Personal Entry: Why am I in high heels?
This whole setting that I am in seems to contribute well to the propaganda that I am a real employee at a real establishment, working in real time and being read by real people. Reality is, as you might’ve guessed, a problematic issue to my perception, as I prophesy it is for many others.
I normally go about my daily business in tennis shoes or toe-exposing slippers, those foot necessities-turned-embellishments I enjoy having and using to the max. Then came the genesis of my professional misery: No tennis shoes or jeans at the office, so said the Big Boss.
A fellow employee protested, as did I but did not voice it, and the Big Boss was pretty gentle about it. I honestly expected a Hitler-like decree of the obey-me-or-die sort but I was (un)fortunately disappointed. The man simply said that this has been the establishment’s policy for years now and the people upstairs want their employees to look “professional” and “tidy”, or something to that like. I respect that and I truly respected the way the man above squished a humble employee’s would-be revolution.
I have been giving this matter too much thought but it really gets to me. I do not see how the quality of my work is affected by the sort of textile I put on my skin and what shoes host my feet. If I were to be serious about this and yet retain what sense of sarcasm I could have I would ask: Do I think with my shoes? Do high heels mean that I am more professional? Or, say, do jeans mean I am not?
It is rather illogical, in my assessment; to be caged within what common rules of acceptable “professional” dress are when there is no calling for the business at all. To take myself as a model; it is not my job to meet clients, be they potential or existent, and I do not leave this cubicle until the clock announces my departure hour, much to my heart’s content. I deal with words, and not people. This being the case, why should I not wear my comfortable casuals that could in fact make my life much easier and, marvel of all business marvels, boost my productivity?
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Related Posts
- The Shoe That Killed a Woman
- Let’s dwell on it
- Metablog: Boss friendly content
- The Mean Factor in Professional Emails
- Work Memoir
November 21st, 2005 at 1:30 pm
Well, it’s all about the first expression. You are a student at JU, and I’m sure that you’ve been in College of Medicine for some times. All of them (medicine students) wearing SUITS. It makes you more comfortable when talking or going to visit a well looking doctor. That’s not the case. But it’s really nice to see the employees formally dressed.
I’m with you 100%, if you are not working in a public department and you don’t deal with customers or clients. You have all the right to wear as you like, without forgetting the public rights (wearing something decent).
November 21st, 2005 at 2:11 pm
unlucky you. thats kinda funny. It’s no different out in most of the companits here, BUT thank GOD, we have a pretty anti-establishment kind of guy for a CEO. He would care no less about the way I look or dress to work as long as the work gets done.
So when I am at office I am all jeans, tees n beads, but when I am out to meet customers, well I better be dressed for the occasion.
November 21st, 2005 at 3:22 pm
We have a dress code at my work as well, but it is pretty casual. No jeans, no trainers, that is about it.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:07 pm
what do you do?
November 21st, 2005 at 5:15 pm
Toly , Dress Code at work is the least of all dogmatism in our today’s stereotyping, in other fields of work that deals with diffusion of image or public opinions, it is not only the scrutiny of dress code, but putting forms and criteria on how you behave and handle and voice your opinion in public.A good job is no more a nice office , the sum of your productivity and work quality .a good job at times is a mortgage on your freedom and liberty .
November 21st, 2005 at 5:47 pm
Tololy, you just inspired me to write a post about “dress code and HR development” in Jordan. Thanks for that tip ;-)
My post here: http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2005/11/21/dress-code-and-hr-development/
November 21st, 2005 at 8:30 pm
I work in television and there is a serious dress code there for on-air talent…Certain colored suits and no zigzag lined ties…the other members of my industry (of which I am one) can basically wear what we like…I am currently wearing a
tshirt/corduroys/
sneakers/baseball cap…
The funny thing about that is when two of us go on a story you have one person dressed more formally than the norm and one dressed more casually than the norm
November 21st, 2005 at 10:40 pm
You can get away with not adhering to the dress code by submitting a series of doctor notes to your employer. Start with the podiatrist, have him write you a note that you can only wear sneakers and not formal high heel shoes, then go to the skin doctor and have him write you a note that you are allergic to formal clothing made out of Rayon and you only can wear 100% cotton, and so on and so forth, few more notes and you no longer need to comply with the dress code. The forgoing was my “trite” for the day.
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:05 am
Black Cats, I do not think I would mind a doctor in casual clothes. I am a fierce supporter of the trend that says “It is not what I wear that classifies me, if anything does, it should be the quality of my thought”.
Niwhsa, you are obviously happy with the setting of things at your working place. I am green with envy.
Abu Sinan, it’s No tennis shoes and No jeans where I sit three days a week. Some might argue that three days a week is not that demanding of a period of time,but they would be missing the point.
Anonymous #1, check my profile for information.
Anonymous #2, I choose to disagree with your last point. I do not think a good job should necessarily mean a “mortgage” on my “freedom” and “liberty”. As a matter of fact, I think a “good” job should enable me to express my freedom and liberty. What I mean by “good” and “freedom” is another issue all together.
Haitham Sabbah, welcome to Tololy’s Box. I am endlessly flattered that I have acted as your muse for the day. I read and commented on your post regarding dress code and HR development.
