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I've seen a number of things lately that made me raise my eyebrows about office clothes — so let's discuss. Are the rules around office clothes changing? How are workwear rules changing (beyond the obvious “towards more business casual clothes”)? In your observation, are some fields changing more than others, either due to new face time requirements (such as all the lawyers who now work from home) or in the context of careers that often have an army of new young graduates led by a few older people (like journalism)? Do you think this is a temporary blip (post-pandemic fashion is a bit strange in general, after all), or that this is The Way of Things to Come?
Signs the Workwear Rules are Changing
Here are some of the news stories I'm talking about:
In this April 2024 story, The Wall Street Journal reports that executive women are wearing sequins to work. Executive Women Are Wearing Sequins to Work. ‘I Made the Decision to Be Seen.’ (gift link) I can't actually find any images of the women quoted wearing sequins to work (this “hobby shepherdess” might be the lawyer quoted in the first graf, but she hasn't posted in over a year and even then it looks like mostly breakfast pictures?)… if you know of any “sequininfluencers” I'd love to see how they're styling their work outfits!
A week or two ago, The Washington Post (gift link) had a story about what interns are wearing to work on Capitol Hill, and woo boy, buckle up. One young woman felt overdressed in the blazers and pencil skirts from Ann Taylor and Express that her mother picked out for her first summer internship, so for her second year “she adjusted accordingly. She turned to Anthropologie, Free People, J.Crew and Princess Polly for some more relaxed pieces, and she went thrifting to round her wardrobe out,” and explain that her new goal for workwear attire is “dressing like I’m going somewhere nice. A nice dinner or something like that.”
They picture her wearing a white eyelet babydoll dress with puffed sleeves that is… well, wow, it's really short.
Other interns quoted in the piece are wearing blouses that have a single button in the front to hold the two pieces of fabric together. There is, of course, a male intern pictured in — wait for it — the typical pants and button-front shirt that guys have been wearing for the last 50 years.
Finally: I saw this on Twitter and TikTok, but there has been a rousing discussion on the question of whether “short shorts are appropriate for interviews.” The NY Post has a story about it if you prefer to read about the drama — a young woman made a TikTok complaining that she got “dress coded” during an interview, wherein they stopped the interview and rescheduled it for the next day because the woman wore a white twinset with black shorts. A debate ensued, because she actually did look pretty nice if she was interviewing in a casual field (and the shorts were longer than what that the intern in the WaPo wore as a dress!).
Obviously, my take would be that any shorts are not appropriate for an interview, but I think it's an interesting question — might a twinset and 4-5″ shorts count as “business casual” in some offices?
Are Workwear Rules Changing? Some Questions
So, some questions for discussion, at least based on your own offices…
- What skirts are too short (or too long) for YOUR office? Are shorts of that length also appropriate?
- Crop tops, no bras — what's appropriate? (Remember the days when we used to debate whether you could wear a sleeveless sheath dress without a cardigan on top?)
- What are the rules around shoes? Are beat-up sneakers appropriate? Are sandals appropriate?
- What would you wear for an interview at your office at this point in time?
- Do you think this is a generational shift or something else?
- Are some fields changing more than others, either due to changed face time requirements (such as all the lawyers who now work from home) to fields that often have an army of new young graduates led by a few older people (like journalism)?
- Do you think this is a temporary blip (post-pandemic fashion is a bit strange in general, after all), or that this is The Way of Things to Come?
The Old Advice on What Not to Wear to Work
Our old advice on what not to wear to your internship included this kind of advice…
- What not to wear as a summer associate or intern — ladies, you may not even realize what can put you in the danger zone! Finer points of this: which skirts are too short (pictured), when girly clothes become unprofessional, which shoes not to wear, and when to show personality.
- How to build a summer associate wardrobe
- Pantyhose in the summer — do you really have to wear it?
- How to dress professionally if you're curvy or busty
- Speaking of accessories — is it WRONG to carry a handbag worth $9,000 if you're an intern? (If not as an intern, when can you buy a pricey bag and carry it to work?) And say: can you wear statement pieces as an intern?
