Dress Code - Bare Legs OK or Not?

[Deborajen]

I work at a doctors' office and we've been having some discussion about our dress code. One of the big topics is staff wearing/not wearing panty hose.

When I finished school 25 years ago, wearing panty hose was a must when wearing a dress or skirt to work or to an interview. Bare legs were considered unprofessional - too casual. I still prefer to wear hose but the staff I supervise is split - some would prefer not to and say hose is too hot, but others say bare legs don't look good so hose is necessary.

We're leaning towards not making panty hose a requirement in our dress code, but I'm curious what you all think. Do you think hose should be worn to the office or to an interview, or is it o.k. to wear a dress or skirt without hose? When you go into your doctor's office, does it make an impression one way or the other if the female doctors and staff are wearing dresses/skirts without panty hose?

By the way, I'm on the business side of the practice, not clinical. The rest of the office except the doctors & receptionists wear scrubs.--

[SheFly]

Personally, I HATE hose. I am sitting at work today (and was on Tuesday) in a skirt with bare legs. I think it is ok and still professional.

For an interview, however, I always wear hose (whether I like it or not) - mostly because that's how I was brought up (I can't wear slacks to church either...), and because often we don't know the dress code where we are interviewing.

No impression either way for me if I go to the doctor's office and see someone without hose.

SheFly

[Biciclista]

IMHO panty hose are no more sanitary and in fact, perhaps LESS sanitary than bare legs.
I probably have never noticed what the people working at the doctor's office have worn under their shoes. As long as they are clean and neat, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to force pantyhose on someone who lives in a warm climate.

[Zen]

DEFINITELY to an interview but in you work environment patients won't be too focused on your legs if they can see them at all.
If an employee is comfortable in her clothing she would be a more efficient worker.

[Triskeliongirl]

Would I wear hose to a job interview, yes, just to not offend others. I also wear hose if going to a professional event in a country where it is customary (i.e. Japan). But, I do not wear hose myself to work, or even to national professional meetings or events.

Would I be offended in any way to visit a doctors office and see the staff in bare legs? Not at all. Sure, I would want folks to look neat, clean, and well groomed, but I could care less if their legs are covered, and in fact I would probably not even notice this. In San Antonio it is very hot and folks rarely wear hose, which I think just encourages yeast infections and UTIs.

[SadieKate]

I love these threads because they highlight regional differences. I tried out a new primary care doctor a few months ago. She didn't pass the test due to her lack of knowledge but she also had on a top that barely met the top of her pants. Walking down the street, no one would have thought a thing, but in your doctor? I didn't need her to be distracted tugging down her top.

The dress code for male professionals around here is dockers and a polo shirt. The women are equally casual. Clean, neat, and all the important parts covered. On the left coast, pantyhose seems to be reserved for interviews and court dates. Maybe executives in the high powered financial district still wear them.

They're also not much healthier than wearing your bikes shorts around all the time.

[maillotpois]

It really depends on the suit for me. If the skirt is shortish, I will probably wear them. If I am in court, probably also. If the skirt is longer, then I might not. Or I might wear boots and wouldn't wear them under those (unless it is COLD in which case I'd wear thicker tights anyway).

I used to wear them ALL the time. I'm enjoying not having to spend all that $ on them these days.

I would not expect hose at my doctors office. I would also expect the dress code in general at a doctor's office to be much more casual than my attorney attire, court or otherwise.

[GLC1968]

I used to manage a retail clothing store where dress code was paramount. We had an 'image' to uphold. It was a pain.

Anyway, I used to allow my employees to have bare legs in the summer under two conditions....1) their skirts were to the tops of their knees (no minis) and 2) their legs were in good condition. If they had a thousand mosquito bites - wear hose. If they took a spill on their bike and had road rash - wear pants. No bare leg 'ickyness' was allowed. Everyone seemed happy with it. Oh, and this ONLY applied between Memorial Day and Labor Day (we were in the north). The rest of the year, hosiery was a requirement.

I think that for your office it partly depends on your location. If you live somewhere warm and casual (like FL) then no one will care if everyone has bare legs. If your office is down the street from the fincial district in some major city, pantyhose might be a good idea. Perosnally, I think it's pretty relative and it's hard for us to judge as 'outsiders', you know?

