What do you wear to work?

[Arakhor]

I don't wear jeans and you can wear T-shirts in the UK for maybe four months of the year, but otherwise my workplace is very informal.

 

[KmDubya]

I go with tactical practical.

Earth tones with cargo pants, desert boots and safari vest.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Most days its jeans and a dress shirt. For less casual meetings, slacks and a dress shirt, maybe with a tie. Jungle mocs and flashy socks every day.

 

[Thedrin]

Suit and tie, as is required in the office. I'm a programmer. I'm surprised that I quite like it, since I hate wearing shirts or any type of collar outside of work.

A guy at my last office job wore a three-piece suit. I'd like to get one.

 

[MjM]

I wear jeans, pants or shorts on the bottom. Must be a solid color, good condition, ironed. The shirt are t shirts that my restaurant sells that we must wear. They are pretty cool though, so I don't mind.

 

[Ayatollah So]

Company specific rules: long pants (jeans are allowed) and closed top shoes regardless of season. In the plants, add steel toed boots, safety glasses, helmet, and reflective vest.

 

[really]

We did get an email from HR in an office I used to work in that said string vests weren't appropriate office attire.

 

[_random_]

I have a work study with a local non-profit where I tutor refugee kids. I basically wear whatever, although I did create trouble for myself once wearing a t-shirt I'd gotten at church camp, since most of the kids are Muslim.

 

[Double Barrel]

T-shirt and jeans most days. Got to have stuff on that can get dirty with handling freight.

If a client is coming around, I'll mix in a polo-type shirt.

For sales calls, full suit and tie. Fortunately, I rarely do sales calls these days.

 

[DemonicAppleGuY]

I'm sure I look so sexy in my Taco Bell uniform. I feel like this poll isn't looking for data on those kinds of jobs though

 

[warpus]

Seems like lots of young companies are changing their dress codes significantly. What do you typically wear to work?

I usually wear black jeans and something with a collar for the top, usually a polo style shirt or a button up thing with short sleeves.. In the winter my top is a light sweater type thing with long sleeves. I used to wear khaki type pants, but these black jeans I wear are more comfortable and wearing them seems to be acceptable. (other people do it, etc.) I work better when I'm comfortable, so I've stuck with the black jeans.

Does you company have a dress code?

I think all we have are guidelines and occasional department-specific regulations. It's an academic setting, so at times you need to make sure you look presentable. Other than that and other than the obvious, anything seems to be fair game as long as you don't look like a bum. The unspoken rules seem to be: Don't wear anything that makes you look like an idiot, look presentable enough, and don't wear anything that you'd wear to a nightclub to show off your body.

Having said that I've seen people get away with wearing shirts that show off their midriffs, although that was just interns.. and people certainly wear things that make them look stupid. It's a relaxed atmosphere. And I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being talked to over a dresscode issue, but I'm sure that sort of thing goes on behind the scenes from time to time.

Now that I think about it, when I joined up here the rule seemed to be "business casual". But then we all have different ideas about what that means, so people sort of wear what they want, within reason.

Do you wish you could wear something different to work?

Maybe blue jeans! That is discouraged, for the sole reason that it makes you look "less professional". And I guess I wouldn't mind if it was okay to wear more tshirts. On Fridays we have an unspoken casual day, where you can get away with more, and that's when I'll throw on a tshirt from time to time - keeping the logos on it to a minimum. I wouldn't being able to wear my tshirts more then I guess, it would make getting ready for work easier.

Does your company differ significantly from your industry?

I have no idea! It's pretty relaxed here so maybe. If we're talking about the IT industry though, then most probably.

 

[Traitorfish]

Company-specific uniform. Black dress trousers, garishly-coloured green dress shirt, black-and-green fleece vest for when its cool, black-and-green fleece jacket for when it's cold.

Never really understood the logic behind it, given that half the people who work in the shop are doing manual work for which dress shirt and trousers are entirely ill-suited. (Warehouse and yard workers have more utilitarian uniforms, so they're clearly aware of this.) Presumably it's because they want to project a certain image, although what exactly that image is, I'm not very clear.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Khaki pants, earth colored collared-shirt, baseball cap. It's pretty sexy.

 

[Bulldog Bats]

I have my own business, so business casual when no clients - could go all the way up to suit and tie from there, depending.

 

[Arwon]

I'm a public servant so most people where business shirts or the occasional suits for more senior people. However I'm usually in tshirts unless I have meetings with other areas or departments.

 

[Catharsis]

I go to work fully-suited w/ tie. The overall effect unfortunately is pretty much the same as when someone dresses up a dog for Hallowe'en.

 

[History_Buff]

Jeans basically always, collared shirts are probably in the majority, but t-shirts and hoodies abound. In the summer about half the office wears shorts. We do proper dress shirts and pants if and only if there's clients to meet, which happens maybe twice in a year for us engineering types. I would never even consider wearing a jacket to work, although some of the executive level types do.


I wouldn't have it any other way really. Being able to wear shorts and a t-shirt to work is a wonderful thing.

 

[Oruc]

Company issued uniform from shirts and trousers to belts and hats are provided. They are strict about most of the uniform especially shoes, if you slip over and you're wearing the wrong shoes your not getting sick pay. But they don't care what hats or belts you're wearing.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Occasionally I wear a bunny suit (clean room suit) but really only for satellite integration. The rest of the time I wear whatever I want. We recently had to order a man-lite sized bunny suit for one of our smaller engineers.

 

[Harv]

Seems like lots of young companies are changing their dress codes significantly.

I think this is cultural/generational shift. Rules, or the enforcement thereof, have a tendency to get relaxed over time. Generation Y is entering the workforce and will seek to change the rules. So non-enforcement of the old rules will be a de-facto change of the rules.

What do you typically wear to work?

My preference in winter months is jeans and sweater, with workout shirt under the sweater. This is partly becuase dress pants or Dockers do not really go with boots and dress shoes do not mix well with snow and salt and slush. In summer its jeans and golf shirt and the workout shirt goes in the bag.

(EDIT: Not sure if it mixes with oil and dirt and sawdust.)

Now that there is a steel toes policy in the shop, I will simply keep a change at work so that if I have to change, I can do that in a couple of minutes. Anybody who barges into my office when the door is closed first thing in the morning will get a full moon.

Does you company have a dress code?

Yes it does. It is "business casual." However it is generally relaxed to Friday casual, depending on who (namely customer) is in. So the de-facto dress code is Friday casual but we do not want to admit that to our clients.

It is written in the Employee Manual, which I have not bothered myself to read. No, I am not a role-model employee. Yes, I am an HR nightmare and I am acually amazed at how much BS I can get away with.

If I understand correctly, you are an HR person. More specifically, you are a recruiter working inside a company. So your job is to discuss a good candidate with a hiring manager, and basically serve as a contact to the candidate through the process of introducing the candidate to the hiring manager, making an offer and hiring the candidate, and integrating the new employee into the company. So you probably have an interest in "incidents."

As I mentioned at the beginning, it looks like the next generation seeks to change the rules and the old generation does not like it. (No, I am not a part of Generation Y.)

I am trying to figure out why you are asking about this issue. You are more than welcome to be blunt.