scree!-Scree!”
[Drew Carey] Can you picture me in a Speedo? I’d look like a Bartlett pear with a rubber band around the middle. [/DC]