Casual fridays

that your department was singled out for this.

I have worked in IT for many years, for several companies. I have always enjoyed casual Fridays, and many IT departments have a casual everyday.

but only if you will not be meeting with anyone outside the company on that day.

A clean appearance is still required, so tee-shirts are still a no-no.

I just go with dockers myself. They are much more comfortable than jeans, and I spend enough years as a shop rat wearing jeans to consider it a special treat now that I am office personel. Almost like a step back instead of forward.

But for people that get something out of it, to each their own.

I used to work for a company that did not allow ladies to wear trouser suits. It was skirts only and preferably dark suits. I still own a half a dozen black, grey, and navy suits.

My partner works for a company that has casual day every day of the week. While he owns nice work clothing, he dresses for work the same way he dresses to sit in a deer stand.

IT has long been the corporate whipping boy. For some reason, they think that because we understand computers, we are somehow less professional. But I understand why.

For many years, business and technology have had a hard time understanding one another. We see the difficulty of that lack of communication acted out by business trying to get IT to conform to their perceptions. We forget how visible we are- perhaps not to our clients but to other business segments.

Back when I was a hardware tech, I got jeans day reinstated by crawling under desks wearing a dress. Never immodest, but I got the point across.

This too shall pass. Someone will figure out that the issue isn't solved by setting IT apart but by bridging the gulf they perceive.

We're all in this together...

I would like to know what political grounds there are for a decision like that. We have casual Fridays only on the last Friday of every month, 31 December and first Friday in Spring, and I think we can do with them on a weekly basis

A previous company I worked with banned Jeans entirely. This was quite a bummer as many of us enjoyed a casual but professional atire.

Problem was, there was always a small group of guys that would take it too far. Logo T-shirts, jeans with holes... (sometimes dirty) and seldom were shaved. Over time the CEO grew tired sending out memo's of what was and was not OK. Finally he simply handed out a New dress code. It applied for everyone... It was not political but it sure was a bummer. Too many took the casual workplace too far.. and it created a backlash that ended it for everyone.

of business attire unless you have contact with customers.

I work in manufacturing and it's far from sexy. We USED to have to wear business attire until our union went on strike. Now it's jeans or track pants every day. You gotta look for the silver lining, right?

Our entire office has yet to experience this almost common practice. Not a day goes by that we don't meet and greet with a customer, so must look our best. In the field, coveralls are provided to those who do the dirty work, so they must adhere to the policy of shirt and tie, no jeans. Ladies must look sharp, but slacks are not outlawed. we do have six ladies who do field work, and they wear the coveralls almost everyday. I can't say that I blame them, as I've ruined more that a few shirts and pants doing just the non-dirty jobs where I thought it would be okay to skip the coveralls.

As long as you stay at your desk, BOOOORRRRNNN FREEEEEEE......... :0

I'm the IT Manager/Administrator for a car dealership in Honolulu...I wear flip-flops and jeans/aloha shirt to work everyday. The Business Manager and General Manager usually wears sandals, slacks and untucked shirts and only the salesguys ever actually tuck in their shirts...

Oh yeah, its a little past noon...place is getting ready to shut down. ITS ALOHA FRIDAY BABY!!! Mai Tais and the beach are waiting. :)

I feel so sorry for you mainlanders...

if you can call it that. If there are customers on our floor then we have to go back to smart.

Personally I don't consider it a privilege in any way at all, couldn't care less if they revoked it.

If other departments have less strict clothing requirements, it may be because they dress better, given the choice, than the average entry level IT guy, who dresses like a hobo, given the choice. Of course, it's also possible that there is a "political" conspiracy to conquer Quebec by forcing you to wear slacks.

is to make clear who's boss. Any other reason is PR BS.

my office is generally casual..jeans would be the norm for a lot of people, however, it is expected they would be in good condition.

We have no policy really, but common sense dictates that if you have a meeting which may include a board member, someone from an outside agency, or a client..you make the effort to dress businesslike.

Today I'm in blue jeans and a stripey top, but Monday i have a meeting..so black suit, white shirt and heels..yay :(

tee hee..

yes, stripey, as in grey, black and purple stripes

:)

ah JD..dunno about you..