- Pondering how to dress professionally for summer? We've tackled heat waves as well as regular summer work clothes.
- Makeup in the summer — how do you change it up and make it last? How different is it from interview makeup?
- Building a professional wardrobe from scratch? Check out our top picks for the most affordable work clothes!
- Speaking of suits — please don't try to “make” a suit out of different black fabrics! Also: here is everything you need to know about dry cleaning suits.
- Lucky enough to be working abroad (and hoping to travel a lot)? We've covered what to pack.
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / eyesidea.
orchid
We are pretty “Dress for your day” in my mid-size law firm. You’ll see anything from a full court suit to jeans and a band tshirt. What we are NOT ok with is revealing clothing. So that white dress would not do around here. It would be HIGHLY unusual to see shorts; I cannot think of a time someone wore shorts during the week. I can kind of see where the confusion might have come from–if I can buy a short-suit at the mall, including from very expensive brands, it tracks that someone with no context of professional norms might believe it was ok to wear to work. What I have a harder time with, is making a fuss over someone telling you that your outfit does not fit in an organization’s dress code–I would have been mortified, not posting about it online. So I guess that makes me an OLD.
anon
In-house lawyer here. I’ve seen the rise of “smart casual” or “rich casual” (think Brunello Cucinelli vibes) coming in more and more at my company, as opposed to traditional “business casual.” It’s always hard to describe what that means other than you know it when you see it. I have never seen shorts except for company events that clearly call for shorts, or odd situations where people are just stopping in for some reason. Most of the old rules – hose, no sleeveless shirts, no dress sandals, no dress sneakers – that I started my career with are gone.
Anonymous
I work for an association with membership in a financial area and so I see a lot of state, regional, and national events hosted by us and others. I’ve noticed men may still still be in a suit or at minimum suit jacket while the women tend not to match this level of formality. So I think you could say an even wider gender difference these days.
As for specifics….I’m old enough to remember when bare arms were a huge no-no. No one seems to blink at sheaths and non-toppers now. In fact, the sheath is the far dressier option since so many casual pants and blouses as a norm.
With evening events, way more skin. I’m relieved whenever someone does a theme night since it ironically makes it easier to figure out how to blend in.
Cat
In-house counsel with a business casual code. Def no to shorts of any length, crop tops, or rubber flip flops, but cute street sneakers and new-looking Birks are pretty common where they were once Fridays only if that.
Anon
As a young millennial (29), I will say that the cultural differences between millennials and Gen Z are stark. I don’t know why or how, but it applies to a lot of things both work related and not work related. As for the work related aspect – I think it’s because we all got our start (internships and the first ~4 years of our careers) in a pre-pandemic, in person, more formal environment.
I read the WaPo article when it came out and I was shocked – that white dress is way too short to be work appropriate and how does that woman not see that its not appropriate and will reflect poorly on her?
I work in government, currently federal, but have been in local and federal governments and a brief stint in the private sector. My current workplace is pretty casual – dress for your day but jeans are almost always okay. My first job (federal) was pencil skirts, heels, and blazers every day with a full suit maybe once or twice a month. I had one job (local government) that allowed jeans on Fridays, the other two jobs never, ever allowed jeans. So, being able to wear jeans, nice Birkenstocks, and T shirt dresses most days is very new to me!
As for the questions:
– For skirt / dress length I refer to my old prep school uniform: our kilts had to be no shorter than 3″ (measured by an index car) above our knees. I occasionally go shorter, but still longer than finger tips. But, most skirts and dresses are about 3″ above the knee.
– Shorts are never office appropriate. In fact, it’s one of the few things explicitly prohibited in our dress code (along with any ripped or distressed clothing, anything revealing the midsection, anything with inappropriate language or depictions, and flip flops).
Crop tops are never okay in my book (or in my dress code). I love a crop on the weekends, but never ever at work!
I always wear a bra of some sort to work. In my personal life I often go bra less. 90% of the time to work I wear a comfy t shirt bra, but sometimes wear a sports bra, a bralette, or maybe silicone nipple covers. I would not feel comfortable not having my nipples covered at work.
