(Published April 6, 2009)

 

When it comes to workplace dress codes, the word "casual" has been causing confusion for decades now, and I don't think the confusion is going to stop anytime soon. That's because generic fashion terms — like "jeans," "sandals," and "tank tops" — mean such vastly different things to different people. 

To my dad, for instance, jeans are a pair of five-pocket, straight-leg pants constructed of blue denim. My dad doesn't even call them jeans; he refers to them as "dungarees." He would never dream of buying, let alone wearing, a pair of jeans so distressed the material was either frayed or ripped. 

I, on the other hand, have purchased several such distressed pairs of jeans. And, yes, I've worn them to work. In fact, I'm wearing a pair as I write this! Admittedly, they are only slightly distressed. In fact, when I told a co-worker that I was writing about wearing frayed jeans to work, she commented, "People probably won't realize how 'put together' you look." I'm not talking old, ratty jeans with holes that are the result of wear. I'm talking new jeans purposefully distressed in certain "appropriate" areas for a stylish look. 

Distressed jeans aren't the only type of denim known to ruffle workplace feathers. One employee saw nothing wrong with wearing skin-tight jeans. Unfortunately for him, his employer did and allegedly fired him for it. The employee has since fired back with a complaint to the state human rights division, arguing that the alleged reason for termination was just a pretext for discrimination; the real reason he was fired was because of his sexual orientation. 

It's no wonder why then that when a dress code states that jeans are permitted on Fridays, you're bound to get at least one employee wearing a pair of jeans someone at the company thinks is inappropriate. 

In an effort to prevent this from happening, some companies get specific and state in their dress code: "Jeans are permissible as long as they are not distressed or ripped in any way." The problem is that such a policy statement, in and of itself, gives off the impression that it's okay to wear jeans that are super baggy, are skin-tight, have an ultra low-rise, or are rhinestone studded, when that isn't necessarily the case. 

So what's HR to do? Go crazy defining the fashion terms used in the company's dress code? Give employees pictures of what to wear and what not to wear? Host a fashion show highlighting work-appropriate gear? Trust that employees will use their best judgment? You tell me. What's worked at your organization? 

Melissa V. Pomerantz
Editor