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What do you wear to work?

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by klingon 2 views

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Ya know...I'm the Network Administrator, not the General Manager. For some reason, mgmt requires me to wear a shirt and tie to work every day. I absolutely hate it! I can't seem to make them understand that crawling under peoples' desks, scaling a rack full of servers, negotiating your way around in the cold room, is freakin' impossible while being all dressed!! Would anyone agree that a net admin, at the most, should only be required to wear business casual attire? (maybe dockers and a polo?) Of course jeans would be the ultimate, but no way will I convince them of that!

So what are some of you required to wear, and how the hell can I get the Suits to see my point? (make 'em do my job with me for an hour or so?)

Choking in this tie,
Klingon

99 replies

by jordana

I wear Khaki/cargo pants and Golf shirts most days. This is the attire of most of the people I work with, so it is what I wear. Management is pretty good about that here. Start sending them the drycleaning bills... :)

Jordan

by barnettc

Having software developmers, DBAs, and Network-types bother with shirts and ties is a sure sign the organization is clueless about technology and the people-centered, skill-centered nature of technology. It's nice to know the economy, the market and everything else is going so great that all all they have to worry about is what you're wearing!

by smichael9

MIS personnel can dress casual (no blue jeans please) because we all know that sometimes the job involves getting dirty. When Corporate Management or customer visits are scheduled, we ask that the MIS staff upscale a bit, since they are often askedto be involved in the process.

by james a bailey

I tried wearing dockers fo a while, but its blue jeans and a golf or button up shirt for me everyday. Besides Network Admin, I do all moving of file cabinets, desks, computers, and other things. All of these have sharp edges that would ripp through a pair of slacks or dockers like a knife through butter. Blue jeans can handle all of this. Now for a meeting, thats different but every otherday wear is blue jeans and nice shirt.

by guruofdos

Better to wear freshly washed, well fitting casual clothes that create an impression of self awareness, rather than have to put on the suit that you only break out for special occasions (too short in the trousers or too tight round the waist!). Nothing looks more silly than a 'worker' trying to look like a pen-pusher, and if you do not feel comfortable, you cannot act comfortable. If I'm called to a meeting, I'm called as the IT expert, not for what I wear. If a client judges our ability on what we're wearing, we don't want their custom....megabucks or not!

by bertustech

Agree 100%! I couldn't stand wearing a tie either. Our mgmt lets all of us at IT wear absolutely what we want to wear. So we're all in shorts and t-shirts. Sales people look more "professional", while the managers themselves are usually in hawaiian shirts and sandals. It gets pretty cold in the server rooms, but you get used to it. You can't be effective if you're all dressed up.

by laura

My company supplies the golf shirts with our company logo and the only pants criteria is that we don't wear worn out jeans or shorts. Unless, of course, we have a meeting scheduled, then it's business atire. Mngmt has realized that if we "dress for success" everyday, then it takes us longer to do the job!

by taos_roadrunner

They dont pay me to look good. I wear jeans, t shirt's boots and a hat. every day. If I have meeting's I might shave and loose the hat. (If Im doing my job they dont even know Im here)

by alee100

Try turning in expense reports everytime you dry clean your clothes. Money often succeeds where logic fails.

by klingon

I am definitely going to do that! I've even been doing my own ironing!! Enough of that s*#@!!

Thanks for the idea fellas! That's perfect!

by tomsal

Throughout this entire thread more than a few people have said merely to expense your dry cleaning bill to the company. What I don't get is - that's fine and all but what does it prove? There's no law that says a company has to pay your dry cleaningexpenses even on clothes stained or soiled during work duties for said company. They can merely say "Yeah whatever, get back to work." and dismiss your vein attempt to attack the Dress Code Nazi Regime! ;)

For example, how they are here - trying to get the company to pay for my dry cleaning would result only in huge fits of laughter from our CEO and our President.

And on a bad day would end with something like, "...how about we let you stay employed and you can pay your own dry cleaning..." ;)

Ok well maybe not that severe. But you get my point, I hope. They don't have to honor your request at all. And we all know that the pathetic business world, if you are a pest (ie. repeatedly bringing up minor issues like the dress code/cleaning bills) they'll fire you. Our employment laws in this country our beyond easy to get around.

They'll just make something up to avoid a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Either way, nice try but no cigar on the dry cleaning idea.

Geez and to think I just want to come in with my shorts on so everyone can see my hairy legs..hey I'm Italian, can't help it. ;)

by mysuitelife2

Fortunately, our company is awesome when it comes to dress code. You dress the way your work day sees fit. Unless you know you're going to be in situation or meeting that might be best fit to dress business casual, shorts and shirt of a desent attire are okay.

