When is short to short

[rowan]

Ok what is the proper length on a short skirt that you would wear to the office,  is there some sort of guide line? I have seen just above the knee to, I can not believe that woman is able to do anything around the office with it that short. I am getting confused some say  not to dress up to much for work, some say as long as you look good that it is ok.

[donnap99]

I would NEVER wear shorts to my office! 90% of the time it's a suit, and when it's not it's always a nice blouse or sweater with a skirt or slacks. I've worn khakis maybe 3 times in a year, and feel strange doing so every time.

As for the length of shorts/skirts, I like the guideline my kids' middle school came up with: Put your arms at your sides straight down. The fabric must extend past your longest finger by at least 1 inch.


DonnaP99

[kjorg]

I agree with Donna about using the school guidelines. My stepdaughter's high school just imposed a clothing guideline. Short skirts and low-cut tops were banned.

-kjorg

[gee4]

I would say nothing higher than knee length.  I don't suit skirts that are ankle or calf length.  Everyone is different and we all suit different clothes.  As you get older you realise what is suitable for your age.  In the summer I am more casual but do the suit thing autumn and winter.

G

[virtuallysorted]

We used to be very formal in the office, lots of suits & sober colours.  Recently we've employed a younger bunch of admins & they definitely like to be a bit funkier!  

The general rule is that you should be presentable enough to see a client, should they happen to pop in.  

Personally I don't think I would wear a skirt so short that is wasn't presentable, even if I wasn't in the office!!!  But I'm all for people being comfortable & relaxed in what they wear.

[dettu]

I am very petite and have extremely curvy, muscular legs. I can wear two skirt lengths: just above the knee, and ankle length. Any other length makes my legs look awful, stumpy and thick. So I have skirts in both of those lengths. I have no trouble doing work with my above-knee skirts. I do not fear walking up stairs ahead of male colleagues, or bending over to file in a low drawer, or whatever in these skirts--I'm not exposing myself. My skirts are conservative and usually straight and tailored, not funky--much less funky than my non-work clothes!

[raindance]

It all comes down to personal preference, I suppose.  I The clothes one wears to work can differ very widely according to the industry one is working in, but  I would like to see a bit of elegance and, I know it's an old-fashioned word, modesty employed in some people's wardrobe choices.

My two bitz.

Raindance

[adassistant]

Heck

I wear jeans just about every single day! LOL! But so does my boss, who is one of the EVPs at our agency. But I also wear a nice top with it, no t-shirts! I didn't start doing this until Januray of this year, and I've been with this agency for almost 9 years now. When I first started at this company, I wore suits. Then I just slowly started dressing down over the years. I haven't gotten to the shorts yet. I think you should just follow what your own boss does.

By the way, I work at an ad agency very close to the creative department. I wouldn't wear the jeans if I was still in the executive area.

[secretaryman]

Obviously I do not wear skirts, but I have worn short jogging shorts to the office in the summer. I work in a college athletic department and it's pretty casual as you could probably tell. The only time I have to dress up in a suit and tie are when parents and students tour the campus. In fact, there are a bunch scheduled for next week.  )

[tiffanyctd]

Jogging shorts!!! Oh, how awesome that would be if we were allowed to wear those! Or any shorts...or even jeans for that matter!

Don't mind me, just daydreaming of more comfortable clothes!

[diamondlady]

We're allowed to wear jeans on Friday's.  For the most part we are a casual attire office unless we have visitors in the office, which latley has been a revolving door of guests.  Which is ok because I do like to dress up occasionally.

I don't wear skirts all that often but back in the day of working as Receptionist in a C PA firm where during tax season especially, you were required to dress appropriatley.  Business attire DAILY!  Suits, I used to send them to the cleaners weekly.  I HATED it!  Then when I came here, I still wore the suits even though I didn't need to.  Skirts were always just above the knees.  

I'm glad I can wear dockers and dress pants and a nice neat shirt to work and be comfortable, but still like to dress up just because I WANT to.  I dress better than some of the management sometimes.  They usually wear polos for the men and docker type pants.  Ladies are usually in casual pants and a dressy top.  

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[countrigal]

I figure that if it's short enough to be risky, then it's too short to be worn to work.  But then, for me, almost anything above the knee is risky to me.  I've just gotten to where I'm starting to wear shorter skirts, meaning anything that doesn't hit below the knee, and am starting to like them.  I definitely would not wear anything that doesn't reach past my fingertips at a minimum when my hands are at my sides, so that sounds like a good rule of thumb.

Check out the dress policy for your company, they may have it addressed already.  If not, it may be something that they might want to think about.  I sure wish I could get by wearing jeans, even if only on Fridays, or even only once a month.  Sure would give me the time to move files to our storage room (up 4 floors) whereas now I try to plan it when I'm wearing pants and loafers.  Hate to walk that far hauling binders and records in a suit and heels.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[diamondlady]

Your HR department should provide you with a copy of your policy manual and it should have it in there guidlines for dress code.  

But for me, CG, even back in the day when I was dressing up all the time, I would get permission from my boss to wear jeans, especially on either a heavy duty cleaning day, or a moving boxes day.  He was more than willing to allow it, as long as you DO just that.  They didn't want us wearing jeans and not clean.  But now that we are a casual office attire, it's not as critical.  Some folks wear jeans even on a regular business day, but who knows what their manager told them either, if anything.  Bad communications sometimes when that's allowed and no one gave that person direction on what he could and could not wear.  It did become an issue and he stoped wearing "blue" jeans but wore the brown ones that look like dockers and a nice shirt, which is fine, but still.  What constitutes as too casual, we have no guidline there. YET.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[virtuallysorted]

We got new HR Manuals recently & all had a good laugh about several of the issues raised "Carrying Implements" for example (trays!).   I realised that I break the dress code at least 4 times a week & was just about to raise this with my boss when he stormed in ranting about the "pathetic idiots" who wrote it.  

He declared that because we should "dress appropriately for safety" whilst in the office, that high heeled shoes (recommended for all ladies!!) were not suitable & that "loud colours / styles" did not include his Dennis the Menace tie or Homer Simpson socks....

[dettu]

That's the other thing about my office--it's very casual. Managers and directors wear jeans and polo shirts daily. Women wear capris. Women AND men wear sandals with no socks/hosiery (to me, this is just way too casual for work)...I wear jeans once a week or so. I wear casual pants (khaki, corduroy) most of the time. I wear skirts occasionally because I look pretty overdressed next to my co-workers. When I wear a skirt, invariably I am the only person wearing nylons--when people here wear skirts it's always bare legs until snow is on the ground!

This office was "business casual, no jeans" when I started here, and has since really relaxed. One can wear athletic shoes etc. I just saw a woman go by in a t-shirt and jeans. So nobody is going to bat an eyelash at my slightly-above-knee tailored skirt, except to say "wow, you're really dressed up today."