As I was walking back to my desk from our breakout room, I observed that one of my co-workers, a new employee whom I had never had a chance to speak to before, had her dress hitched dangerously high up her thigh. When I use the term ‘dangerously’, I mean that it was hitched high enough for me to know she was wearing hold-ups and not tights. She was bent over another associate’s desk, a woman as well, while going over some paper work. I immediately thought to myself that this would be a good opportunity to make contact and speak to her. As I was making my way to where she was crouched I had another thought at the back of my mind; has anyone else noticed this? And if so why hadn’t they approached her to let her know? A little background on my office dynamic - women represent less than ten percent of the workforce.

After apologising for interrupting them and introducing myself, I brought up the issue as casually as possible amid the little chit chat that ensued. “Oh! Thank you ever so much.”, she exclaimed while pulling the dress down. “I hadn’t realised what was going on with my dress”. I walked away feeling good about myself for having approached her and having addressed the issue in a seemingly non-aggravating way.

As I sat at my desk musing about my accomplishments, the lady in question happened to be going back to her desk and we shared a complicit smile. But as she walked past me, I noticed something else. That dress was shockingly short. I was instantly dismayed. I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would wear anything so short to the work place. Then again, I berated myself for mentally judging her outfit and decided to concentrate on the fact that she’d seemed to appreciate me warning her about the dress. Furthermore, it was a very nice dress and she looked gorgeous in it. So I brushed it aside.

A week or so later, I noticed a male colleague staring intently at something a few paces ahead. As I moved my head around my monitor to see what had gripped his interest so much, I observed the same lady standing and talking to someone else with her back to me. I could see her bra clearly through her flimsy top. I had no doubt that this is what had arrested my fellow co-worker’s attention.

Upon seeing this, I felt so uncomfortable for her. But then it occurred to me that I had no reason to. She was obviously conscious of the fact that the top was transparent and comfortable enough to wear it to the office. After this incident, I started noticing more and more that this lady was in the habit of wearing such revealing clothes. For the most part it made me feel self-conscious and I know for a fact that, had I been giving a presentation while wearing what she wore, I’d be asking myself if my team mates were staring through my top or paying attention to what I was saying. Clearly, that wasn’t an issue for her and I admired her confidence.

On the day she was leaving the company, I overheard a colleague commenting to his co-worker, “Oh, no. There goes the eye candy!”. They both chuckled as they strode off. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy when I heard this. Firstly, because I was disappointed by the sexist implication of such a comment. Secondly, because I wondered whether people had taken the work she did seriously or if they simply viewed her as ‘eye candy’. Though our office space is open plan, she worked in a different department from me so I am unable to comment on the quality of her work. I have a high expectation of my colleagues, be they male or female, and I hope that they would have valued her work regardless of what she wore.

It may seem that I have an issue with women wearing revealing clothes, but this is not the case. I have my fair share of crop tops, miniskirts and fishnet tops. I appreciate the fact that it is a free world and women have the right to wear whatever makes them look good without being apprehensive about what others will think or say. However, I would never wear a miniskirt and crop top to my work place. Simply because I think it is unprofessional.

One might think it has something to do with the fact that I work in a male dominated environment and I am worried that wearing overtly revealing clothing will undermine the work that I do amongst my peers. Granted, that is an issue which often comes to mind. But my primary code of practice is to dress smart to work and leave the revealing clothes for other social outings. Conversely, I would feel uncomfortable if I observed a male colleague wearing a pair of cycling shorts or a tank top to the office. Although such outfits might be appropriate for the track or for the beach, I don’t think it is appropriate wear for a corporate environment.

I recognise that my upbringing had a part to play in my views on the subject because whenever I went to work for my mum during the summer holidays in high school, I observed that her all-female staff dressed smartly, but never in an overtly revealing manner. Nevertheless, I genuinely believe that some of these things lend themselves more to common sense than a difference in upbringing. There are certain environments which require a certain dress code and out of respect for such etiquette, one should dress accordingly. For example, I feel comfortable wearing a bikini at the beach or at the swimming pool but I wouldn’t wear one to a funeral service. Would you?

---

Want to read more write ups like this? Click Here

---

Reactions 1 Hide Reactions