My theory is that if you don't normally see clients and clients don't normally see you, you shouldn't have to dress up. The only thing is that you get used to not having to wear dress clothes and when you need them, you don't have them, they are outdated, or they don't fit anymore.

by generalist

Another option that can help preserve clothing and present a message is to buy a set of white coveralls that you put on over your good clothing when having to do dirty work.

Not only do the coveralls protect your clothing, but they show the dirt that you have to deal with on a daily basis. Management might then realize that your job involves both office and labor skills.

If you want to make a bigger impression, save the dirtiest work for the first day you wear the coveralls. That way, if management doesn't like the image that coveralls present, they may bend the dress code for you.

If they still insist that you wear good clothing while doing dirty work AND they prohibit coveralls, consider looking for another job. People that image conscious who are that insensitive to their employees conditions are not worth the bother.

by admin

I used to have to wear nice shirts and at least Dockers. Management wouldn't see otherwise and so I started talking to HR. I especially talked to them on the days I had toner all over my pants and white turtlenecks, or the days I ripped big holes inmy pants on the server rack etc. Turns out in our HR policies and procedures, all employees are allowed to wear "appropriate attire" when the work needs something else than the "standard" approved attire, such as on "volleyball" BBQ's at lunch or team building days, or if you are the janitor etc. or when mgmt has a "let's plant bulbs outside our windows day" or if you are providing recreational therapy to our clientle.

I was granted permission to wear durable clothing on an as needed basis under this policy as they would have had to have hr re-write it to exclude me from it after I found it. Then I just made sure I wore reasonably decent cargo pants and Henly's, although I now get away with the full tee as long as they are tasteful.Most companies have a clause like this. The trick is to wear the tie or whatever in meetings when you have to, so you don't get anyone with a personal vendetta on your dress style while convincing them that your job is more like a janitors or electrician or other tradesman at least some or most of the time.

Another side benefit of this is that they actually seem less threatened seeing your role, as well as their computer systems, as related to tools more than management.

Hope this helps.Depends somewhat on how big your company is, but check your manual. What do the non-computer technicians wear?

by robert vokes

Well at my last job I used to have to wear the suit & Tie. When I changed jobs I asked for a clause in my contract, that if the suit was required I recived about US$6000 more a year. So the "Adecuate Clothing" clause has made my life easier and since I live in mainland spain, where it can be +40?C on a normal day in summer, Today I'm in sharts, a golf polo shirt and sneakers whilst my coworkers are in ties and looking rather hot!
Result: THE MONEY ALWAYS RULES!
Show me the money??? For the suit!

by goyotech40

My company required shirt and tie for years and finally we were given a trial on wearing casual (No tie with shirt or Polo shirt). This went on for a couple months at the satrt of the summer. Then it was annouced as long as no one abused this privilige the dress code would remain casual except when meeting with outside vendors. This was great!! PS. Ask for a trial run.

by klingon

I work in one of the smaller casinos in Vegas, so most people are wearing their uniforms. The one guy in accounting wears a tie, controller - tie, mgmt - ties, our graphic designer - business casual!! No tie for him! But I'll look like such a whinerif I complain "He doesn't have to wear a tie, why do I?? Whaaaaa!!"

:-)

by admin

Yeah, as I said, you don't want to get people against you over this, it's definately an issue with a political aspect quite often.

It's also more difficult in a smaller agency.

I as you, will wear a uniform (of course, we all do really anyway) that suits my employer as much as is necessary in the situation.

by callahan

All of these suggestions are thought provoking however; "the company" still signs the check. I currently work in my home office in my bathing suit and no shoes. However, I paid my dues with 15 years of hard hats or stiff suits while getting here.Set your goal to own your own company and think of this time as training. In that light the tie is trivial.

by techdictator

We (Myself, a Network Analysts, two other network analyst, and the Network Engineer) just stopped wearing ties one day and my manager has never said anything about it. They dangle "casual day" over our heads like a damn carrot. Our Social committee actually goes around and sells casual day tickets for a buck a piece. But we're casual everyday anyways. You could always try the dilbert approach. Gradually shrink the tie down by cutting it until it's gone. Supposedly no one will notice.

by netdrake

I used to where jeans and a polo shirt for work all of the time before our company moved. I was sort of down in a hole of an office before. But now, I'm in the front office wearing my shirt and tie in a nice, comfortable office. Yes, it is a bit more inconvenient, but the trick is to explain your situation to management. There's no way that I will crawl under somebody's desk dressed this way! Make it understood that you would look much more professional if you could where something more durable, perhaps maybe they would even let you keep a change of "work clothes" that you could change into if you needed to do the dirty deeds. Also, if you are THE GUY in the IT department, I'm sure you are always meeting with vendors and such. You do need to represent the company in a professional way, even though those vendors know exactly what you do.