As for shoes – people wear older looking athletic sneakers to work (so not the cute white trendy sneakers), but I won’t do that. In the summer I wear my “dress Birkenstocks” (newer, black patent leather, big buckle) or dress sandals most days. The rest of the year I wear cute sneakers (white leather Vejas), All birds if I’m being comfy but lazy, or boots (ranging from heeled leather Chelsea boots to higher boots to blundstones to be comfy). I’d never wear beat up sneakers, but the less fashion conscious in my office do.
As for interviews, I’m 90% sure I’d still wear a full suit + reasonable heels. There’s a small chance I’d wear suit separates or a dress + blazer, but there is no way I’d ever feel comfortable showing up to an interview not in a blazer.
When I wfh (2x a week), I am more casual but just as covered as I would be in the office. So, I might wear a pullover fleece instead of a sweater. Today I’m wearing an athletic dress, but it has thicker straps and a higher neckline so from the camera I’m well covered. My boss frequently calls into meetings in a spaghetti strap tank which I think is definitely inappropriate. It shows way too much skin.
anon
What are we to make of the fact that male interns and men in general mainly still have their “work uniform” with all its obvious benefits — quick and easy, conveys a message (of authority) that everyone readily understands — while young women are apparently wearing dresses that would work well as a poolside swimsuit coverup? And is it empowering (or otherwise) for women to wear so little clothing when the boys definitely are not displaying their bodies like that — what’s the intended and received message?
orchid
My initial thought was I think we need someone from the younger generation to chime in. I had my own set of questionable (and revealing) outfits when I was younger, no doubt, but I remember going to great lengths to look professional and grown up at my first internships, etc. Has something changed for this generation as a whole? I know they look at authority differently, is this related?
Also, just to add a sense of reasonableness to this–we have two young college students in our office this summer, and they both dress perfectly normal. So is this just clickbait stuff?
Anon
No.
I had to clearly tell my niece, who wears shorts with cheek showing, very mini sleeveless sundresses, and crop tops for regular wear that none of those are appropriate for her internship – essentially her first time working with all adults. And even that internship is mostly remote, so I really suspect that some of her “day in office” wear has been… questionable. She works with scientists, so the bar is actually pretty low. But since there are very few women there, I told her it was even more important to make sure that people don’t remember her for her clothing, but remember her for her work.
Kate
I work in Big Law on the east coast:
– What skirts are too short (or too long) for YOUR office? Anything more than 1 inch above the knee will raise eyebrows.
– Are shorts of that length also appropriate? Hard no.
– Crop tops, no bras — what’s appropriate? No crop tops. Bras are a must.
– What are the rules around shoes? Are beat-up sneakers appropriate? Are sandals appropriate? Closed toe leather shoes, maybe “dressy sneakers” on a Friday, depending on styling.
– What would you wear for an interview at your office at this point in time? Skirt suit
anon
I am 100% remote now, and it’s pretty much anything goes. I work in a non customer facing professional role, and absent anything too sexy, it seems like there is no set of rules- it’s generally very casual, and often people dial in with (sweaty) gym clothes.
Until recently I was in-house in the South. I remember about 15 years ago, just not having to wear pantyhose was a nice change! My in-house blue collar work place was quite casual. The company was European owned so many of the exec males in our office were trying to look fashionable to the Europeans and wearing scandalously tight pants (I’m talking jeggings here folks). I always had a blazer thrown over my chair in case it was needed (rarely). In my department, I saw all manner of outfits. There was a broad range of people. Yes workplaces are getting more casual. My deal breaker was pajama pants- those were a no. Fuzzy slippers were a no. Uggs were fine. The white dress in the article, short yes, but would not have been too out there at my workplace. Certainly other employees would say something snarky like, did you forget your pants? Another trend is nails- when I was an associate in Big Law, muted colors were the norm, squoval was the only shape unless you were an admin. Now, all manner of nails, lengths and all colors are at all levels.