<p>My D can also pass for about 10 years younger when she dresses casually but her age or sometimes even older when she dresses up in nice clothes. It really shocks people that she “cleans up so nicely,” as she loves comfy clothing rather than stylish. :)</p>
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<p>What is the point of casual fridays, as opposed to casual every day or dressy every day? What makes friday any different at work in this respect?</p>
<p>Of course, it seems that this thread has veered away from actually inappropriate dress (mostly in terms of “revealing too much”, though it is interesting that no one has mentioned stuff like hard hat, work boots, and orange vest at a construction site) to questions of style and appearance.</p>
<p>^The office doesn’t actually want to have a casual dress code but makes the concession one day a week as a morale boost.</p>
<p>We have no casual days at my office… but quite frankly I often forget to change out of my work clothes when I get home because the only thing I own more comfortable would be pajamas. I don’t miss the casual clothes much at all. My boyfriend usually needs to wear a shirt and tie, but on Fridays they can wear logo shirts instead-- being able to wear short sleeves and no tie during the summer is apparently a big deal even if it is only Friday.</p>
<p>I own a pet store – and I have a dress code that includes a store shirt for my employees along with some very specific guidance on the balance of their outfits.</p>
<p>When I go to pet industry trade shows, I am shocked at the appearance of many of my fellow store owners. They are often in old store tee shirts and jeans – old faded stretched out jeans and sneakers. The reason given is that they need to be comfortable for a day of hiking the show. The dog groomers that attend these shows are the worst – as a group they look hideous. </p>
<p>I try to wear dress pants (or new jeans) and a new store polo. For cold weather shows, I have store sweaters. The most recent show I went to, a real biggie in Orlando, I wore a blazer, slacks and a silk blouse. Of course most of the exhibitors were surprised to find out I was a retailer. But that’s what I would like them to think!</p>
<p>It’s possible to be comfortable <em>and</em> dress up at the same time. It really makes a difference in how you are perceived.</p>
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<p>I think the point is that so many companies do it now that if a client or other outsider comes in to the office on a Friday and sees casually dressed employees, it doesn’t seem as unprofessional or inappropriate as it would on Monday through Thursday. And at some offices, a generally more informal atmosphere prevails on Fridays, anyway.</p>
<p>At the office where I currently work, there is no official dress code and no specific Friday policy. Yet you’re more likely to see people wearing jeans on Friday than on any other day of the week. We seem to have internalized the dress codes of other companies.</p>
<p>My office has occasional casual days, especially Fridays in the summer months. My male boss, who dresses very appropriately on ‘regular’ dress days, has no idea how to dress work casual. On various casual days he has worn grass-stained gym shoes, ragged T-shirts, cargo shorts with bleach stains, and paint-spotted clothing. He just doesn’t get that work casual is different than work-in-the-yard casual.</p>
<p>EK, You probably know best how your D would perceive a gift certificate coming from you. If this is an area where you’ve had a history with your D or you know that her look is intentional, as opposed to a result of the lack of finances or time, it might create some resentment. If not, just give it with the attitude that you think it’s something she’d appreciate, or ask her first. </p>
<p>As to whether or not it will make a difference to her job or career, it might or it might not. It really depends on the nature of the job and the people working there.</p>
<p>EK - My younger daughter (typically very low maintenance) told her older sister that she wanted to get her brows done & #1D told me (who bought the GC). Older sis convinced her to get a manicure as well and now she does a bang-up job on her own nails.