by klingon

I rarely meet with anyone. My boss, the IT Director, does all that - I just get to do the grunt work. And when I do end up meeting with someone from the outside, they're usually dressed in jeans, and a t-shirt that reads "I don't use toilet paper."
:-)

by quake

I was told it's a bussiness casual environment. As long as I don't wear jeans and a t-shirt they're ok. I don't even tuck my shirt in.

by jamesrl

I have done desktop support in a suit and tie and am glad not to have to do it anymore. That same employer went to everyday business casual, which meant no jeans, shirts with collars and no shorts. Everyone looked the other way on jeans with th techs. The execption was supposed to be when meeting with someone from outside. I recall showing up in one of our regional offices dressed in a suit to meet a supplier whom I was going to spend $500K with. My director laughed at me for dressing for the supplier - we are paying them, he said.

Imagine how well I fit in when I moved to a company with formal dress. During orientation they told us we needed to look good to feel good and do our best. I took offense to that, and remarked something aboutsome of the smartest directors and VPs I had ever worked with wore polo shirts to work. That was the shortest I've stayed in a job in a decade.

I am a manager, and I enjoy wearing dressy casual stuff - polos, dockers etc. I do think that employees who deal with internal customers should not wear jeans or shorts or t shirts. Most importantly, they should wear clean pressed clothes that fit. There is a balance between comfort and professionalism that you have to seek.

james

by cshull

I generally wear khakis ("Dickies" for durability) and a button-down oxford shirt; been doing so for ten years. I keep a tie in the desk and an all-purpose sport jacket nearby. These I only wear to certain types of meetings and activities for whichthe full-time "suits" deem such attire "necessary" or "advisable".

A relevant quote from Frank Zappa from a concert cut on "Burnt Wienie Sandwich" - "Everyone in this room is wearing a uniform, and don't kid yourselves..."

by cavedweller

I tend towards casual. I find that the day I wear a "nice" shirt I have to crawl under the floor unexpectedly. If I get called in to a meeting with mgt or customers I usually grab a lab coat (a clean one with my name on it).

My personal opinionis that ties and open electronics don't mix. Ties can carry ESD from your body into exposed devices. Also, I lose my desire to be productive as soon as I put one on. If they insist on a tie, insist on another job!!!

There is usually safety in numbers. Just don't get too far behind the crowd.

Sloppy is definitely out though. Tee shirts are for weekend maintenance. Jeans are OK if they don't have holes or patches. Think about it. Would you take someone seriously if you met him the way you were dressed? That's the deciding factor.

by ckar

Hi Klingon,

i was told to wear the same you explained in
your posting. I'm a supporter on the phone and systemadministrator and i really know what it means to carry jukeboxes and dirty hardware in shirt and tie. I had a meeting with the big chief because i wore a polo on friday. I think we don't have a chance to make them see how we could work happier.

Don't shot me for this english, please.
I'm a german boy and i spoke my last english two years ago.

best regards

Chris

by klingon

You're english is fine! I'm going to try to get them to budge, but I doubt they will. What sucks is this really is the type of thing that I will easily quit over. I don't need the frustration or discomort.

by desk23

I get up in the morning, put on a pare of shorts, t-shirt,(after showering), and other required pieces, that's the way I stay. Unless the Mrs. has to go out. I do my work at home.

by steve h

Try this:

In the office you where the shirt and tie.

Crawling in and around the office, Chinos and polo shirt.

My boss wants me to be tidy as clients are around the office most of the time. However he knows that you can get filthy, very quickly so I have a change of cloths available in case I need to do and messy work.

As long as the change of clothes are clean and pressed he doesn't mind.

by trost

I've had IT posiitions where I had to wear businees attire and boy did the guys enjoy watching me crawl under desks in a skirt! Slacks became the order of the day but I was unable to wear shirts without collars. Well, have you checked the woman's dept lately?! My new job where I am boss, I wear whatever is necessary. I dress mostly in walking shorts with nice tops...switch out my sneakers for heels and I'm ready for any client. The company prides itself on being "over the top" so business casual is a daily routine and shorts are fine! We have dress-up days if big clients are expected. Besides, casual attire is required when we ride our scooters around our inside track in the office! The bottom line is more and more companies are realizing dress should take a second seat to comfort and most are moving to casual attire all the time instead of just on fridays. In IT, it is essential to be comfortable when crawling around in the dust and dirt and I wouldn't work for any employer who feels otherwise.

by ralph

I work for this non-profit IT house, we do small to medium size OO projects. We also train inner city youth and place them in IT related jobs.

