Dress Makes the Man

[shanmonster]

While modelling yesterday, I had a discussion with a couple of the artists on dress codes. My new job has numerous dress requirements which make much of my closet tabu. For example, sleeveless tops must have straps three knuckles in width. I wondered what makes the clavicle or shoulder an area which must be hidden. Why three knuckles and not two or four? Why are denim or cargo pockets disallowed, while Adidas-style athletic sandals are allowed? Apparently too-tight clothing is also not allowed, but I'm not sure what qualifies as too tight. Will I have to buy a new wardrobe of billowy clothing? I hope not. I must have a few outfits which are regulation-safe. I'll probably be wearing a lot of dresses.

Anyhow, one of the artists (herself wearing tight jeans and a sweater which shows off her lower back when she bends) believes that dress codes are good, and that you should always dress for work as you would dress for church. I looked down at my naked, working self and smirked. "Uh, that really depends on what religion you are, you know. Some people worship in the nude, and plenty of Christian churches have people attending services in jeans and t-shirts."

Apparently, what she means is that people should always dress like bankers when interacting with other people in the workplace. Frankly, I think she'd have had a difficult time drawing my nekkidness if I were wearing a blouse and dress pants. She then proferred up the example of her grandfather. He never went out without first donning a dress shirt, blazer, and tie, and he was a farmer.

"But he didn't dress like that in the barns, did he?" I asked.

"No," she said.

"I didn't think so. It wouldn't be appropriate. So dress should be appropriate to the work being done."

I've had to dress according to regulation before. When I worked at Sobeys, I was allowed to wear pants so long as they were black or navy. I was not allowed to keep my hair loose. My shoes had to be white running shoes with no other colours or markings (do you know how hard it is to find comfortable sneakers without brand names emblazoned on them?). I was not permitted to wear nail polish (not even clear). If I wore a dress or a skirt, nylons had to be white or beige. To top it off, I wore a long white smock which was always stained from handling messy groceries for hours at a time.

I sometimes broke regulations without even knowing it. I think regulations were made up based on my style of dress. The thick chain chokers I wore were eventually declared improper. The comfortable and warm black pants I wore were declared improper because they didn't have a front crease. My pen with its purple ink was disallowed because only black or blue ink is acceptable for putting my initials on customers' receipts. Even wearing my name badge over my right breast (done out of sheer lefthandedness) was naughty, and I had to stop. None of these things were ever marked as being wrong in my employee handbook. After being slapped down on a regular basis for the silliest of reasons, I decided to rebel in ways which were acceptable.

Since I couldn't wear nail polish, I began using henna on my nails. I wore the beige nylons, but under my smock I wore PVC miniskirts and t-shirts with rude sayings. Sometimes I wore trashy underwear. No one knew what I was wearing but me, and I was a-ok according to regulations. Other cashiers rebel by wearing ridiculous amounts of makeup. You've probably encountered them. And now you know that some cashiers are dressed like harlots beneath their smocks.

The silliest dress code I ever laboured against was put in place when I worked with Youth Service Canada. The organization itself was fine. It was our supervisor who wasn't. She was a nasty, trollish woman who believed that every job should be Mon.-Fri., 9-5, and all employees should dress like they worked in a bank. She wanted me to wear a business skirt, blouse, blazer, pumps, slicked-back hair, and neutral makeup. And I was only to work from 9-5 on weekdays.

My peers had their own reasons for disagreeing with the restrictions. One group was putting together a community garden, and high-heeled shoes are not appropriate footwear for tilling soil. Another group was organizing an adventure camp for teens. Rapelling and kayaking are not best done in a modest skirt and blazer.

As for me, I was a host and interviewer for a series of radio documentaries on street kids. I explained to her that dressing like a banker would only turn the interviewees off of me, and that if I kept 9-5 hours, I'd have a hell of a time finding street kids. I told her that wearing band t-shirts and faded jeans out on the streets at three in the morning on a school night is a better way of finding and speaking with street-involved youth than hanging out at a mall at noon wearing dress clothes, but she just couldn't understand how this could be the case. "No kids will be up that late. They'd be home and in bed."

