Today is another jeans day at work. Yaaa Hooo! I always enjoy these fridays. They happen several times a week. Some offices do this every week, which makes me very envious, and even other do it daily.
One thing that always strikes me on these special days is the behaviors of my coworkers. Some will still wear "office ware" as I call it. The standard dress slacks/skirt and blouse/shirt. I can't conceive of why a person would willingly wear these over jeans. The only except to this that I understand is a couple of very overweight ladies who regularly wear skirts. I can see the wisdom of avoiding pants at all cost when you get that heavy.
Then there are those who don't realize that permission to wear jeans does not neccesarily mean permission to show up in grunge. They wear jeans that are worn, have holes and I can't vouch for the authenticity of what appears to be dirt. Shirts that don't have enough material to cover enough skin or look like something out of the goodwill reject bins. Worn tennis shoes that look as if the soles might fall off any minute. I'm all for being comfortable and have nothing against worn clothes (which are my favorite digs after work), but doing so at work can leave people with the impression that you don't care about your job.
Then there are those who take the moderate approach. Nice jeans, not too tight or worn, paired with a work shirt or other modest top. Usually worn with work shoes though tasteful casual shoes are okay. These people seem to get that should a client stop by you might still be able to do business without giving the impression that the janitor is filling in for sales that day. They still look different enough from their "work" personna so that you might imagine how they look on weekends or evenings.
I tried to figure out if this division of styles was dependant on job title, pay level or social status and I come up empty. Why waste energy trying to figure it out? Well, my mind is a very busy place ;)