I wear shorts and a T-Shirt to the office and business casual on client meeting days. At both, my nails are always painted and my shirts are generally skater related. No polos and no khakis.

by carlito

I agree with Bearbait - If you don't like the rules, move on. I think that you are sticking around because you make the big cash.

by maus_69

I have thankfully now progressed past this point in my career, but only three years ago, I worked at a company where I, as NetAdmin, was required to wear a dress/ women's suit (NOT pants, mind you, a skirt), stockings, and HEELS every day. No flatsallowed. Try not hurting yourself climbing through a server rack in that getup. Oh, and we were not allowed to remove our shoes priot to crawling under a desk, which meant usually goring yourself if you were not extra careful.

My advice is to do what you have suggested -- we did a "walk a mile" program, where people were cross-trained for an afternoon, which had several positive benefits, and got management to consent to let "techies" wear less formal attire (meaning flat shoes and dress pants, at least). We sold them on the idea by pointing out there was a serious divide between the tech-savvy and those who were not -- avoid the dress issue, it'll likey come up in user comments, as it did in our program. If you are too militant about things, sometimes people just tune out.

Good luck!

by klingon

Heels and a skirt? Holy Shit!! I would've been outta there!! I'm going to present my case formally during my review next month, but I have a feeling they won't go for it. They're pretty old fashioned, so I'll pretty much be polishing up the resume this week!!

:-)

by tomsal

I can see your point about a woman's attire being more difficult to maintain in an IT position, but that's it. In any other position I think women have it WAY easier than men with dress codes. Especially now - the summer time. After all women can wear dresses, skirts, and with some few exceptions sleeveless tops. Us guys however have few options. We can wear a suit or just take the jacket off and wear a tie.

Woohoo..such options.

The dress code at our small 100 employee shop has been something that has changed so many times I honestly can't keep track of the number of revisions to it.

Asking our execs to allow us TECHIES have more lenient dress codes is as absurd a thought as bringing along your snow mobile on a vacation to the Sahara Desert. Our higher ups are all sales people, they know little of what IT is all about - except that "We make the computers work".

Oh and its not like we haven't tried our case many times before it - they insist we dress uniform with everyoneelse. period.

Our latest revision of our dress code (probably will change next week - and yeah, I wish I was kidding...its that bad) is pretty good... its Monday is "dress up" day, all guys have to wear dress shirts and ties (I can barely tie a tie myself I hate wearing them so much) and Tuesday - Friday is business casual.

But lately us guys have been following the dress code while many of the women (who make up more than 60% of our employees btw) our increasing wearing whatever they feel like.

One day I came in with jeans on because I had to crawl up in the plenum space to lay cables and our 22 year old female HR assistant actually came over to me and questioned while I had jeans on that day, the irony of the story - she was just slightly more tastefully dressed than a prostitute IMHO.

They shouldn't be hypocritical in their rules, is my point. Even if the women are NOT hard on the eyes.

by phil.hall

Here's what I did at a former position: wear your nice stuff, you know, the dry clean only clothes. And every day, submit the cleaning bill, dry clean it all, even the socks. Dry clean the ties, try clean your undies... ALL OF IT. After a few months, submit the bill for new shoes. And keep doing this. They, of course will ignore your letters, or begin to ask questions. Either way, you win. If they ignore you, then feel free to ignore their dress codes. If they ask you questions as to why you submit the bill, explain that if you have to wear certain clothing, they can pay for the upkeep, since I bet you aren't getting a clothing allowance from Payroll. After all, the good clothing costs money, you can't be expected to look like a schlub, now can you?
Show them, excatly, what it is you do. This works even better if you're in a manufacturing environment, as you can demonstrate what happens if a tie get's caught in a gear assembly....

No matter what, you win.

by rzan

The IT dept where I work is very casual, even the CTO and Director wear casual attire (jeans, T-Shirt, sneakers), and we are a global legal firm. Although our attorneys and legal assistants must dress more formally, us techies have a very relaxed dress code. I did work for a company where they required me to wear a suit and tie, which I thought was a half-ass idea on the part of management. Some moron from upper management must be obsessed with his shirt and tie and requires everyone else towear one. By the end of the day, your tie will be so dirty that it will look like you wiped someone's ass with it. Our job is sometimes a very dirty one, as we have to work through piles of dusty equipment and dirty wiring closets. If reasoning fails, subit a large dry-cleaning bill to the company to have them reimburse you every time you get dirty. That usually causes those dumb asses in upper management to open their eyes.

by ghall

I too have had this problem being ordered to wear a Dress and heels here where I am the sole tech. Talk about eye opening! All it took was one time getting caught, on my hands and knees under the receptionist's desk trying to repair some loose connections, by the general manager and my new dress order got laid by the wayside. Too impossible, as they found out. Now I wear nice, but casual attire every day!

by suew

I work at a university where there are very few rules about anything. We wear what we want to--even shorts in the summer.

by thekandiman

I wear business casual every day with the odd business attire day when a client is coming for a tour. It is absolutely ridiculous to be required to wear business clothing doing the kind of work we do. If they want to force the issue, they get slapped with the cleaning bill or a letter of resignation. It's just like drugs...ya don't need em!