*geez, i really fancy one of those Turtle choclates .. who's gonna be an angel and post me a box?*

Mainly because working in IT you can find yourself anywhere from sitting in a (nice) office or a freezing Cold Server Room to crawling around on the floor doing Cabling work.

I work in a Recruitment Company office with a lot or Suited and Booted Staff as we get a lot of people come in for meetings. When I first started working for the company I work at now I was told to wear Trousers, Shirt and Tie. I now get away with wearing Black Combat Trousers (Basically Hard wearing Trousers with Pockets on the legs) and Polo Shirt.

I have kind of got my own way because I have explained that the type of work I do requires it. The last thing I need is a Tie getting caught up in a Fan of an open PC or Server.

I think it?s wrong to single out IT and make them wear smart dress all the time. As it could actually stop them form working effectively. Would you wear a suit to re-cable an office? I don?t think so.

Clearly, something happened to initiate the change.

Previous jobs--one I worked with biologists and was called on to assist them in the field, so jeans and clean, presntable shirts--t's were okay as long as they weren't obnoxious. Last one, business casual M-R, jeans on Fridays, but really, they meant blue jeans--jeans of any other color were acceptable any time. At my current post (okay, this is day 3!), business casual and blue jeans allowed on Fridays. Everyone made certain to tell me today I could have worn jeans--though in my mind, I am--they just aren't blue. And I now that there will be lots of times when I'm in a metting with nobs and will dress appropriately for their rank.

I worked for a company that allowed all of us to wear jeans and a tee-shirt (nothing offensive or torn). Even shorts if we worked Saturday.

Sad thing was, it is probably the most professional place I ever worked for. It was the most efficient and had the highest morale I ever experienced.

The real problem is the stigma that anything in a dress shirt and slacks is "professional".

We have this privilege at work. But here is the thing. Up till about two years ago, we were only allowed to wear jeans every other Friday. Then miraculously word came down from above that yes we could wear jeans EVERY Friday. Wooo hooo

My opinion of dress codes is that they are about CONTROL,not 'looking professional'. Look at what my company did - the abritrarily change the jeans rule from every other week to every week. In addition they will occasionally declare a day that is not Friday a 'Casual Day'. There is often no rhyme or reason to these non Friday 'Casual Days' - one year it was Halloween, this year we had one on Election Day.

In addition the arbitrary selection of casual days, the prohibition of wearing jeans seems to only extend to blue denim pants. You can wear colored jeans any day -- black, khaki etc and women can wear blue denim skirts. How is that for arbitrary ? Blue denim pants NO !! Blue denim skirts YES . Just for the record -- I am a woman and wear denim skirts all the time.

This arbitrariness of when and when we can't wear jeans, skirts vs pants, and colors has convinced me that dress codes are all about control. What could be more controlling than telling someone what she or he can wear and when they can wear it ?

If I am supposed to ' look professional' then shouldn't I have to do it ALL the time? If the VP can wake up one morning and decides that he will make tomorrow a casual day, doesn't that tell me that 'looking professional' really doesn't matter all that much.

As you can see -- this is a touchy subject for me. I have never liked dress codes and never will. I simply don't like anyone telling me what I can and can not wear.

Comfortable to me is sweats and t-shirts, so no business dress code will ever be truly comfortable. I avoid the bother of becoming dependent, or even interested, in dress codes by purchasing reasonably comfortable and durable business attire. Dresses for crawling under desks is handled by letting the wacky managers know they?ve over simplified their decision making process. Five minutes is too much time wasted thinking about dress codes. People should really have better things to do with their time. I?ve spent entirely too much time reading these threads, but its Saturday?..

I once worked briefly for a company that didn't want employees to microwave popcorn, due to the
"unprofessional odor".

Key West is an attitude all its own.

[b]That's[/b] a concept I can dress up in: Dockers-style slacks made of rip-stop BDU material! I don't know from call to call if I'm going to be crawling or climbing, though, so until then, given the choice I'll wear jeans,

You are correct, I meant that she did not remain employed so her lack of understanding the dress code became a moot point.

You are correct, I meant that she did not remain employed so her lack of understanding the dress code became a moot point.