Luckily, I'm now an engineer and having any 'style' at all is clearly optional for my profession so I never have to worry about it again.

[VeloVT]

This is an interesting thread... I was wondering about the pantyhose thing recently. 5-10 years ago, I would have definitely worn hose if I had chosen a skirt suit for an interview (although not for working necessarily). But people just don't really wear hose anymore -- it now looks dowdy and matronly. It would look strange to me to see someone under 50 wearing hose. So should I wear hose if I wear a skirt suit to an interview?

For those who need to wear hose but hate them, thigh highs (with silicone grippers, not the kind that require garter belts) are much more comfortable than pantyhose IMO.

[SheFly]

This is an interesting thread... I was wondering about the pantyhose thing recently. 5-10 years ago, I would have definitely worn hose if I had chosen a skirt suit for an interview (although not for working necessarily). But people just don't really wear hose anymore -- it now looks dowdy and matronly. It would look strange to me to see someone under 50 wearing hose. So should I wear hose if I wear a skirt suit to an interview?

For those who need to wear hose but hate them, thigh highs (with silicone grippers, not the kind that require garter belts) are much more comfortable than pantyhose IMO.

First - as I mentioned, I would wear hose with a skirt suit to an interview.

Second - a couple weeks ago , at a bike race no less, I saw a woman with the thigh highs on. How do I know? The tops of her thigh highs just barely met the BOTTOM of her skirt . AND, she had a huge run in those hose!

SheFly

[Crankin]

I was one of the last hold out as far as wearing hose. I noticed that in AZ, everyone wore hose, no matter how hot it was. When I moved back here, as soon as one warmish day came, the hose came off. Now people go bare-legged when it's 45-50.
I can't do that, so I pretty much go from tights, which I do wear with dresses and skirts to bare legs. But, there is a time, mostly in the spring and a bit in the fall, that hose meet my warmth requirements. It's only a few weeks. Mostly, I try and wear the tights.
Since I am not working now, I haven't worn skirts to class since the end of the winter, unless it was a warm enough day to go bare-legged. Wearing hose at a university would get me laughed outta there.
I also wear hose at more formal things in the evening, in the winter. For example, a wedding where I am really dressed up= no tights, but hose.

[Deborajen]

I saw a woman in town not long ago that was wearing a dress down to about her knees with knee highs - that didn't work either!

One thing I forgot to mention originally - One of the big reasons the panty hose issue is so touchy is that I have an employee that is petite and a very good dresser who never wears hose. She always looks nice and stylish and gets lots of compliments. Then last week I had another employee go hoseless. She's very pale skinned, etc. and turned a lot of heads as well (but not in the same way--). The other supervisors were complaining that I should "do something about it" - ? These supervisors and their staff (except their receptionists) wear uniforms or scrubs, yet they were quite vocal about this issue.

[Blueberry]

+1 on bare legs.

I abhor hose. Won't wear them. I think I might be allergic to them (seriously). My ob/gyn banned me from wearing them. Generally, I just go bare legged (I do live in the South). If I have to go to court, I wear pants.

I would actually be offended if a place of business required their female employees to wear hose. I would wear a pantsuit to an interview. I've hired people who came in skirt suits with bare legs - I don't care one way or the other.

CA

[andtckrtoo]

I agree this is interesting. I remember the days where the debate was requiring hose - meaning whether or not a woman had the right to wear pants! (And I'm not that old, actually - only 44).

I agree with most of the posters who say no hose is fine as long as the skirt is a respectable length.

[Blueberry]

I agree this is interesting. I remember the days where the debate was requiring hose - meaning whether or not a woman had the right to wear pants! (And I'm not that old, actually - only 44).

I'm actually more than a couple of years younger than you are, and when we did on campus interviewing at my law school, they tried to ban us from wearing pant suits. My attitude was I'd rather wear the pants and not get hired, than work for a firm that had certain opinions of women. One of the professors tried (and failed) to require women to wear skirts to our mock oral arguments.

I've also been asked during the last year in job interviews: 1) whether I have children; 2) whether I want children; and 3) whether my husband would quit his job to take care of kids if we had them.

CA