by grovergirl

Even though our department is in the basement, we are required to wear professional attire. For women that means skirts, slips, pantyhose, heels and a whole slew of medieval torture instruments more commonly referred to as "foundation garments". Iwould gladly trade all of these for the opportunity to wear a tie and shoes (among other things) that don't pinch. Honestly though, I do understand that I get paid big bucks primarily to support and meet with people who drive cars worth more than my yearly salary and, like it or not, first impressions count. I remember meeting an IT consultant that I instantly wrote off talent-wise without realizing it just because of the sloppy appearance. That being said, how many of us simply perform better when we are comfortable???

by grovergirl

Even though our department is in the basement, we are required to wear professional attire. For women that means skirts, slips, pantyhose, heels and a whole slew of medieval torture instruments more commonly referred to as "foundation garments". Iwould gladly trade all of these for the opportunity to wear a tie and shoes (among other things) that don't pinch. Honestly though, I do understand that I get paid big bucks primarily to support and meet with people who drive cars worth more than my yearly salary and, like it or not, first impressions count. I remember meeting an IT consultant that I instantly wrote off talent-wise without realizing it just because of the sloppy appearance. That being said, how many of us simply perform better when we are comfortable???

by klingon

I have no problem with making a good impression if I have to have a dreaded "meeting", but the day-to-day stuff?? Hell Yes I perform better when I'm in comfortable clothing! No doubt about it! If I were an accountant, and sat behind a computer and calculator all day, I could deal with it, but re-wiring a closet full of cables and switches and hubs, etc...No way is it comfortable to do in dress clothes....And I agree first impressions count, but if someone's first impression is based on my attire, in this field, they're an idiot. Let them crawl underneath the fat pricks' desks and sift through the Cheetohs crumbs and used tissues to find the power-strip....

by weze

Luckily, I have my own consulting firm. I wear what I feel like at home and try to dress professionally when I call on by clients. I wear a suit jacket depending on the weather.
If I get an emergency call, then I come in whatever -- shorts, my nursing uniform (another profession), etc. My clients are happy to have someone come on a moments notice.
If I were asked to wear heels, I would politely refuse noting my bad knees. If necessary, I would bring an note from my doctor!

by epepke

But they won't let me wear a skirt, only pants. Something to do with my Y chromosomes.

by lat-nitr

I have worked several places, only one required me to have a tie handy, for the formal clients. That company went belly up due to financial mis-management. The funny part is, where they placed me was where I am most comfortable. Working at a nukeplant has it's definite advantages, nice shirt and jeans are acceptable for the general IT population, until you hit IT mgmt. It is a team oriented environment, and being relaxed helps both IT and the user. I have seen people wear BC clothes who are more apt not to go out and help the user than the guy wearing jeans who will go around to the cabinets and floors of the servers and computers to fix a problem.

by Member 28996545

I once heard that you should dress for your _next_ job. If the next job you want needs a tie, wearing one now (even though not needed) can help managers see you as 'apropriate' for the new job. Maybe not the way things _should_ be, but often the waythings really are. Still, ties can be literally a pain in the neck. I spent a bit of time finding shirts and ties that are fairly comfortable, so it doesn't worry me too much. I also find it helps me make a mental switch between work and play.

by klingon

it definitely separates work and play. I'm 27, and it's so funny to have people at work call me "sir". If they saw me outside of work in my fishing shorts and Fuck You hat, i doubt i'd get the same respect!!

:-)

by cjt

As a Senior IT New Business Development Consultant to an established offshore (India) software development/IT company who makes attempts daily to educate corporate entities as to the advantages of leveraging at least a portion of their respective ITproject work to our four development facilities in India, I wear a suit and tie as my primary contact is at the CFO/CIO level. I do not see why men and/or women in the IT field be required to wear anything but casual clothing as that is our environment and it is the intellect, the entrepreneurial spirit, the enthusiasm, the eagerness to pursue addressing IT requirements and delivering value-driven solutions to the client that I am interested in as I am the one who might one day get a call froma client not worrying about the dress of the team, but the solutions presented. My team is so pervaded with expert skill sets that the value and timeliness seems to be there even though most are in jeans and pants....
cjt@world.std.com

by klingon

i'm glad i posted this subject...i totally agree with you!! it's ridiculous, unless meeting with persons from the outside..to have to wear this shit, it's a hindrance..

by guruofdos

I'm a design engineer, programmer, system integrator and service engineer. If I'm at the office, I wear shorts, trainers and a tee-shirt, and more often than not, a baseball cap to keep the hair out of my eyes! If I'm on a sales or marketing visit, a suit and tie are the norm but it depends on the end-user.

