Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfelg!kinsel
From: kinsel@hpfelg.HP.COM (Linda Kinsel)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Dress code
Message-ID: <3440010@hpfelg.HP.COM>
Date: 13 Jul 90 21:19:37 GMT
References: <847@meaddata.mead.UUCP>
Organization: HP Elec. Design Div. -FtCollins
Lines: 36

> Does anyone work for a company that actually has a dress code? 

Beth, HP does have a dress code of sorts.  On my first day of work, my 
section manager informed me that I was expected to wear shoes!

There are plenty of companies that have dress codes.  I used to work for
one (CF Braun in Los Angeles).  They expected conservative suits, preferably
three-piece suits with a white shirt and tie for the men and skirt-suits or
dresses for the women.  About a year before I started working there they
changed the dress code to allow pastel shirts for the men and pant suits
for the women.

> Is it an explicit rule or due to social pressure? 

At Braun, it was an explicit rule.  No jeans, no cordoroy (too casual),
no eyelet blouses (too explicit!).

> What "penalty" is there if you wear pants instead of a dress? 

There was no penalty for wearing slacks rather than a dress, although
the year before there would have been.

Generally, if you broke the dress code, your boss sent you home to change 
your clothes.  If you were a repeat offender, you could expect to be laid 
off the next time business was slow. 

> How about jeans? 

Jeans were only allowed to be worn if you came in on Saturday to work.


I hope that Braun was an extreme case.  We worked with customers on a daily
basis, and it was common for presidents of oil companies to wander through
the work area.  It was extremely important for the company to maintain a
very professional image.  So there was a reason for the strict dress code.
But most of us still longed to wear more comfortable clothes.