To Dress or Not to Dress

I seem to be on a bit of a roll the subject of todays trip down memory lane is dress code. All my working life I wore high heel shoes for work not the ridiculous and potentially dangerous five or six inch heels some girls wear now but a safer more sedate but nevertheless smart three inches or so.and always to match whatever else I wore.

Everyone, or the girls and women anyway, did the same. I had walking shoes to get to and fro and high heels for the office and the opera house. I think a two or three inch heel is more comfortable than either flat shoes or the ludicrous high heels some women wear today. Have you ever looked at Fox News presenters in the studio? every one of the women I’ve seen have been wearing the kind of heels that make ladders unnecessary.

I remember one girl at the opera house insisted on wearing socks not unreasonable in some jobs but in a theatre an usherette is highly visible and has to present the right image. She refused, management got tough and we all had to wear the correct uniform which to be fair the management had always provided.

I was irritated not because I cared if someone wore socks or not but because the management crackdown meant I had to wear the red scarf around my neck instead of in the sophisticated, tasteful arrangement around my waist I’d worn for years. Bloody girl soon shot off back to Australia but the strict dress code remained.

If you think about it most television presenters also dress for work, usually the men are in suits, the women smart dress, of course they represent themselves but they also carry the responsibility of representing their employers and their job. Its one of the most basic aspects of employment: you look the part.

If anyone ever does a study the chances are most of us dress for work in a uniform of some sort, everyone from factory workers, nurses, police, firemen, ambulance people, catering staff. some bank staff and office workers. We all dress for work and then along comes some selfish cow who thinks uniform of any description however minimal is beneath her and if she wants to wear trainers or hob nail boots to work its up to her.

I disagree.