BR & Loft have suiting separates in petites. Even if teaching is more casual, interviewing should still be on the formal side. </p>
<p>Fridays are often casual because visitors and customers would be flying home that day & not in meetings with us. I did see someone in a utilikilt last week. </p>
<p>Going to visit foreign customers is a new experience for many - they’ve gotten used to khakis/jeans/polos and when they find out that non-Americans tend to dress more formally at the office, panic ensues. My husband had to counsel someone 2 days before leaving on a trip exactly what he could wear on said trip (slacks/dress shirt/tie at a minimum and a sports coat preferred, but optional).</p>
<p>Where are Stacy and Clinton when you need them?</p>
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<p>It does seem that men, when dressing casually (i.e. not trying to “dress to impress” with a suit, or at least a dress shirt), are not that particular about how they look, compared to women (although not all women who put effort into their clothing choice of the day do something that everyone finds tasteful). For many men, the clothing choice of the day is the next clean shirt in the stack and the next clean trousers in the stack.</p>
<p>Even when trying to “dress to impress”, many men seem to be not that particular about how they look. Many just go with an ordinary charcoal gray suit, white dress shirt, and a tie and call it a day.</p>
<p>The exception seems to be wrist watches, which seem to be popular among many men as “jewelry” even though almost everyone these days carries a pocket watch.</p>
<p>Everyone carries a pocket watch? Is that what you call your cell?;)</p>
<p>Men aren’t that particular though I think that how you look is affected by your self-image. A lot of men let themselves go in middle-age and at that point, why bother trying to look good? Being overweight is a real pain in the neck with clothes - stuff doesn’t fit and alterations or new clothes are very expensive.</p>
<p>I’ve been walking around in Boston and around son’s apartment and some guys are very sharp dressers all the way around, but these guys are generally in good shape. I see many more that are casually dressed, some neat and tidy and a lot that have the shaggy student look. Lots of tech workers I imagine where it really doesn’t matter what you wear.</p>
<p>A guy that I used to work with was the project leader of a group. He wore white undershirts to the office (not t-shirts, undershirts) with grease stains along with crappy-looking shorts and sandals. We were on the top two floors. The first four floors were marketing people who came in suits and ties. He had very long, curly hair and a long beard. Comments were that he looked like a homeless person.</p>
<p>He retired from one of the four biggest tech companies when he was in his early 50s.</p>
<p>In my line of work, what’s in your brain and what you can do is far more important than what you wear.</p>
<p>I think it’s important to remember that for some people, “casual days,” whether they’re Fridays or irregularly scheduled occasions, are a burden.</p>
<p>They require a type of clothing that the person might not necessarily own and would have to obtain especially for this purpose. </p>
<p>I think this is especially true for men, whose weekend clothes tend to be exercise- or home repair-oriented and whose regular business clothing cannot easily be dressed down for casual days at the office. A woman can often adapt to casual Friday simply by wearing one of her regular office blouses or sweaters with nice jeans, but this won’t work for a man who habitually wears dress shirts to the office and whose jeans are very obviously worn while working on messy hobby or home repair projects.</p>
<p>My son applied for an IT internship that had this in the job description,
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<p>Years ago I worked at a discount chain store in the jewelery department. I had just finished community college and had pretty much dressed in jeans and t-shirts or flannel shirts for the past few years. I realized that I couldn’t wear that to work, but really didn’t own much in the way of skirts, dresses or nice slacks. I rotated what I did have, but one day I must have come in under dressed because I remember being reprimanded. I was pretty ticked off since I was being paid minimum wage and really didn’t want to spend any of my earnings on clothes I didn’t want to wear for a job I didn’t plan to keep. After that, I promised myself I would never take a job where I would have to wear heels or anything uncomfortable. My next job was perfect, I worked outside for the most part and that dress code meant jeans and work boots! </p>
<p>Today, I am fine with business casual, but I think it can be a big transition from college student casual to business casual, especially if you don’t have a good sense of what works for your body type. I know many colleges do have a class in that, along with manners, but I’m guessing it’s probably optional.</p>
<p>I instituted a rigorous, “dress down qualifying fitness test” to ensure that only the appropriate employees are dressed inappropiately. In that way, we all win.</p>
<p>I wore a dress shirt, tie and suit pants on my first few days of my current job back in the mid-1980s. Another engineer said that he’d cut my tie off if I came in dressed like that again.</p>
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<p>A good addition would be: “this is vigorously enforced”.</p>
<p>This is one reason my job is so awesome. During the week, I wear golf pants (khaki-styled) in either khaki or black. I wear that with a performance polo or a performance t-shirt with the company logo. When I am working on the weekends, it’s athletic pants and performance t-shirt. And tennis shoes at all times :)</p>
<p>Well, maybe I’m an outlier here, but I genuinely enjoy “getting dressed” for work. Not suits and dressy clothes, but chic business casual. I usually wear good pants (Ann Taylor, Talbots, whatever – wool or wool blends in the winter, cotton or linen blends in the summer) with a decent sweater or blouse or knit top. I always add a scarf or a blazer or a belt or a nice piece of jewelry (I have lots of vintage things from my mother, aunt and grandmother). I get lots of compliments for always looking spiffy, and I enjoy it. </p>
<p>But I’m not dressed up; I’m still business casual. Just nicely put together.</p>
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<p>Hmmm, it seems to be even worse if you have good physical fitness and low body fat. Even the “athletic fit” dress shirts seem to have too much material in the abdomen area. It is as if typical men’s clothing (whether dress clothes or casual clothes) is made to conceal or accommodate mild to moderate obesity, since that is the norm in the US (although a greater degree of obesity also has a problem).</p>
<p>Seinfeld comment: “Wearing sweatpants when you’re not working out shows that you’ve given up.”</p>