Flip-flops, shorts, tank top . . . check, check, check. You look perfect for the beach, but, hold on, you’re wearing that to work? As the season heats up and “business casual” turns into “casual Fridays,” the office dress code is ripe for abuse.
Although the casual concept has been around for about 20 years, office workers are increasingly being allowed to loosen up their look on a Friday. Last month, straight-laced Walt Disney Co. relaxed its dated dress code: Women are now allowed to go bare-legged (goodbye, pantyhose!) and wear sleeveless tops and open-toe shoes (as opposed to plain pumps). Men can now chill out in casual, untucked shirts.
Here in New York, many corporations have different Friday dress codes in the summer, allowing for even more casual wear. “We sort of have a hybrid dress code,” says Sid Davidoff, former assistant to Mayor Lindsay and now a partner at Davidoff Malito & Hutcher, a firm with more than 40 lawyers.
“During the non-summer months, it’s got to be button-down shirts with a collar and slacks. During the summer months, they’re allowed to wear a golf shirt. You can never come in without socks. There is no such thing as jeans around here.”
But having a dress code won’t necessarily prevent employees pushing the envelope, wearing tiny cutoff jeans or outrageous Hawaiian shirts. “I have seen the abuse of casual Fridays,” says Barbara Deschamps, an image consultant. “Relying on people’s judgment is not enough.”
The concept of “casual Fridays” was, in fact, invented in Hawaii. In the ’60s the tropical state launched “Aloha Fridays,” which encouraged government employees to wear Hawaiian shirts and help support their garment trade.
“Fridaywear” became widespread in the ’90s, especially among dot-commers who enthusiastically adopted rumpled khaki shorts, T-shirts and sandals while whizzing about their Silicon Valley offices on motor scooters. Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire 26-year-old founder of Facebook, is famous for his love of Adidas sandals. And Steve Jobs, at 55, refuses to part with his black turtleneck and jeans.
Today, people are taking dressed-down office wear to a new level — and many companies are trying to fight the trend. This summer, Fifth Avenue law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges banned denim, leggings, low-cut shirts, flip-flops, and “bareback dresses” for the ladies. When meeting with a client, the company insisted that “women must wear a jacket or a garment with sleeves.”
Still, younger workers in New York are lashing out against “appropriate office dress.”
Last year, a female lawyer, who blogs anonymously as Legal Tease, wrote about a meeting her firm held regarding adopting Casual Fridays. When a female junior partner complained that a casual dress code could be “distracting” and mentioned that she’d seen someone wearing a halter top, “a few people actually got up and left,” fed up with the debate.
Her firm eventually allowed attorneys to participate in a twice-a-month “Jeans Day,” in exchange for a $5 donation to a charity that the company matched. The lawyer-blogger says the policy wasn’t repeated this summer: “The unofficial explanation is that when the economy’s down, it’s best for associates to dress as formally as possible to show respect for the job,” she tells The Post.
Nearly everyone agrees on one thing: Flip-flops have no place in any office environment, no matter how casual it is. “If you can wear shoes in the shower, you shouldn’t be wearing them to work,” says Brooke Moreland of Fashism.com, a Web site where users post their photos to gauge public opinions on their outfits.
“Even if it’s Friday,” Moreland says, “you still want people to take you seriously.”
—Additional reporting by Don Kaplan