She was a rather stupid woman.

Comments

[curtana.livejournal.com]

The dress code at Chapters was particularly fascist. Blue, black, or beige pants, and blue, black, or white shirts were allowed, under the regulation black vest. There were restrictions on what kind of pants and shirts they could be, but I've forgotten most of them now. I do recall that denim pants were forbidden, but employees who had worked there for several years could wear regulation denim shirts with "Chapters" on the pocket (I think that was what they had before the vests). I also recall getting in trouble with a manager because she claimed a shirt I was wearing was "violet" rather than blue (though my own manager backed me up...) There comes a point when a business should really just implement a full uniform rather than trying to police whether its employees' shirts are the right shade of blue or not. Bah.

As a side note, I couldn't ever bring myself to wear any of the 'suitable' pants I bought for that job ever again. They were polyester and sturdy and horrid, and brought back too many unpleasant memories.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

It's all so very stupid. And yes, I think a uniform makes more sense than colour police. But if they're going to give out a uniform, they'd better give out more than one. When I was a cashier, my smock was revolting by the end of the day, but I was too poor to do laundry more than once a week.

I washed my uniform in the tub whenever I had a shower. It was the only way to keep it from being disgusting.

[fusty-cabbages.livejournal.com]

Any call-center dress code I've seen is fairly lax, jeans and tshirts are acceptable. From my experience the dress codes in call centers are created AFTER a problem arises. At the now-defunct RMH call center in Oromocto some of the employees didn't have the natural capacity to realise that visible thongs and flimsy spaghetti-strap camisoles were not appropriate work attire. They literally had to make these two big posters of "Appropriate" and "Not Appropriate" clothing with decoupaged catalog/magazine pictures.

I don't think the call centers get too nazi-ish like your Sobeys horror-story because you aren't dealing face-to-face with the public; but the center needs to maintian a professional image for the occasions that their million-dollar clients decide to do a center visit.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

At Cendant, workers are allowed to show up in pyjamas. I think that's pretty cool, even if the job is unappealing.

I am a bit worried about my clothes, though. I favour snug-fitting clothes with lots of stretch for ease of movement. Stretch velvet is my friend, but it might not be my employer's.

I don't understand why a million-dollar clients would be disturbed at the idea of a worker wearing a headscarf or denim, particularly if the workers aren't even dealing with the public. It just makes no sense to me at all.

[amadruadaboleyn.livejournal.com]

I've aerated lawns with high heels before- but I'm pretty sure that's not what your employer had in mind.

In my high school, we had a pretty severe dress code: no "unnatural" hair colors, no facial piercings, no denim anything ever so help you god, no t-shirt with slogans on them, no shorts, no skirts above "fingertip length," no makeuped "deemed to be 'costume' makeup or whatever might be inappropriate for a school environment," boys could only wear collared shirts, or sweaters with a collared shirt underneath, no sweatshirts, no sweatpants, no cleavage.

In other words, we were supposed to look like the responsible, well-behaved children of investment bankers, all of whom were going to Harvard.

The biggest thing was the midriff issue. I dare someone to find a school-appropriate top that doesn't show a speck of belly, especially if you're confined to shopping at the local mall. T-shirts and sweatshirts were out, as were comfy long-sleeved top. No spaghetti straps, so what the hell? I can't even remember the times I'd stay after school for something, walk by the detention room, and see a row of despondent fashionistas and their contrabandth stomach flesh.

Boy, that turned out long....

[miraba.livejournal.com]

That's a terrific icon.

[amadruadaboleyn.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yes, that woman was stupid.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

You, on the other hand, are very sharp. Now I'm never going to be able to go to the grocery or the bank again without wondering what sort of wonderous naughtiness a rebellious employee may be wearing under her regulation duds. Thank you, I have too much imagination as it is and you are not helping!

Re: Yes, that woman was stupid.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

You'd be amazed what invisible things people do to buck the system.