I'm paid for what I know and do, not for what I look like!

by david.campbell

I find that you can do a support role wearing collar and tie. A tie can be easily removed, and the rest can be casual, not smart.

I wear a bright tie to act as an ice-breaker. It gives the user (whether colleague or customer) a better impression, in terms of proffesionalism. This makes the interaction between you and them much smoother.

I accept that smart dress is a problem if crawling around under desks, and limbo-ing through server racks. But taking a tie off, and wearing a short sleeved shirt, instead of long means you can be reasonably relaxed. and not too restricted.

David Campbell

by steve h

I posted already, but then remembered this.

In one job I HAD to wear a suit and tie.

Someone had taken my work coat, and the photocopier had to be filled now, this was a very old p/c that used liquid toner and fixative.

I pointed out that this stuff went everywhere when you refilled it and could it please wait until my work coat was returned, as I would get filthy.

It had to be done now, I got covered in toner, and the company got the bill for a new suit to replace the ruined one.
When they tried to not pay up, I dragged the boss into the accounts office, he complained that they should not pay as it was my fault that it got damaged, that was until I reminded him of our conversation.

After that when I said it would have towait, they listened, most compaines will blanche at an unnessessary bill of ?200. (Im not cheap, this was 15 years ago)

by billc124

Thankfully I am able to wear Jeans and T Shirts to work every day. I couldn't handle anything else. The only think that sucks is I can't wear shots. That is the only rule, not shorts other than that, we wear whatever we want. I am the Network Admin,but we do telphone support here, so we never see anyone face to face. That is the best situation to be in, in my opinion.

by barryvg

I get to work in casuals Mon-Thurs. Fridays its jeans. However, if I'm going to be crawling in/under/around, its jeans. I'm not going to even chance ruining casuals if there is a chance to do so.
You might look at your job description and see ifit can be changed to include a dress code. Even like one referenced, expense out the cost. Maybe even look at having the company bear the cost of cleaning and replacement as a possibility.
Overalls when needed?
I'm with you. Jeans should be a standard wear for hands-on IT folks.

by gtech

A shirt and tie are perfect attire for a network proffesional. If dirty work is required put some overalls on. Overalls are inexpensive and save on you cleaning bill.

by nichomach

I wear a suit and tie to work every day, unless I'm specifically come in to do heavy maintenance, which I generally do at weekends. It's not ideal, but I generally find people are more willing to accept me as a professional if I look the part. It's not demanded of me, but while it can be a little cramped, it makes my job easier in other ways.
Obviously, your views on this are different, and with reason, no criticism implied; I'm just pointing out what works for me.

by gmichels

today, it's a muscle shirt, gym shorts, and Tevas.

Ya, we can wear virtually anything we want. I am a network admin myself and the in house carpenter, of course.

by klingon

How is it that we end up as Network
Admins, but somehow that includes building cubicles, or moving file cabinets for people? How does that happen?

by epepke

I work at a place that is dress casual. They had a Christmas party last year at a ritzy place, and the invitation requested semi-formal attire.

Now, I know what semi-formal is. Tails, stripey trousers, vest, white tie. Fortunately, I had all but the tie. I was disappointed that I couldn't find a silk white tie and had to make do with the cotton one.

Formal, of course, is a tuxedo with cummerbund and black tie.

I was the only one there who was semi-formal. A lot of the males were dressed like pimps or like what is generally called "cocktail dress." One guy from IT and his wife and daughter came in Indian semi-formal dress, and that was way cool. Just yesterday, one of the fairly high powered people here remembered being impressed by the way I dressed at the party.

There was also the time that I went semi-formal to a reception with the president of the university and our congressional liaison. Everyone thought I was weird, and one of the administrators said, tight-lipped, "Only you could get away with that."

However, as it turned out, the president was also dressed semi-formal (though with white tails), and the congressional liaison THANKED me for wearing the tails, saying he had a coat just like it that he kept in his office and wore all the time, but nobody else had seen a coat like that.

I loved it!

by klingon

Now all you need is a top hat and you're set!! Maybe throw in a cane for good measure.

:-)

by doyle.coppinger

I work for the Federal Government and they were trying to keep this "business" image. That is fine. However, when you try to string cable, work in the wiring closets and
crawl around under cubes, that image doesn't work. We fought the policy and won. After a few "tie boys", got their 60 dollar pants and
45 dollar shirts dirty and some couldn't be worn again, the policy was changed to Levi's and a Polo shirt. Did it take "Enstein" to figure that out. No! Common sense.

by admin

When I go to consult initially, I usually wear pressed black pants, nice socks, shoes, a sharp black or occasionally white turtleneck and a nice sport coat. Definately sharp, but not at all loud.

