Dress Code - Bare Legs OK or Not?

[PamNY]

Ah yeah...it wasn't fun. My requirement was that if it was 'gross' looking, it had to go. But I don't care where you work, a visible oozing road rash is NOT professional and I'm happy to tell someone that (if it's my place to do so, of course).

Were there any age-related problems with this policy? I'm thinking of spider veins (there's probably a better term for that, but I don't know it). I'm not arguing with anyone; just curious.

This whole discussion reminds me that in some ways, conservative dress codes are easier, with fewer decisions to make.

Pam

[GLC1968]

Were there any age-related problems with this policy? I'm thinking of spider veins (there's probably a better term for that, but I don't know it). I'm not arguing with anyone; just curious.

This whole discussion reminds me that in some ways, conservative dress codes are easier, with fewer decisions to make.

Pam

Thankfully, it never came up. Most of my employees were in their 20's but the age range covered 16 to 62. Most of my older employees were pretty conservative to begin with and probably wouldn't even think of wearing bare legs with skirts. My biggest issue with dress code were the college-age girls, actually.

Honestly though - when the pressure is on to look good (and not just to be decently covered up as is the case in some workplaces), most people with flaws tend to want to cover them up anyway. I know that my first year there when I was quite overweight, I didn't wear sleeveless. My mother had awful varicose veins and would NEVER wear skirts without hosiery in a professional environment until she got it fixed. One of my employees came to work early one day in order to purchase the pants that went with a suit she had bought. When I asked why she wasn't wearing the skirt she already owned, she said that she'd fallen asleep in the sun and had neon red legs...on one side. She felt it looked too ugly to go bare and it hurt to much to wear hosiery. *ouch!* A vast majority of my employees understood what 'professional' meant and it was certainly rare that anyone had to be corrected twice.

[Veronica]

I wish there were rules about what to wear to the gym.

Veronica

[ZenSojourner]

]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

That's illegal!

It was illegal when I got my first job out of college, and it's illegal now.

Oooooh, that makes me so MAYYYAD!

It was bad enough when they were asking stupid questions like that back in the bad old days. To find out they're still up to their evil tricks just makes me BURN!

[ZenSojourner]

I prefer hose for professional situations as well, but I'm also one of those "always cold" people.

Me too.

Which is why I wear PANTS. With knee socks. Usually my ski socks in fact.

[msincredible]

Me too.

Which is why I wear PANTS. With knee socks. Usually my ski socks in fact.

Well, true, I actually wear pants > 95% of the time with long knee socks underneath.

The other reason for pants is that I commute to work by motorcycle and it's easiest just to wear the gear over the business clothes. Can't really do that with a skirt.

[Grog]

A couple of MD's (female) will go bare while wearing skirts. In the summer, our temps are quite warm, and we are excited to have an option.

This whole thread would become more interesting if it was male MDs who went bare while wearing skirts. Or any male, for that matter.

This being said, my husband - a MD - wear tights all the time!

[shootingstar]

I disagree on generational, I am only 28 and I like wearing hose and think they look better. My legs are very pale, when cold they get purply I think it looks hideous on myself and others. Otherwise I think I have nice looking legs. For me hose are a more polished look, I wear bare legs to go to out to dinner in which I wear a skirt. I have a skirt suit and I would NEVER go to an interview without hose. I am in hot Texas but I love hose the right kind support your legs and reduce fatigue while still not looking like support hose. I used to sell panties, bras and hosiery and learned why a good pair of hose it worth the tag.

I have seen plenty of companies that require hose, it does not seem weird at all to me. Of course at my work they are not required but I will not being wearing skirts because we can't have visible tattoos and I have one on my ankle.

Like several others here, I wear pantyhose to any interview for any job that particularily if you expect to be paid well/decently or negotiating a good salary. Particularily jobs that require you to meet clients who themselves are professionals also or you are expected in pull at least $$$$ revenue for the company.

And I notice myself...the interviewers are wearing pantyhose themselves.

Sure, many of us have nicely shaped/toned cycling legs, but my legs bruise easily and I also have leg skin that tends to be dry even if I've put on lots of body lotion several hrs. before. Pantyhose gives my legs an overall smooth look for a dressier outfit/skirt. I don't own any casual skirts at this time in life, only dress skirts.

After the job interview and if you get the job, if the work culture permits it, sure bare legs under a skirt that hits just above the knee for work or longer, looks ok.