[aberrantmist.livejournal.com]

I worked for Tim Horton's for years and abided to their uniform policies, even if some were silly. Later, I had to inforce those same policies since I was management. It always amazed me at the ability of someone to find a way to "individualize" said uniform. I agree, Shan, that's why many wore lots of make-up and their hair funky (as much as can be possible within a hair-net, anyways). Personally, being the typical manager-inforcer-nazi hypocrite, I wore funky earring (stud earrings only because of "policy"), painted my toenails the most obnoxious colours and wore sexy underwear.

The silliest policy? Watches not being allowed. Being a business where EVERYTHING is based on time, that seems pretty darn stupid...

The first thing I did after leaving that job? Painted my fingernails for the first time in 10 years.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Watches aren't allowed? That's wacked!

[elanya.livejournal.com]

That's really more of a health thing, same reason you aren't supposed to wear rings when handling foods, I suspect.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Ok, then a no wristwatches policy could make sense. I was thinking it meant no timepieces at all, though--like necklace watches.

[raptorkitten.livejournal.com]

Hey! This is largely unrelated to dress code, but I just thought I should say hi, seeing as I added you a few days ago and never have. ;)

I did, however, copy/paste the bit about Sobey's cashiers dressing like harlots under their smocks to my friend who works at Sobey's!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Soon all cashiers will be dressed like dominatrixes beneath their regulation uniforms. Bwahahahahaha!

[romantorres.livejournal.com]

Wow. Have these people ever tried to *do* the jobs they've hired you for while adhering to the dress code?

Just wondrin'.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Doubtful.

[kamomil.livejournal.com]

I worked at Canada's Wonderland for 6 seasons, the first 2 we had gay themed uniforms, red full skirt w cotton puffy sleeved blouse, my second stint there we had khaki pants & golf shirts. There were lots of guidelines for hair, earring number, nail polish and body piercings. At one point, males weren't allowed earrings (early 90s) but as time went on they allowed it.
Everything was issued by the company, raincoats, coats for spring & fall, ties, ballcaps, except crappy black runners that we purchased, from them (about $20). We had 2 of everything, which was a little tight for laundry, but manageable. At least if I stained my clothes (first stint was food services) they weren't mine & I could swap them. Also if you forgot an item, you could borrow one for the day. So there was no reason to not be all kitted out properly every day.
There was always someone who had to be difficult, ie backwards ballcap, removing uniform parts before they went behind the scenes, and trying to keep piercings.
We were constantly in contact with customers, being a theme park, and that we often had to walk through the park on the way to/from work/breaks. So I think it was appropriate that they were kind of strict. I had a "no swearing" policy for myself because we were always around kids.
Piercings shouldn't be seen unless you work in a used record store, I think. One time a customer approached our area, and I almost jumped out of my skin, because I wasn't expecting to see a piece of metal protruding from the area just above his nose.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I don't see anything wrong with a person having piercings in the workplace as long as it isn't a safety hazard.

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

Are you a fellow sinistral? I don't think I
knew that.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Sort of. I'm mostly ambidextrous. I write and eat with my left hand, use my right hand for cutting with scissors, and switch between the two for pretty much everything else, including soldering and wielding a sword.

My left side in general has more dexterity/flexibility whereas my right side has more strength.

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I've noticed that
most of the women I've known who have
interesting things to say are ambi-
dexterours. In fact, my last three
longterm relationships have been with
ambidexterous girls.

I don't know if those people are just
cooler, or if it matches me more.

I write with my left hand, and do most
everything else with my right, although
I've taught myself to use my left hand
for eating (with chopsticks, even!) and
playing with myself. I used to be good
at stick(sword) fighting with my left hand,
but seem to have left that behind when I
stopped having stick-sword fights.

Your situation goes well in line with the
theories presented by my advisor in uni-
versity (can't remember his name, and can't
find him on the web), who found that in
primates, they tended to use one hand for
fine manipulation (such as opening containers
or peeling bananas) and one hand for strong
or postural movements like swatting things
or communicating.

troll woman

[theleftovers.livejournal.com]

Troll woman sounds a lot like ronald reagan. it is said he refused to work outside the hours of 9-5 as president, and insisted on a tie and suit

Re: troll woman

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

And to think he used to be a figure model, too....