What are you wearing?

[chavvah]

This morning I was thinking about office fashion. (I know, kind of an oxymoron.) You see, working somewhere where there is a uniform definitely simplifies things; you don't have to decide what you're going to wear that day. However, I am only required to wear my uniform when something is going on, like a tour, a visiting minister*, etc. On days like today, I get to choose what I wear, and it has to look (I assume) professional. This is a new thing for me! In all of my previous jobs, either (a) no one cared what I wore, or (b) there was a proscribed uniform or costume. Mind you, a lot of the time I just wear my uniform anyway, to avoid having to make decisions at 7 a.m. But sometimes all that green and red can get to you.

My first non-uniform week in the office, I wore a short plaid skirt, knee-high boots, and a sassy t-shirt, and now I am The Edgy One. Some of the women in the office will actually come to my desk to see what I'm wearing. (No pressure.)

The other day I caught myself resisting the urge to buy a business suit.

So, since I can't do polls, I'm opening it up to general discussion: what do you wear to work, and why? Do different people get away with varying levels of slovenliness (as in my office, where Boss² and Boss³ wear jeans and t-shirts and other people wear suits) or is everyone sharp as a tack when it comes to fashion?



*We're supposed to be getting one of those. Any day now.

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I wear corduroys or slacks (winter/summer respectively) and velvet shirts or non-velvet tops with collars. Our dress code is basically no jeans/no collarless shirts/no sneakers, so we have some flexibility. I personally prefer to dress for comfort, so I like loose shirts and comfy pants.

The only one who seems to get away with doing otherwise is Hootchie Secretary, who wears miniskirts and heavy-cleavage tops with no friggin' underthings. Urgh. I don't know how she manages it. The rest of us are kind of all variations on basic-preppie.

Do you actually like being "The Edgy One"?

[chavvah.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure--the performative aspect kind of wears on me. I'm not a Hot Young Thing, it was just a warm day and it felt like short skirt weather. ;)

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I had kind of gotten the impression it wasn't something you aspired to. :)

[girlintheclouds.livejournal.com]

i guess i wear a lot of skirts.
i would wear jeans if they were allowed on regular days other than fridays and sundays (don't ask me why saturday's they're not allowed!)

i used to have quite a bit of business wear, but i recently got rid of it all, or nearly all of it, at a clothes swap; most of it was not in fashion anymore, or didn't fi anymore, etc. i kinda like business wear, but also i am trying to buy clothes mostly from second-hand sources, and it's harder to find business/work appropriate wear at thrift stores.

[chavvah.livejournal.com]

Damn, I should have gone to your clothes swap! Oh, well.

We should go shopping for second-hand business-wear sometime.

[girlintheclouds.livejournal.com]

sure thing! :)

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

Everyone else in my office wears business suits. Well, no, wait.

-The shiny-suited men wear shiny suits.
-The non-shiny-suited men wear suits, but not shiny ones, unless there's a special event and then they wear shinies too.
-Tanya, Deanna, and Nancy wear business suits.
-Elizabeth sometimes wears business suits, but usually kind of edgy ones - a bright lime green blouse with big fold-down cuffs and tattery goldenrod edges under a chic-looking navy suit, for example. Other times she wears bohemian stuff, like patterned skirts with a hemp belt. No one else in our office knows what hemp is.
-Peg wears matronly clothing from places like Coldwater Creek, like sweaters with snowflakes appliqued on the back.
-I wear black pants with shirts. Usually sweaters, or basic-looking but reasonably nice tops. Sometimes I break out into slightly sexier stuff from Lane Bryant, but not all that often. I don't own any business suits.
-The work studies wear whatever's in style. Seriously in style. It's like having a fashion magazine in the copy room. They will wear jeans if they feel like it.

Y'know, whatever.

[pyroclasticgrub.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I wear red and green to work too!

At the museum, I have to wear a white top and black bottoms. I usually dress up a bit because I give tours. Well, and because my bellhop might be bringing a tour here so I gotta look good.

[adidi.livejournal.com]

hee heeeeee, slobby mother's helper/student :) tie dyed tshirts + ragged patchwork skirts. i would glorify it by calling it "hippie chic" or something equally asinine, but the bleach/ink/spit up stains all over me at the end of the day harshes my earth-lovin' sartorial mellow.

(jesus christ, can you tell i just OD'd on 584754387 fashion magazines?)

[evangelion842.livejournal.com]

When I do work I dress up, but I've been talked to one too many times about cleavage. It's not my fault I have great tracts of land dammit!!!!! Stoopid supervisors . . . grumble grumble . . . .