They seriously thought about removing the Business Casual Friday from our company because of a few indiviudals that dressed inappropriately [low jeans and midriff shirts or extremely sloppy jeans and worn out sneakers]. This is unacceptable dress for any business. The young ladies were spoken to and so far have changed their dress code. Personally, I think the minority that don't abide by the rules should not have the ability to change it for the majority.

It's been my experience that folks who are overly hung up on "professional" appearance and/or on culture haven't devoted a similar level of attention to developing and maintaining their skills. If you don't have the discipline or talent to distinguish yourself for your technical expertise, it's much easier to fixate on "professional" decorum as a substitute for ability.

It has also been my experience that IT managers who overly worry about such things are not only wildly unpopular, but are also ineffective managers. They tend to focus on minutiae rather than on how to make their organization as effective as possible.

I have yet to see convincing evidence of a connection between rigid, insulting dress codes and increased profit or better products. Dress codes seem to me to be just another mechanism for the weak to arbitrarily demonstrate authority over the talented; i.e. they do it simply because they can.

If anybody can present real data proving that insulting grown women and men by telling them how to dress themselves in the morning somehow improves the bottom line to such a degree as to be worth the indignity, I'd like to see it.

I used to work for a place with no dress code and it was jeans everyday with a Pendleton wool shirt for winter and any collared t-shirt during the summer, sneakers, boots, shoes, or sandals were okay.

Now I work for a hospital and they have a dress code that is a control issue dressed up as 'reasonable business requirements'.

Employees are expected to present a neat, clean, well-groomed, professional appearance (who's damn profession?) at all times while working. The vice president of each business unit has the discretion to establish specific dress code requirements for the employees of his/her company. Non-patient care employees may wear ?business casual? clothing to work. Business casual attire excludes denim, sneakers, shorts, and tee shirts with writing, and articles of clothing or accessories that display any sort of logo or insignia. (It appears patient care personnel can wear any damn thing they want - so if I work in a closet I have to look like a suit, while people who are up front and in view all the time get to wear jeans and sneakers under their lab coat.)
The highest standards of personal hygiene must be maintained. Perfume, cologne, and similar grooming products may bother patients and/or employees who have allergies, asthma, or sensitivities to fragrances.
Employees may be asked to refrain from using these products at work.
Employees are required to wear appropriate identification at all times.

I do consulting and everyday is casual, jeans and a tee is about it for me everyday.

All that time you save not running PT in the morning is now spent deciding what to wear to work.

What about admins with TATS do they ahve to be covered up? Wearing jeans should be allowed, come on now that BS, crawl under sone floors with dress pants.

We aren't allowed to wear jeans to work on Fridays. They want a "country club casual" kind of attire on Fridays. With that stipulation, I really don't see any difference between what I wear on Friday and any other day of the week.

Of course, there are always those people that have a different idea of what is "country club casual." I don't think I've ever seen flannel shirts worn at a country club, but some people wear them to work on Friday anyway. They must belong to a new kind of country club.

When I think casual, I think jeans. Otherwise its all just business attire to me.

I used to always wear a heavy metal t-shirt, jeans and my boots on Fridays. But even thpough I still CAN, I find myself meeting with clients all the time, so even casual days are not so casual for me anymore.
I'll wear jeans on Monday if I am working mainly in the office or shorts if I have a golf meeting or something. I olive by my policiy, whereas a dress fror the occasion, if I'm not meeting clients, I wear what I want, if i am meeting clients I wear what I deem is appropriate for that client or meeting.

As for you being singled out, yes it's not 'fair' and it's a drag, but there's no recourse you can take against the company, they don't have to give anyone casual Fridays, if the boss wanted to he could give it to one employee and no others. In fact I have seen call centers that do just that, employees that make the numbers get casual Friday, lunch at the pub etc. everyone else has to work in normal office attire.

Is it fair? Probably, with a reason, but it doesnt matter if it is or not.

Indian food, chinese food, popcorn. The only thing missing is FISH.

Most people really don't care about the consequences of microwaving anything.

The Oxfords are the Bates shoes we are all issued in bootcamp. Loafers are dress shoes which don't need laces.

Happy Thanksgiving.