I have found this to work for me very well while avoiding the tie. However, I am doing a full on assessment of the situation and clothing while I am there. Usually I can dress down afterwards, but not always. Sometimes it is my best interest to go back and do the work in a tie, and I can do so.

Still, I dress in cargo pants (lot's of useful pockets) and a decent shirt (henly tee or today, short sleeved with pressed collar patterned shirt, no tie) whenever possible to do the actual work after making the first impression.

I have worked at my present non-consulting salaried position for over 5 years, and first impressions matter not in the least anymore unless I have to meet with someone from the outside.

Sometimes I seriously wonder if some people aren't just so deeply pissed off deep down inside that they have to conform with the tie thing that they keep the cycle going by inflicting this in turn on those that they can....

by jsteele

I wear jean and a tee shirt most days. Just becuase of the crawling around and such. Somedays when I have a meeting I wear a button down shirt, but only sometimes. I work in one place that wanted me to wear a shirt and tie and I did this. One day I had to get into the dirtiest closet and up into the ceiling, I told my boss I had to show him something that I needed show him. He had do climb a ladder and get un in the ceiling from this closet, ( I made sure that stuff would fall and kick up dust and dirt all over him.) After gettting all dirty he rethought his requirement about me wear a shirt and tie. Try that.

John

by bearbait

If you don't like the dress code, look elseware for employment. The "Fatcats" of whatever company you are working for are the ones responsible for there being enough money coming in to pay your wage. If, after a respectful request for a change in code, and it is refused, live with it or move on. The 'company' does not owe you a thing other than to compensate you for effort extended. Dresses tho,,,, sheeeesh, whats up with that?

by klingon

I'm saying, formal dress code is inappropriate for this type of work..and yes, i will gladly move on to work for people who understand..so you think suit and tie is acceptable, but dresses are too much?? Get a grip?? Get a clue..

by ahevans

I work as an enterprise admin. for a large bank. Mon-Thurs. its dockers and shirts....Fri, management turns its heads and we wear clean, not torn jeans....I believe the larger the organization, the better you dress....I have no problems with dress code....I find they take me more seriously dressed appropriately...my .02 cents

by jabbott

Khakis and a polo are the norm for us, unless high poobas are visiting. Our office has always been pretty laid-back, though.

by tjbennett

I too am a Network Admin. and we used to (5yrs ago) have to wear dress clothes too. Since then the office has went to business casual and I can't tell you how happy I am. I agree that wearing nice pants and a shirt with a tie is no way to do the things required for us to do. I remember trashing numerous pants and shirts while crawling around. You need to go to mgt and tell them, or better yet show them, these responses you are getting. Good luck!!

by klingon

I'm going to print a bunch of these, not bearbait's of course, and show it to mgmt in my review next month. Who knows?? Maybe they'll reconsider..

by theviper

I'm in California, so maybe things are slightly different here.
It's summer and it's hot in the Central Valley, so even the General Manager here shows up in shorts, t-shirt and sandals when he doesn't have any customer meetings scheduled.
What canI do but offer sympathy?

by michealirwin

Probably, unless you can convince the Suits that you really are a blue-collar worker ... then they'll probably drop you a few hundres payscale positions too !

For me, the best compromise was where we "unseens" could wear literally anything (some pushed it too far, so it did get restricted), but, if you were likely to sometimes be called out of the dungeon to meet someone, you had to have a suit, tie, clean shirt, socks, and shoes sitting in a closet or behind the office door.

Seemed reasonable to me !

by klingon

to bearbait then...you too are missing the point...and i stay where i am for now because i enjoy the people i work with. Period.

by jacmari

If I have a meeting or seminar to attend, I need to dress up... meaning dress and closed toe shoes. As for being in the office itself, setting up pc's and stuff like that.. it's jeans and shirt. I can even wear quicksilver shirts. I guess becauseI'm the young intern that I can slide on that. But Fridays is dress-down day for everyone. Aloha Friday!! I guess that's one of the benefits being in Hawaii eh. =) Have a good one. Maybe the suits will see it your way, and then you won't have to choke on that tie soon. Good luck!!

by she_

I dont have time to waste on color schemes
what ever I am wearing it includes black.
pants, shirts, dresses, whatever... I think it started when i got tired a couple years ago of not having shoes to match and before I knew it... my wardrobe decreased in colors... and then everytime I went shopping I bought more black. I do have a few things in other colors but probably a ratio of 80 parts black to 20 parts other is what my selection consist of

by she_

I dont have time to waste on color schemes
what ever I am wearing it includes black.
pants, shirts, dresses, whatever... I think it started when i got tired a couple years ago of not having shoes to match and before I knew it... my wardrobe decreased in colors... and then everytime I went shopping I bought more black. I do have a few things in other colors but probably a ratio of 80 parts black to 20 parts other is what my selection consist of

by leastar

I guess I have an understanding company that I work for as they allow me to wear Nice Blue Jeans and button up or polo type shirt each day. I don't crawl under desks or get dirty evert day but it is more often than not. I don't see how they would not let the IS department wear something durable for they type of job we do. Maintenance people get to wear proper attire for what they do, why shouldn't the IS?

by klingon

That's the perfect example. I can't believe it either, but they don't like the thought of me not being dressed up, no matter what. F 'em.