A concession to wearing pantyhose even in hot climates, is incredibly small, folks. It's not like being asked to wear a head covering in an fundamentalist Islamic country.

Or being a firefighter wearing rubberized turnout gear jackets in hot climates, fighting a fire... many other situations where people in certain jobs work in FAR more difficult environmental conditions.

[Deborajen]

This whole thread would become more interesting if it was male MDs who went bare while wearing skirts. Or any male, for that matter.

Ooooh, I'd love to suggest that to my docs. We have 4 men and 3 women. The men (the owners/partners) are pretty smart-a$$ about the whole dress code issue. They swear they don't care what the staff wears, and why do we have a dress code if it causes discontent amongst the staff? Then a few beats later, I'm told they've made a comment about an employee not even dressing like she should be taken seriously. Yeah, it DOES matter what we wear. And the male docs I work for - they wouldn't be caught DEAD wearing skirts - kilts - I don't want to picture it, either --

[andtckrtoo]

[QUOTE=Grog;424536]This whole thread would become more interesting if it was male MDs who went bare while wearing skirts. /QUOTE]

There is a definite reason women are so interested in the Scottish lads who wear kilts. *sighs happily*

[Irulan]

A concession to wearing pantyhose even in hot climates, is incredibly small, folks. It's not like being asked to wear a head covering in an fundamentalist Islamic country.

Work/office culture is a little different from religious/political culture.

Or being a firefighter wearing rubberized turnout gear jackets in hot climates, fighting a fire... many other situations where people in certain jobs work in FAR more difficult environmental conditions.

Panty hose is not safety equipment.

For me, the the above two arguments are a real stretch for the reasons I stated.

[shootingstar]

Hmmm..work-related 'cosmetic' stuff.I haven't looked up the latest rules on full beards for police officers. But I do recall there was sufficient debate in this area in Ontario for the police officers there.

If I can recall correctly, of all the images and tv footage of Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and they do police work, not just ceremonial work...alot of them don't wear beards.

The reality at construction sites, is that we had foreign workers from hot climates, Panama, Thailand who found Vancouver winter cold..which Canadians would consider quite mild. Only a couple degrees below freezing at the foothills (not up in mountains).

In the summer, Thai male construction workers were wearing balaclavas over their faces..to prevent further skin darkening (cultural cosmetic reasons)...and keep themselves warm in cool mornings. It bewildered Canadians and others...but it wasn't a big deal.

When I worked for the judges in the courts, the judges were pissed off that some of the law students/law clerks wore jeans and bare legs with skirts. Judges fumed because they had to wear their judicial robes at all times in court even if the courthouse was not properly air-conditioned (and ours was a historic building, early 1800's) and hot summer temps. So they asked the law clerks to wear complete business attire.

Hey, some of the lawyers would be billing later on in their careers at $200-$400 per hr. for their services. Might as well get used to dressing for the part.

__________________
I agree a person's skill and competence on the job should form the basis of one's judgement. But that's not total reality.

[GLC1968]

Work/office culture is a little different from religious/political culture.

Panty hose is not safety equipment.

For me, the the above two arguments are a real stretch for the reasons I stated.

These two things may be true, but if you work in an environment where panty hose are required, it's really no different. If you want that job/career, you take the good with the bad.

I have to wear static lab coats and straps on my shoes at my job. This means that I can't ever wear heels to work and that I'm often hot. I deal. It's part of my chosen career. If it bothered me that much, I'd find a new one.

[redrhodie]

I once saw an elderly lady come out of a rest room in Central Park with her skirt tucked in to her pantyhose . I haven't worn them since.

[Crankin]

SK, my comment about wearing pantyhose in AZ is based on 15 years of working in various school districts there. But, it was almost 20 years ago. No one would have thought about coming to work without them. Even in 1990, I noticed that in the same profession, when I moved to MA, less people wore them.
Personally, I think hose make legs look nice and professional looking. I would not care if they were required for my work. I go bare legged when it's warm enough, but not in the dead of winter. I wear knee highs under pants, sort of the kind a cross between stockings and knee socks. I do not like the look of being professionally dressed in a pants suit/dress pants, sitting down, and then seeing ski socks under the pants. I solve the issue by wearing short boots with my pants a lot of the time.
I know it's a generational thing (mostly), but it also took me a long time to be able to wear pants to synagogue, even when I was there for a meeting, not a religious service.