Dusty Wood, I can imagine the awkward situation you speak of. But you should be grateful for the blessing of being able to choose what to wear. If I am to leave this job, this dress code deal would probably be the reason behind any such move. That is exactly how much I feel against it.
Hatem Abunimeh, yet another important fellow jumping in! Welcome to Tololy’s Box. I appreciate your advise but I do not think I would carry it out, for the time being. Do keep me and my readers posted, for leafing through your blog, I found quality thoughts worth no less than a pause.
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:05 am
Tololy, in buisness world looks really do matter. Now, you have to understand that not all people think as you do!
Your Boss might hate it more than you do , but customers come first.
People in general are usually judgemental,a fact no one can deny.
People want to do buisness with style!
Like a buisness and econmoy passengers will eventually reach the same destination,but what matters is the service,prestige,etc.
Now,someone who got a lot of money would like to deal with a bank that “looks” professional, rather going into some place where it looks warm and feel like home.
Google staff actually got the freedom to do whatever they want,unless it gets done…their offices looks like dorms!
Would u go for a date to a resturant where the tables got no covers and the waiters are wearing sandals? Lol, actually that would be funny as far as it’s clean :p
My point is, if the buisness deals with customers,it is prefered to look and act prof.
Online editor? That is hot!May I ask which publisher?
November 22nd, 2005 at 5:41 am
Welcome to the buissiness world: “take it or leave it”
i know thats beside the point of this entry, but really, you cant enforce your code of ethics on your boss!
November 22nd, 2005 at 7:43 am
Firas, I understand that “looks matter” in, well, life in general. What I fail to understand and integrate in my system is the relationship between a piece of cloth and the productivity of a certain individual.
I value the example of Google that you cited, despite the fact that I am not quite sure of its accuracy. But if Google is doing that, let alone other major international establishments, does that not tell employers something about a changing working place atmosphere and “feel”?
I am afraid I cannot answer your last question, it would breach my so-called self-pact. I hope you understand.
Devil’s Mind, I am all the more sorry to refuse handling matters in the take-it-or-leave-it sense. I would like to think this is not the way business is done in Jordan. It presents me with a very rigid, inflexible and intolerant image of conducting affairs.
I am all for your last point, namely not enforcing my code of “ethics” on my employers. But the case is quite the contrary, you see.
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:04 am
Toly ,this is from anonymous #2,my point relating to a good “JOB” was in the abstract. And not for you in person. The multinationals concept is changing corporate couture by forcing a new stigma that a lot of qualified people have to accept a spell of a” good job” with scrutiny on how they should fit and act .It was not meant for you per say, from your post your preference of a job was clearly noted .You failed to realize that my comment was purely meant to a forum , thanks to your Box you are igniting interesting ideas in your posts that deserve to be probed by your selective readers to share and have a group opinion with you as moderator.
November 22nd, 2005 at 2:25 pm
I have to say, one of my very favorite things about living here in Israel is that there is no dress code! I can (and often do!) wear jeans to work every day, sandals (when it’s warm!), etc. I can wear t-shirts in the summer, and many women here wear those cropped tops that show their stomachs (though many of them probably shouldn’t, but that is a topic for another day…). In my previous company, even the CEO would come in jeans! When I worked at a government ministry several years ago, I remember that even the women working in the minister’s office would dress casually (it was too casual, IMHO, but whatever).
I’ve never really liked getting dressed up (and certainly not everyday!), so this casual attitude really works for me.
November 22nd, 2005 at 9:11 pm
my only comment is that the people who invented computers and the internet, who are allowing us to have this conversation, were, mostly, not wearing suits while creating their invensions.
Formal clothes are thing people hide their insecurities behind. It’s all about fitting in and gaining a veneer of respectability.
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:05 pm
i understand (hopefully), and agree with what you are sayin… but this situation is a typical take-it-or-leave-it example… thats an organisation policy, and since you agreed to join them, you gotta play by their rules….
i actually am a big supporter of individualism… yet, as we seemingly both agreed, we cannot expect other people to support our views!
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:26 pm
Anonymous #2, or as I have received you to be at least through your remark, if indeed I have failed to understand your point then I offer my regret for an incomplete perception of your message. You are most welcome in Tololy’s Box to discuss what points are put forth in debate.
She, welcome back. I like casual dress as well, as you might have noticed, but I do enjoy dressing up from time to time. I dislike it, however, when it limits me.
Ahmad Humeid, welcome to Tololy’s Box. I am personally honored to have you here,keep those comments coming.
Devil’s Mind, your points are sensible.
November 24th, 2005 at 5:33 pm
Tololy looks and production are not related at all!
It’s just about marketing !If formal clothes will get me more customers…then I’ll do it!!
Now about the google thing,I saw this on CBS’s 60 minutes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/30/60minutes/main664063.shtml
Thanks for questioning me, now I’m hurt…I’ll never visit ur blog again!!kidding :p
A dress code is a must for certain jobs, such as banks, security, doctors…etc…
October 9th, 2007 at 10:38 am
[…] When I reflect on that, I cannot grasp how two whole years have gone by already. Somewhere deep in my mind I am still the over-dressed girl reading a book and waiting for her interviewer to arrive already, still the girl who hated wearing high heels to the office, still the girl who found out how stupidly sensitive people get during the FIFA World Cup. But at the same time, I am not any of these girls anymore. They are gone, and that time has elapsed. […]