:-)

by she_

i have tatoos and if I wear shorts and a tank top you can see all of them... what would you say? If I showed up to work dressed like that?

by ecmjamsit

I would think that the best thing to wear would be a flight suit. Made of Nomex/Aramid fiber it is fire resistant. Space Commmand here in Colorado Springs has been made responsible for Computer Network Defence for the US Government. They wear one piece flight suits. No change to fall out of pockets! Has pen holders on the sleeve. All pockets zip up.Practical.Period.

by hkurt

Company Executive: working nude would certainly be tolerated, as long as production did not wane.

by klingon

if i were going to buy a half million dollars worth of servers from you, i'd expect neither of us would be dressed casually in a meeting. if we were co-workers, both of us crawling around server rooms etc, i'd probably take a look at them and tell ya which one i like best.

Klingon

by guruofdos

My wife has 5 tatoos and they are all visible in the summer. So? Does that make her a bad person? It's cosmetic! You should be judged on your ability to do your job, not on what you look like. Personally, I hate tatoos and would die before I ever had one, but each to their own! If you get judged for your appearance rather than your skills, then you are in the wrong job or at least employed by the 'wrong people'!

by she_

for you and me. thanks to all of you.
I was a little insecure, currently I am at a lawfirm, and they dont mind, on Mondays or Fridays. I am getting ready to go deep into IT and was wondering, what reaction I would get from them and thought this forum was the place to start.

by moziemkowski

I'm a network admin at a fortune 500 pet food manufacturer. In a plant environment it is possible to get pretty funky. Required uniform is jeans and a polo shirt. If I am going to be in meetings I usually break down and wear Dockers. The downside isthat I can mess up clothes pretty quick.

by bradydave69

jean's 'T' shirts sneakers and some days shorts. but of course for important meetings I keep dress shirt and pants etc on hand.During my interview for this position I was wearing a suit and was told to lose it if I got the job.

by aonwell

I look to my management to set the "style" trend. Normally I wear slacks and a cotton shirt with tie. The alternative is no tie or a golf shirt. Since I have to interface with
other corporate managers, I feel that its important to dress appropriately. I'm often called into a conference room to explain a particulat design or architecture and to describe its benefits. To down dress, degrades my position. (don't look like a nerd). I do have coveralls in the locker
in the equipment that I can puton if the job gets dirty. (the tie comes off when the coveralls come on). My moto is if you look like a professional, you'll be treated like one.

by ndsully

I don't know what part of the country you are in, but out here in La Jolla, it's almost "No Ties Allowed". Business casual is the norm here, but NY offices still don't require a tie. The dress code officially states collared shirts and neatly pressed trousers. No jeans, except Fridays, and T's and shorts are out even on Fridays. Too bad, because I live in shorts, T's, and slaps! The standing joke around here is that if you are wearing a tie, you must be visiting. Second time visitors don't usually let this happen twice! I would speak to HR on a day when you end up filthy, and maybe they will sympathize with you; I do! Good Luck, goin' surfin' now.

by doobie

Behind my office door is a shirt and tie (only to be worn in times of emergency). For the most part I wear blue jeans or cargo pants (pockets gallore - gotta love it) up top I wear loud patterned Hawaii 5-0 type shirts. They're light, airy and quite comfortable when your crammed under a desk and a user is asking if they can lend a hand?!?!?!?

by dariusndabx

First off I work for a theatre company in the MIS department and everyone here is allowed to wear casual wear. I mean some people come to work in shorts here (from the top down). But that's probably because I work in a theatre atmosphere. My job prior to this was in a hospital and my bosses could not understand anything less than a tie, shirt and slacks. No matter what! My suggestion to you is to go to you boss or immediate supervisor and explain to them what it is that you have to do. Most non-technical people don't see out job as being technical like mechanics. If they go for that, see if they would foot your cleaning bill.

by gbarnwell

I think location might have something to do with it. I relocated from Florida, where dockers and a blue oxford shirt was the "IT uniform," to Los Angeles, where Hawaiian print shirts, jeans and sneakers seem to work just fine.

by yg1008

Hi!
I would suggest landing up in the dress that you want to be in and then showing them , the Suits that the job is done just as well. You could of course agree to donning the Suit yourself when something really official comes up meaning that you do not have to crawl under peoples desk and all that. You give some you get some you see. Best of luck with this approach if you are game enough to try it out.

Vaijayanti

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